[BradNC]

I need to do a full i-step update on my car. The last one was in 2019 so it's been a few years and will take time. I also work on a buddy's E90 from before 2006 and a 2011 335 E90.

Is there much advantage to getting an ICOM clone or alternative? I was looking at something like the Super ICOM Pro N3+ but I cannot find anyone who has actually used one and said anything about it. There's tons of clone options too and I have no idea how to tell if one would be any good or not. It's not worth saving a little bit of money if there's a real risk of causing a big issue.

Are any of the clones worth it? Do they carry substantial more risk? Are they faster than ENET and worth getting?

If anyone has a recommendation I'd love to hear it.

[fe7565]

ENET should work just as good. I even did the DME with ENET without any issues. The only thing I have not yet done is my HU. That is the whale ECU that takes 45 mins to 1 hour. All others are minutes only. Makes sure you have CONTINOUS power of at least 30 amps, BMW says 80 amps. Can also run the car, but cannot do DME with car running.

For $10-20 can buy on Ebay /Amazon server power supplies that are 80-100amps. Need to modify voltage from 12V to 14V with one resistor. Many DIYs are around if you search.

[BradNC]

Originally Posted by fe7565

ENET should work just as good. I even did the DME with ENET without any issues. The only thing I have not yet done is my HU. That is the whale ECU that takes 45 mins to 1 hour. All others are minutes only. Makes sure you have CONTINOUS power of at least 30 amps, BMW says 80 amps. Can also run the car, but cannot do DME with car running.

For $10-20 can buy on Ebay /Amazon server power supplies that are 80-100amps. Need to modify voltage from 12V to 14V with one resistor. Many DIYs are around if you search.

Thanks. I actually ended up programming my car last night. I was on early 2019 i-Level and updated to 3/2024. It updated about 2/3 of the modules on the car and took less than an hour, HU included.

I bought a 100A power supply on Ali Express and it worked great. Had my own meters going to verify. Car pulls 24 amps just being on, so no wonder you need a power supply.


Only hiccup in programming was the HU threw a warning backing up and restoring individual HU data. I'm guessing that has something to do with me reverting my FSC code to stock with a map that didn't match that, but it could've been something else. It also ends with an error for parking assistant and steering angle sensor signal being invalid. I don't know why it doesn't tell you to turn the wheel to right lock, left lock, center, but that's all that's needed to clear it.

I was really surprised. I figured it would take 4-12 hours or something. The HU definitely took the longest though, but at least it showed the progress on the screen.

I let the car go to sleep afterwards so we'll see if the camera issues are any better today.

The only other weird thing is that it didn't delete my engine tune even though it was detected. I figured it would code the DME but I'll have to look at the operations report and see if it was on the plan or not.

[fe7565]

Glad it went well. For most people the $10 ENET cable is more economical than $100 ICOM.

I think the DME should be programmed with ENET and not ICOM. At least the old ZGM (gateway module) had some issues with that.

[BradNC]

Originally Posted by fe7565

Glad it went well. For most people the $10 ENET cable is more economical than $100 ICOM.

I think the DME should be programmed with ENET and not ICOM. At least the old ZGM (gateway module) had some issues with that.

I was willing to buy a $250 clone or alternative if it was safer and faster, but ENET worked great. I'm not sure why you hear people say it takes 4-12 hours and it only took 45 minutes. I programmed about 15 modules and encoded the whole car.

Any idea why the DME would only be programmed by ENET and not ICOM? That seems counterintuitive.

But thanks for your input. I checked last night and my cameras are working again, so maybe it was the software.

[fe7565]

Some people may have selected a safer, but slower method of programming in ESys in the connection sub-menu settings. Like when writing a CD or DVD at slower speeds and with "write-verification". Also, older PCs/laptops may have used slower bus and network connections. All my ECUS took a few minutes only. (I never did my HU)

I believe the ZGM (previously physically separate from the FEM), needed to be programmed by it's IP address instead by the VIN code like the other ECUs, because it's the gateway that acts as translator between the various other networks/buses.

[BradNC]

Originally Posted by fe7565

Some people may have selected a safer, but slower method of programming in ESys in the connection sub-menu settings. Like when writing a CD or DVD at slower speeds and with "write-verification". Also, older PCs/laptops may have used slower bus and network connections. All my ECUS took a few minutes only. (I never did my HU)

I believe the ZGM (previously physically separate from the FEM), needed to be programmed by it's IP address instead by the VIN code like the other ECUs, because it's the gateway that acts as translator between the various other networks/buses.

I was wondering if ISTA has a gateway connection mode like E-SYS or not. I didn't program my ZGW. Maybe it didn't do it because that wasn't an option with my connection. I'll dig through the operation report when I get a minute.

[fe7565]

ZGM is now part of FEM, but (forgot) it may still show up as a separate ECU in ESys. If you used ISTA+ to program your car, then you programmed all the ECUs. ISTA + does not allow for coding individual ECUs.

[BradNC]

Originally Posted by fe7565

ZGM is now part of FEM, but (forgot) it may still show up as a separate ECU in ESys. If you used ISTA+ to program your car, then you programmed all the ECUs. ISTA + does not allow for coding individual ECUs.

It actually does. There's an advanced tab where you can select to program or encode any ECU you want. When you do an update it'll do all of them that need it and I'm not sure you can deselect. But you can just select the ones you want if you're starting from scratch.

Come to think of it, I might have had a couple FA changes on the car when I programmed it. I wonder if programming varies by model code and I need to reprogram any modules that get changed.

[fe7565]

I didn’t know ISTA+ has an advanced tab that allows the selection and programming of individual ECUs. I will check it out. What version of ISTA+?

[BradNC]

Originally Posted by fe7565

I didn’t know ISTA+ has an advanced tab that allows the selection and programming of individual ECUs. I will check it out. What version of ISTA+?

4.39.20. If you need any more info let me know. I used the latest 4.46.11 psdzdata.

[fe7565]

Originally Posted by BradNC

4.39.20. If you need any more info let me know. I used the latest 4.46.11 psdzdata.

Thanks. I will check into that. Luckily, I have an older car so I don’t need really new versions of the software.