XSeries-forum

Still trying to get my head around scanners before I make a purchase - in this regard, can anyone enlighten me on the following:-

1. Are the likes of 'P A Soft' and 'Carsoft' etc. simply third-party (non-OEM) companies who produce scanning hardware/software tools for a range of marques - inc BMW?

2. By contrast, is 'INPA / DIS' an OEM scanning package for BMW?

3. Can the BMW I-bus be written to (via suitable software) via the OBD II port - or only via physical connection directly to the bus (e.g.via the CDC plug) - or do BMW do this via an entirely different method?

Hi there,

I use DIS, INPA & Progman so I can only advise on that, Progman basically switches options on or off and can program various modules etc. INPA is basically the communication software used to allow DIS etc to speak to the car. INPA, DIS & Progman are BMW OEM tools used in the past, they have a new tool now.

All of the OEM tools are fully operational through OBD connection, not direct linked via IBUS like the Resler.

The INPA, DIS & Progman tools are great to use, however they take some setting up! If you go this route use W7 32bit or XP, 64bit will not work... I spent hours trying to get around this but eventually I installed W7 32bit and managed to get it to work.

There is a lot of information on the internet about these,

Hope this helps

Justin

Thanks very much Justin - so the INPA software per se does not perform diagnostics/allow option -selection, but rather needs to run in the background with another program that does ?

Also, was SSSProgman an effective successor to DIS or are they complementary and do different things?

[quote=""justin0""]Hi there,

I use DIS, INPA & Progman so I can only advise on that, Progman basically switches options on or off and can program various modules etc. INPA is basically the communication software used to allow DIS etc to speak to the car. INPA, DIS & Progman are BMW OEM tools used in the past, they have a new tool now.

All of the OEM tools are fully operational through OBD connection, not direct linked via IBUS like the Resler.

The INPA, DIS & Progman tools are great to use, however they take some setting up! If you go this route use W7 32bit or XP, 64bit will not work... I spent hours trying to get around this but eventually I installed W7 32bit and managed to get it to work.

There is a lot of information on the internet about these,

Hope this helps

Justin[/quote]

SSS v32

I find sss easier to use but never really used dis

Hi,

INPA does indeed work as a diagnostic tool, you can not program with it.

NCS is used for programming however I have not used it as I use Progman, this part of INPA is able with correct operation can extract specific module data and it can be modified and reflashed accordingly.

I would get hold of INPA, install it, ensure it communicates with the car after its set up and only then go about installing DIS or Progman.

They are very useful programs to have in your tool kit, as I mentioned earlier they are a bit tricky to install.

Cheers