On Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:27:49 -0400, Yousuf Khan wrote:

On 30/04/2014 3:53 PM, Calia wrote:
Just bought my first BMW, a 2002 525i with 130K miles on it,
so I downloaded the dealer software (INPA) for changing settings
such as the automatic locking at 5mph (which I want to turn OFF!).

Since I have a Windows 7 machine with USB (but not serial ports),
all I need now is the $20 cable to go from the 16-pin OBDII connector
near the driver, to the USB port on the Windows 7 laptop.

It seems most cables online are for the newer (D-Can) BMWs, and
because of that, they're more expensive ($50) than I need ($20).

But I just want the older cheaper BMW cable (with pin 7 & 8 as the K-Line).

Do any of you have an older (1997 to 2003) BMW that uses the
older K-Line cables?

Where did you get your cable?

An ODB-II cable is an industry standard across all car lines. You don't
need anything specific for BMW with those. However, ODB-II has limited
reprogram-ability options. It's mainly used for reading out sensor
readings from the car, rather than to reprogram its computer. In other
words, it's mostly a passive reader.

Yousuf Khan

There are apps available for Android that connect to OBD (not ODB)
readers that in fact enable two-way communications.

The real problem is that manufacturers don't want you to know their
proprietary codes.

I have a ~$20 OBD II device that connects to my cell phone via Bluetooth
and a ~$5 app that lets me change codes (I haven't used it in a while,
so I don't have much info at my disposal).

Here are two links for your entertainment:

http://tinyurl.com/mu8hcgh

which is from
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...lm%2Caps%2C297

and

http://tinyurl.com/mczh6fx

which is from
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...om_deve loper

I see form the Amazon page that the devices have gotten cheaper.

BTW, that's just a surface look. There are many devices, not all
Bluetooth, and not all so primitive (or so cheap), and there is other SW
for Android.

When I last looked (two years ago, for a friend), I couldn't find
anything for iPhones that seemed to have the functionality of the above.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)