How you can program your car (Progman) at home

YUL M5 · Jan 13, 2007

In an effort to level the playing field between dealerships and independent repair shops, EPA mandated that all cars built after 2004 should meet specification J2534-1 for diagnosis and reflashing. This means that third party tools ( known as pass thru tools) costing about 1000$ that meet the specification can be used coupled with an internet connection to BMW's technical site www.bmwtechinfo.com ( 30$/day 200$/month subscription cost) and presto you have access to all the cars electronics that the dealer has, including flashing with the latest progman and retrofitting new accessories.

I purchased a PTT from I-M Actia, as it is supported by BMW, and after spending half a day downloading and installing drivers from BMW and Actia, I finally have a working system and can access the car with two different programs, WebDIS for diagnosis and PROGMAN for programming. I have stopped at this point because the car has to be connected to a power supply charger to maintain a constant voltage at the battery, otherwise there is risk of destroying the ecu's. My current charger is not powerfull enough, so I ordered an 800 Watt Deutronic charger / power supply ( the same one used at the dealers), and will actually try diagnosis and programming when I receive it next week.

My total cost is 2600$, 1300$ each for the PTT and the battery charger. I know that the charger is very expensive, but it is the only one approved by BMW and I don't want to take any chances.

I am a retired computer engineer with a BS in electrical engineering, and am on very good terms with the guy doing programming at my dealer, so I can get answers to my questions there and yet I do not feel 100% when working on the car. Please do not try this if you are not really sure you know what you are doing, the results can be very costly.

Bunker37 · Jan 13, 2007

Very interested in your results next week. Please keep this thread updated!
I already have a completely working DIS on my PC, but that system became obsolete as of last december and wasn't able to do diagnostics as of V44. So I still have V43 running on my PC. I guess the SSS should be next, but it requires a program head which is very difficult to obtain. Dealers still receive the SW versions on DVD. Only the enhancements on different versions are loaded via the network. The portable SSS can be used without being connected to the network. Having a SSS with the newest DVD software keeps you from paying large amounts of subscription costs.

Nevertheless, your option sounds very interesting.

YUL M5 · Jan 13, 2007

From what I can tell SSS is a 6000$ investment, and I see nowhere you can legally buy the SW DVD. Will keep the thread up to date.

mak · Jan 13, 2007

Interesting thread, please keep it up to date to keep us curious owners informed on your progress

BMWM5Driver · Oct 14, 2007

jmayzurk · Jan 13, 2007

YUL M5 said:
From what I can tell SSS is a 6000$ investment, and I see nowhere you can legally buy the SW DVD. Will keep the thread up to date.

Right, but the beauty of the Actia option you describe above is that you can use BMW's internet-based "pass-through" programming option and upgrade your software by logging into bmwtechinfo.com for $30 per 24 hours.

It would be great if a local BMWCCA chapter could buy the programmer and loan it out to members; then we could program our cars for $30 a pop without the inconvenience and hassle of going to the dealer. Last time I was at my dealer my car came back with a ****load of scratches, hence my motivation.

-Jeff

Bunker37 · Jan 13, 2007

So do you actually download software to your PC and then do the update, or is the update streamed via internet to the car. That case you would need to pay 30$ per update even if the update is the same for all cars.

jmayzurk · Jan 13, 2007

Bunker37 said:
So do you actually download software to your PC and then do the update, or is the update streamed via internet to the car. That case you would need to pay 30$ per update even if the update is the same for all cars.

I haven't done it, but reading the docs, it sounds like the update code is streamed via your PC to the car. So you never have a downloaded software image that could be re-used on another car.

Additionally, the BMWNA's license agreement for bmwtechinfo.com prohibits you from sharing access.

Nonetheless, $30 per update is a pretty small price to pay to perform the upgrade on your own schedule and avoiding the hassle of the dealer.

-Jeff

Bunker37 · Jan 13, 2007

OK, but uploading sw to your car is a bit risky by itself and streaming it via internet add up to that. I wouldn't have my car updated like that. Now it's not only the issue of keepingthe battery at a steady level, but your internet stream needs to stay intact as well and that variable is out of your hands.

jmayzurk · Jan 13, 2007

That's a fair concern, but most firmware updaters (not having used BMW's software, I can't say for sure) mitigate this risk by:

1. Downloading a copy of the existing firmware image to local storage, as a backup
2. Downloading and verifying the new firmware image (via checksum) to local storage before transferring to the target
3. Upload firmware to target, and then re-verify checksums
4. If all else fails, roll back to the original image

So in the end, it can be a fairly reliable process if engineered appropriately. Besides, this may be the very method used by your BMW dealer, whether you realize it or not. BMW has an interest in controlling the distribution of its software, and using an online system is a good way to do that.

That said, it would really suck to be flashing your car at home and have something go wrong, only to have to tow it to the dealer...

Bunker37 · Jan 13, 2007

Dealers use SSS and it has the sw on the pc. Delivered by DVD. Just minor updates are stored using there network, but will also appear locally.
I had my DME flashed in the E39 twice. The GT1 told me I still had 13 flashes to go (out of 15) so one was done before I got the car, the second was done during my ownership and the third just killed the DME. Something happened while programming and the DME died. About 1000$ and 3 days later I had a new DME installed.
Hopefully next week me and a BMW mechanic friend of mine will install voice control and we have to program the car to get it to work. He will take the mobile SSS with him from work. It has the V24 firmware locally. I am curious as to how this will work and how long it takes. I will also ask him about redundancy and the ability to fall back to older firmware if something goes wrong. Just like updating the old MK3 and MK4 navi computers; if something went wrong during the update, it would kill the computer. At least killed enough for a simple person so it has to be swapped with another unit. I learned my lessons and am extra carefull with all of this. A dealer asks about two hours of labour for an upgrade and takes full responsibilty. It is more expensive, but you will get it done correctly. My dealer told me the wrecked a navi computer last month by updating to V24. That is under warranty for them and maybe also for you, but still...

YUL M5 · Jan 13, 2007

I played some more this afternoon, but with my wife's 328xi, as my M5 is going to the dealer next week, to be replaced by 2007 M6, and now is not the time to send it on a flat bed. Everything is working fine i.e. the two programs ( both PROGMAN and DIS) are loading and ready, and I can go through the menus after I did some tinkering with IE and MSJava machine setting. I was able to do a quick diagnostic before my 24 hr subscription expired. I was also able to D/L the vehicule order, one less thing to have to get from BMW. I will not renew my subscription now until I receive the charger, power supply, as the temptation to play around with my 12 amp charger is too great.

On another board where I posted the same, I received a PM from a member who I assume is affiliated with BMW in Munich. Out of respect for the privacy of PM's I will not disclose his remarks. If he wants to add to this thread he is most welcome.

I would like to stress what I said in my O/P, any mistake when playing with this gadget can be very expensive, and the warranty might not cover it.

My take is that BMW had to make this available very reluctantly to comply with US regulations, their biggest market. I am sure if Khazakhastan was the only country with such a regulation, then BMW would have ignored it completely. No disrespect meant to Borat.

Bunker37 · Jan 13, 2007

So how do you connect? Do you use the connector just above the trunk button, or the optical connector in your glove compartment?

Not having this feature would exclude all non BMW dealers to even change brake pads because you have to use the DIS / Progman to reset some stuff. Although simple stuff like brake pad resets can be done using the combi itself.

YUL M5 · Jan 13, 2007

Yep the OBD connector above the trunk button.

Bunker37 · Jan 13, 2007

OK, that will probably add some programming hours to the job. The dealer uses the optic connector because this bus is much quicker. But it is probably BMW specific and the OBD is standard for lots of cars. I have seen 24 hour+ sw updates on older 7-series using the OBD. It would be very bad if an update would outlast your subscription if you only subscribed for one day.
For diagnostics, this OBD is very nice, but for programming I guess it is not.

64026402 · Oct 9, 2007

Actia Passthru does work ok for programming.

With the round BMW adapter it works reasonably well.
The learning curve is rather steep. I don't read of many professionals that made it work.

The actual programing I have done only takes about an hour for the DME or ABS. The internet download is the slow part. The BMW servers top out at around 70KB per second. The 2000 E39 takes close to 2 hrs. Obviously newer vehicles take substantially longer.

It is useful at our shop but is not simple by any definition. The software is clunky but improving.

For personal use it might be fun to play with since profit is not a motive.
There are some tricks if anyone tries but have difficulties on use.
Just ask.

Donald

Dylan Thomas · Oct 10, 2007

Hey guys, in what form is the OS; binary, machine language, encryption scheme?

I'm interested in learning about the internal architecture and programming language.

Thanks.

PL2 · Oct 12, 2007

OS: WIN XP
encryption scheme: NONE
machine language: edibas32 by softing
Interface: EDIC family

All BMW drive train programing is done via OBD2
Fiberoptic port in glovebox (MOST) is for all multimedia related components.

killcrap · Oct 14, 2007

ediabas has no programming abilities, nor is it called ediabas32, you may be refering to toolset32. but that also has no programming abilities, however the WinKFP can be used to update any module with programming ability. and coding. NCS expert is also a powerful tool, i would not recommend anybody use these tools without knowledge on how to use them.

How you can program your car (Progman) at home

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