On Board Diagnostics

[walt525tour]

If/when I take this new hobby of mine into fixing/diagnosing my engine,
What do I need?

I have justified tools purchases by comparing to what the dealer would charge for labor on a given item. $600 to $800 for Inspection 2 will definitely buy some parts and tools.

Does OBD II work on my '95 525ita?
I will also be working on my wife's '99 328ia when it goes out of warranty in the spring.
Does OBD I work on the '99 328?
What can I actually do with OBD?
Is it worth investing in?
Will it also do the oil change and service resets?

I saw this item mentioned on another forum
http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopca..._SCNTOL_pg1.htm

What do you all think?

Anyone out there use one of these with their palm?
I take it there are definite advantages to using a laptop, what are they?

ok enough questions for now.

[Steve530]

OBDII was required on 96 and later cars sold in the US. I don't know if your 95 has OBDII. Check the connector under the dash near the steeringwheel. The connector whould be the same as you 99 if it's OBDII.

I don't know if OBDII is backward compatible to OBDI. But you need to see if you have OBDII on the 95 first.

OBDII willl tell you if any of the emissions systems are malfunctioning. Expensive scan tools ($3000) have software to read other diagnostic codes. i don't know if the cheaper models do that. You'll just have to check the product.

It would be nice to have this info available for maintenance. It is an expensive toy, though.

[walt525tour]

I received this back from "Jay Horak" at autoenginuity.com
concerning use of their scan tool for my needs.

--"We won't reset oil and service interval lights--only the MIL. The former are BMW only--not OBDII. Now on the '95 it has no OBDII connector and won't work at all. The E34s require a Peake tool or CarSoft. The E39 5 series was the first OBDII complaint vehicle."--

Jay's response was to my inquiry
comments: I am considering purchasing your OBD II Scan Tool.
I have two(2) cars a '99 BMW 328ia and a '95 BMW 525ita
If i were to buy the OBD II scan tool - I can see from the ad and other articles that it will do diagnositics and resetting
of oil and maintenance lights on the '99 3 series.
But, will it do anything on the '95 5 series ? for instance -
1) will it read codes instead of using the gas pedal method
2) will it monitor any engine activities, ie. O2
3) will it reset maintenance lights

So the scan tool is not backwards compatible and it does not take care of service lights.

I believe the peake scan tool will do what I want.

Read codes on my '95 525ita so I don't have to do the gas pedal thing
Reset oil changes and service lights on '95
Read codes on my '99 328ia (although it won't do the advance diagnostics that the scan tool would)
Reset lights on the '99

<_< Does anybody have experience using the Peake tool on different model BMWs?

[billB]

walt
please check the following info. which is copied directly from peak's website, enjoy

The R5/FCX(II)
Scan/Reset Tool for BMWs 1987-2003*
Now Available up to 2003* models!
Reads all engine fault codes, resets check-engine, service engine soon, oilservice and inspection!


Features:

Available for most BMWs built between 1987 and 2003*
Displays all engine fault codes; allowing you to do your own engine diagnostic!
Resets the Engine light (AKA "Check Engine" or "Service Engine Soon")
Resets the Oilservice and Inspection lights, and service mileage.
Very, very easy to use
Low cost ($149)*
Includes instruction manual and code chart

regards
billb