Quote:
Originally Posted by tom @ eas
Please take the bring yourself up to date on Autologic's website:
http://autologic.us/en/pages/homepro...mw-diagnostics
Autologic is the only licensed 3rd party provider of BMW diagnostic tools I'm aware of. Most serious brick and mortar repair facilities will have one with accompanying hardware (power supply for voltage stabilization, OPS head for MOST programming, etc) in order to program. There is a yearly subscription fee in order to get updates, which are needed to keep current as updates/fixes are provided from BMW.
Autologic is also capable of updating/coding individual modules, which dealerships cannot do.
The game changes on new BMWs F-chassis BMWs are ethernet based. There's Byteflight. The list goes on. Autologic works closely with BMW and has a competently understanding of these tools and software, which is also used on its GUI. As stated before, it's dealer equivalent, with the addition of failsafes to minimize programming failures or use corrective measures to keep failures from appearing at all.
Another other option is to purchase authentic diagnostic hardware yourself and pay the $2500/year subscription fee through BMW's TIS program:
http://www.bmwtis.com/
Otherwise, most coding is performed via leaked/pirated versions of BMW software and Chinese ICOM/DCAN systems. A number of these pieces can be found on eBay, with subpar reliability rates.
Either will do the job, but all have one thing in common - they are merely tools.
The above-mentioned methods are completely worthless unless the individual using them knows how to use it, and what corrective measures to take when he (or others) makes a mistake in order to correct it. If you're in a jam, you need to know what it takes to correct it - and mistakes happen from time to time in any field.
I'm sure you're happy with Mike's services and that's perfectly fine. But please don't discredit a system, field or procedure you have completely no understanding about. |
I'm semi-surprised you have posted this, considering you said you didn't want to get into a tool X vs tool Y thread.
There is no doubt that the autologic is a fantastic tool. I've used it a few times my self at independent shops, and was happy with the way it operates. There are a couple of quirks, and when there is an issue, unfortunately you have to wait until autologic gets back to you to correct the issue. Two examples come to mind - I've seen two cars programmed with the autologic for the factory alarm system, and both cars had only about half the volume for the audible beep. After reading out the file from those cars, it was apparent that the coding data that the autologic used was not consistent with factory settings, and this is why the beep was not nearly as audible. You can not perform serious changes with the autologic. You can not do anything 'custom'.
As you said, Autologic will allow you to program specific modules without having to update the whole car. However, the reason why the dealer system does not allow this is because it's not the correct way of doing things. If the autologic writes the UIF to the car it's possible that the dealer systems will complain about a mismatch in integration levels and that it may show those modules as failed. Regardless, with my BMW expert tools I can go above and beyond what the factory dealer tools I have will do. It's always 'advised' to update the whole car.
Now you have mentioned that the game changes with the F series. Not sure what you mean by that, considering the ICOM is 100% ethernet based. All communication with the car is only VIA ethernet, and the ICOM will switch between ethernet, k-line, d-can, and MOST bus as necessary. The ICOM covers every BMW from 1990 to cars rolling off of the dealers assembly line this moment. Not sure why you brought Byteflight up, should we discuss Flexray as well?
The online BMW ISTA/P and ISTA/D system works very well. I know many people that use it. I do not use the online BMW system, but actually have the complete installations that the dealers themselves use, aside from the expert tools.
You also referenced Chinese clones of DCAN Cables and ICOM's. You are correct that these exist. The factory DCAN cable is made by Omnitec, and I have one of those. My ICOM is not a clone, it's a 100% legit original. I have never used an ICOM clone myself, but know quite a few people that do. If you opened up the ICOM clone, you would see that it is 100% identical to the original ICOM. It's amazing what they are capable of in China. The real beauty of what I'm able to do comes with using the factory expert tools through the ICOM. Sorry, the autologic will not be able to compete there. Autologic will allow a 'trial' substitution of a module, but will not permanently mate anything but a new module to the car. That's a shortcoming right there. Personally, I would rather have an ICOM clone with the factory tools over an Autologic, but for an independent shop the Autologic is easier to use and pre-programmed for you.
There is no doubt that the autologic is a great dealer 'replacement' tool - in fact, it's the best around. But to argue that it's 'better' than the factory tools themselves is taking it a step too far.
Again I tried to make amends with you Tom, but instead you told me there is nothing to talk about and that I am 'harassing' you. I will never try to contact you again per your request. If you are ever up for a friendly, professional conversation on the topic, my door is open. I'm not sure where all of this hostility has come from as we have always gotten along. I think it's a benefit to everyone for vendors to work together, healthy competition is a positive thing.
The factory dealer ICOM A, ICOM B (for most bus), and C for legacy round pin vehicles is shown below. I have also included a picture of the factory omnitec D-Can programming cable for reference.
Kind Regards,
Mike