[ilhan1103]

here's my very first untouched fembody file. Now Shawn or someone else expert enough correct me if I'm wrong but I dont believe that the update would have been able to 'show' a value on my car that wasn't there before




As you can see its pretty much the same as yours, and I believe its not the 'unbelegt' you have right below IB FAHRT MIT LICHT because I also have an unbelegt value right below OVT.

Your car was a few months older then mine wasn't it? So it might just be software version difference. You can trick your dealership into updating the car if you wish

[XmX32]

Hey,
i want to code some of these features for my car when it arrives however my father was telling me the car's coding is extremely complicated and might have bugs that are not causing problems with the way everything is set up now but changing some values might cause those bugs to manifest in ways that can compromise the cars safety, or cause serious problems. However from reading this forum it doesn't seem like coding some small things like roll up windows/fold mirrors, etc shouldn't be a problem if i'm careful and i could always restore the factory settings.

Long story short how risky do you guys think is to code my car?
and
has anyone had any major problems doing so?

BTW i don't know if it makes a difference but i'm leasing

[shawnsheridan]

Originally Posted by ilhan1103

here's my very first untouched fembody file. Now Shawn or someone else expert enough correct me if I'm wrong but I dont believe that the update would have been able to 'show' a value on my car that wasn't there before...

New ECU Firmware can both 1) add new FDL entries, which we have seen where the HUD Entertainment and Phonebook Options were added in 47.x, and 2) change existing FDL entries, which we saw with AHB where FLA_AUTO_AKTIV was changed from from "aktiv" to "automatik". So, it is quite conceivable new FEM_BODY firmware will change his "UNBELEGT" entry to "OVT_BEI_RUECKFAHRLICHT".

[shawnsheridan]

Originally Posted by XmX32

Hey,
i want to code some of these features for my car when it arrives however my father was telling me the car's coding is extremely complicated and might have bugs that are not causing problems with the way everything is set up now but changing some values might cause those bugs to manifest in ways that can compromise the cars safety, or cause serious problems. However from reading this forum it doesn't seem like coding some small things like roll up windows/fold mirrors, etc shouldn't be a problem if i'm careful and i could always restore the factory settings.

Long story short how risky do you guys think is to code my car?
and
has anyone had any major problems doing so?

BTW i don't know if it makes a difference but i'm leasing

The Risk is minimal. Generally speaking, for most coding where a parameter is being toggled from from one state to another (e.g. off to on), the alternate state exists for a reason as it is being used by BMW in some other market, or with some option code your car was not configured with from the factory. So, by design it is a supported state.

[Frogman]

Originally Posted by XmX32

Hey,
i want to code some of these features for my car when it arrives however my father was telling me the car's coding is extremely complicated and might have bugs that are not causing problems with the way everything is set up now but changing some values might cause those bugs to manifest in ways that can compromise the cars safety, or cause serious problems. However from reading this forum it doesn't seem like coding some small things like roll up windows/fold mirrors, etc shouldn't be a problem if i'm careful and i could always restore the factory settings.

Long story short how risky do you guys think is to code my car?
and
has anyone had any major problems doing so?

BTW i don't know if it makes a difference but i'm leasing

There will always be some small risk when you do this. You just have to weigh the risk verses the benefit of having the features you want.

As Shawn said, a lot of the things that you can code are enabled in other countries, so they aren't risky to code. Also, if you do run into a problem, you can always revert back to the factory settings.

The only problems I've heard of were when people were coding really advanced things like retrofitting parts, trying to code new modules, re-writing VO's, changing VIN's, etc.

The items in the cheat sheet are well tested and if there were problems, we'd definitely hear about them.

As far as leasing goes, you could just revert all of your changes before you return the car.

[ilhan1103]

Originally Posted by shawnsheridan

New ECU Firmware can both 1) add new FDL entries, which we have seen where the HUD Entertainment and Phonebook Options were added in 47.x, and 2) change existing FDL entries, which we saw with AHB where FLA_AUTO_AKTIV was changed from from "aktiv" to "automatik". So, it is quite conceivable new FEM_BODY firmware will change his "UNBELEGT" entry to "OVT_BEI_RUECKFAHRLICHT".

Was too quick on the typing it seems.
I meant updating the car cannot uncover things in my file that was saved to my HD before servicing the car

[XmX32]

Originally Posted by shawnsheridan

The Risk is minimal. Generally speaking, for most coding where a parameter is being toggled from from one state to another (e.g. off to on), the alternate state exists for a reason as it is being used by BMW in some other market, or with some option code your car was not configured with from the factory. So, by design it is a supported state.

Originally Posted by Frogman

There will always be some small risk when you do this. You just have to weigh the risk verses the benefit of having the features you want.

As Shawn said, a lot of the things that you can code are enabled in other countries, so they aren't risky to code. Also, if you do run into a problem, you can always revert back to the factory settings.

The only problems I've heard of were when people were coding really advanced things like retrofitting parts, trying to code new modules, re-writing VO's, changing VIN's, etc.

The items in the cheat sheet are well tested and if there were problems, we'd definitely hear about them.

As far as leasing goes, you could just revert all of your changes before you return the car.

good points i think ill go ahead with it, one more thing:
The cheat sheet seems to be made for the 2012 model, am i correct in assuming 2013 will be very similar if not exactly the same?

[Frogman]

Originally Posted by XmX32

good points i think ill go ahead with it, one more thing:
The cheat sheet seems to be made for the 2012 model, am i correct in assuming 2013 will be very similar if not exactly the same?

I've coded both the 2012's and 2013's and I've never seen any differences.

You just have to make sure you have the corresponding psdzdata for the car you are coding (the latest has the previous versions too).

If you don't have current data files, you won't be able to read the CAFD modules. You can't hurt anything, you just won't be able to do any coding on the out-of-date modules.

[playmobilboy]

Originally Posted by gerbs

Having this issue as well, the other modules coded fine - verified & tested (HU_CIC, REM_01).

Gonna try the fix w/ attached pdf and report back.

Dear all experts.

I also have the CAFD_FFFFFFFF_255_255_255 problem with my FEM Body module due to time out, but I wrongly removed the ncd file as well. Is there any way I can change back the CAFD 255 to the original name? Mine is F20.

[shawnsheridan]

Originally Posted by playmobilboy

Dear all experts.

I also have the CAFD_FFFFFFFF_255_255_255 problem with my FEM Body module due to time out, but I wrongly removed the ncd file as well. Is there any way I can change back the CAFD 255 to the original name? Mine is F20.

Connect => Read FA => Activate FA => Read VCM => Left-Click on FEM_BODY => Click on Detect CAF for SWE => Select the CAFD matching your I-Level => Select OK => Right-Click on FEM_BODY (the ECU itself not the underlying CAFD) => Select CODE.

[XmX32]

Originally Posted by phillyd2

Software installed but when connecting to car for the first time I get the following error message when trying to run ZGW_Search.ex (step 09 in the .txt file)

"Component MSWINSCK.OCX or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid"

I'm running a ThinkPad X201 with Win 7 Pro 64, Wireless card has been turned off and laptop rebooted but still getting the same error.

What am I missing?

Originally Posted by svache

You're not missing much, that file has issues under 64 bit. You could try to see it runs if you try it in Win32 compatibility mode but there's no real need really, you can skip that step if you want, the car should still make connection to your laptop (if it doesn't, make sure you disable wifi as that might give connection issues from time to time).

i got this error too, unfortunately i cant get the XP compatibly mode on this laptop (i have windows 7 home premium on here). Has anyone actually coded despite this error and have everything work perfectly?

[Frogman]

Originally Posted by XmX32

i got this error too, unfortunately i cant get the XP compatibly mode on this laptop (i have windows 7 home premium on here). Has anyone actually coded despite this error and have everything work perfectly?

You don't need the XP virtual machine that's in Windows 7 Pro.

Just right-click on the executable and select Properties. Then select the Compatibility Tab and select Windows XP (SP3) Mode.

This works on Home Premium.

[XmX32]

Originally Posted by Frogman

You don't need the XP virtual machine that's in Windows 7 Pro.

Just right-click on the executable and select Properties. Then select the Compatibility Tab and select Windows XP (SP3) Mode.

This works on Home Premium.

Thanks for the help

[shawnsheridan]

...or you just get this with native 64-Bit support...

[playmobilboy]

Originally Posted by shawnsheridan

Connect => Read FA => Activate FA => Read VCM => Left-Click on FEM_BODY => Click on Detect CAF for SWE => Select the CAFD matching your I-Level => Select OK => Right-Click on FEM_BODY (the ECU itself not the underlying CAFD) => Select CODE.

Thanks shawnsheridan,

Just want to make myself 100% clear before my next step.
What is I-level you are referring to?
My FEM BODY CAFD got renamed to 255_255_255 due to time out when I FDL the code for auto start stop. (Finally i realized this is because car battery was off), Does it mean my cafd has nothing changed at all? So what you taught me below is to refresh the cafd by extracting from car ecu data?

[YMB-M3-J2]

Originally Posted by shawnsheridan

New ECU Firmware can both 1) add new FDL entries, which we have seen where the HUD Entertainment and Phonebook Options were added in 47.x, and 2) change existing FDL entries, which we saw with AHB where FLA_AUTO_AKTIV was changed from from "aktiv" to "automatik". So, it is quite conceivable new FEM_BODY firmware will change his "UNBELEGT" entry to "OVT_BEI_RUECKFAHRLICHT".

what exactly is flashing the firmware? Is that something i can do to add the new features?

I am seeing in another thread that if you ask the dealer to update the ASS to auto off that the LED's in reverse will be on in reverse by default

[shawnsheridan]

Originally Posted by playmobilboy

Thanks shawnsheridan,

Just want to make myself 100% clear before my next step.
What is I-level you are referring to?
My FEM BODY CAFD got renamed to 255_255_255 due to time out when I FDL the code for auto start stop. (Finally i realized this is because car battery was off), Does it mean my cafd has nothing changed at all? So what you taught me below is to refresh the cafd by extracting from car ecu data?

The I-Level (aka I-Step) is the Integration Level of your car, which represents a package of firmwares for all your modules, and it corresponds to the version of ISTA/P last used to program your vehicle.

To determine your I-Level, go to VCM Module => VCM Master Tab => click Read under I-Steps:



The I-Step (current) is the one you want to match when you select the CAFD from the Detect CAF for SWE options (e.g. F001-08-09-550):



When you lost power in the middle of FDL Coding your CAFD, it became corrupted. What I am having you do is insert the same CAFD in it's default generic state and then coding it based on your specific Vehicle Order (Production Date and Option Codes) so in the end you will have exactly what you started with before the power failure and CAFD corruption.

As I have repeatedly stated, so long as one isn't coding the DME module, you should code with the engine running, and will you never have to worry about loosing vehicle power mid-coding, unless of course you run out of gas.

[shawnsheridan]

Originally Posted by bmw328jc

what exactly is flashing the firmware? Is that something i can do to add the new features?

I am seeing in another thread that if you ask the dealer to update the ASS to auto off that the LED's in reverse will be on in reverse by default

Flashing firmware replaces a module's existing firmware, that is the software programmed into the modules read-only memory, with new firmware. Sometimes with that newer firmware comes new features, but usually it is more bug fixes and support for new vehicle options or new chassis'.

Generally this is not done by you, although it can be done. Normally this only occurs when your dealer programs your car, and based on your car's current I-Level and the dealer's latest I-Level, those modules with newer released firmware will be flashed during the programming process.

[playmobilboy]

Thanks Shawnsheridan I understand now.

But when I click on Detect CAF for SWE, it prompts me this error, Do you have any idea?

Originally Posted by shawnsheridan

The I-Level (aka I-Step) is the Integration Level of your car, which represents a package of firmwares for all your modules, and it corresponds to the version of ISTA/P last used to program your vehicle.

To determine your I-Level, go to VCM Module => VCM Master Tab => click Read under I-Steps:

Attachment 796318

The I-Step (current) is the one you want to match when you select the CAFD from the Detect CAF for SWE options (e.g F001-08-09-550):

Attachment 796319

When you lost power in the middle of FDL Coding your CAFD, it became corrupted. What I am having you do is insert the same CAFD in it's default generic state and then coding it based on your specific Vehicle Order (Production Date and Option Codes) so in the end you will have exactly what you started with before the power failure and CAFD corruption.

As I have repeatedly stated, so long as one isn't coding the DME module, you should code with the engine running, and will you never have to worry about loosing vehicle power mid-coding, unless of course you run out of gas.

[shawnsheridan]

Originally Posted by playmobilboy

Thanks Shawnsheridan I understand now.

But when I click on Detect CAF for SWE, it prompts me this error, Do you have any idea?

What is your I-Level, and what PSdZData version are you using?

[playmobilboy]

Hi shawnsheridan,

my current I-level is F020-12-11-502 and my PSdZData is 47.7 plus the 48.1 patch

Does it mean my PSdZData doesn't have my I-level data because only F020-12-07-533 is available in my target list when I click on detect CAF for SWE

Originally Posted by shawnsheridan

What is your I-Level, and what PSdZData version are you using?

[shawnsheridan]

Originally Posted by playmobilboy

Hi shawnsheridan,

my current I-level is F020-12-11-502 and my PSdZData is 47.7 plus the 48.1 patch

Does it mean my PSdZData doesn't have my I-level data because only F020-12-07-533 is available in my target list when I click on detect CAF for SWE

Yes, that is what I think. I have sent you a PM to correct this.