So phone apps log slow, or atleast the obd is slow and the phone thus is also, but i would like to find maybe a free or inexpensive OBD windows software that works with the mini so i can hook up my laptop.
coding isn’t even remotely needed its just monitoring graphing logging.
there is a lot of stuff out there but i think too much is pure coding.
so it would be something like dash command but for a PC but is able to capture data way faster and graph it either real time or afterwards.
was going to get a K+DCAN cable as they are cheap but the software.. yeah..

anyone doing this and can offer a decent software for the situation at hand?

 

Damn there is a lot of Windows XP’s based stuff, very little that supports windows 10 that i could find, in fact nothing
more so the drivers that are needed, even though windows 10 installs the device perfectly fine.
dashcommand for windows and OBD doctor can’t communicate with the car even though you see the lights on the OBD adapter flash a few times. Guess I will stick with my WiFi only wireless adapter as it works fine. I wanted usb as it would traditionally be the fastest and able to handle loads more data but I guess since OBD is still a serial based technology you are still limited to less than 56k dialup throughput.

 

Depends upon the OBD2 protocol used by the car. If CAN it can operate at 250kbs (this is the speed used in Europe/UK) or 500kbs (used in USA). I've used an OBD2 bus snooper and the amount of CAN message traffic that flows by is simply amazing. I have to set up filters to limit the messages I see/that are logged are the ones of interest to me.

ISO 9142-2 and KWP 2000 are the slower protocols. They operate at I believe the baud rate is 10.4kbs but the data payload size can be 255 bytes. (CAN is limited to just 8 bytes of data payload.)

VPW is a GM protocol and PWM a Ford protocol.

I have used hand held OBD2 tools -- Actron -- to view mainly ISO 9142-2/KWP 2000 data in real time and the Actron tool kept up. It had limited data logging capability though I think limited to around 60 seconds worth.

The Actron tool predated CAN but it supported both the PWM and VPW protocols cause I used it with my Ford and my Chevy cars then later with my Porsche cars and my VW which were ISO 9141-2/KWP 2000.

More recently I have used an Auto Xray tool and it appears to be even better. 'course, the Actron was an early tool bought shortly after OBD2 appeared in vehicles.

 

When working with cars I run Windows XP in VMWare Player (free) from within Windows 10 and its not given me any problems. Try it.

 

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Have you considered the old AccessPort? Besides being a source for performance maps, it also monitors, datalogs, reads and clears codes, resets the ECU, and takes a couple performance readings. It also continues to function with my Manic tune and probably any other tune too. Pretty much useless for mapping, as support was discontinued several years ago. Might be able to find a used one in the forum marketplace.

It will monitor and display one of about 80 OBD II characteristics, or datalog up to any 21 - 22 of these 80 for an indefinite time period, and at a rate of 3 - 4 readings per second. Data can be uploaded to a spreadsheet on either Mac or PC. I can't compare it to other readers 'cause I've never used any others. If you're interested, I could post a list of the available data points and a sample of one of my logs.

 

I know the hardware model of accessport for other cars but never heard of a software version
is it from cobb tuning also?

 

It's a different package from Cobb's original offerings --- hardware is unique to Mini's and it has its own SW, altho it was supported by Cobb. I'm told the SW was created by someone other than Cobb, and is only for the 2nd gen Mini's. My first tune was done at Cobbs Oregon facility, a custom tune, almost stage 4. It's still on my AP, and is the "base" tune for my Manic switch.

If you gotta have ONLY the SW, you can probably forget my suggestion.

 

Also interested in this, I would love to have a datalogger for my track days. I wasn't aware of any off the shelf setup that wasn't in the range of an Aim dash/datalogger rig, would love to throw one of these in but it's not in the budget at the moment. I assume the only access ports that would work for this setup would have to be tracked down used? Do we know which one works with the N18?

 

Yes how does one come to get the software? Reach out to Cobb i assume?

 

To the best of my knowledge, AP SW is not available without the AP. And even if it was, I'm pretty sure support was discontinued when the N18 was introduced, so it won't function on anything but the N14. Maybe previous AP distributors could steer you towards a new one, but I doubt it. Your best bet is to search Mini forum marketplace sites. Just ensure the previous owner properly disconnected the unit --- via the built-in program, not mechanically, otherwise it can't be re-used.

 

Then i have to ask why offer it up as an alternative
cant get it, n14 only, if you buy it used you risk it being locked to another car.
not being snarky on this cold friday morning , just wondering since its a dead end of life product

 

I offer it as an alternative, as your original post requested. Risky, for sure, but what isn't risky when adding serious mods.

As for dead end of life product --- mine has been in use since 2011, and still performing 100%. When it dies, I'll look for an alternative, possibly another AP, it was one of my best buys.

Best of luck finding your ideal product ---

 

OBW your input is always welcome but given it is a dead software, cant be purchased and only end of lifed motors, it doesn't do any good to look for it since I am N18
seems weird unless there was no money in it for them to stop producing it after the N14 engines. or some thing different about the n18 that made it hard.
I have dashcommand for PC so if that performs faster than a phone then I am in business. just was looking for something a little less hokey looking. but I haven't tried it yet on the pc outside of opening it.
but the GUI is just really not optimized at all.which doesn't help with its logging capabilities/speed , it looks like the mobile app running in windows, but I wont care if its fast.
i'll let you know tomorrow sometime.