Coding the i3

BMW i3 Forum

Help Support BMW i3 Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Fathertom74FR said:
Some of you know Carly for coding ?

I have it for my bmw M135iX and now i have my bmw I3S, i already code somme tips, but simce 1 month a find only 5 module in programing section instead 8 ou 9 like in july ...
I cant go in ICM module to code star engin in eco mode.
Some have already see this ?

I use Carly and used it for my 135i (they never made a M135ix in the US, curious where that's from?) and I couldn't find any modules on my I3S. How did you get it to program anything? I've been stuck on that for about a month with no ICM modules found at all.
 
i leave in France, that's why :)
i found 5 module in the programming section, like kombi, idrive ...
but i haven't the the same number of module between the first programming and now.
I don't go to the shop for update, and no update in the car ...
I think i will ask to a friend to code it with bimmer on my car . if i don't find a solution this month.
 
:geek: New i3 owner but someone who has coded other BMW's in the past. I used the iOS BimmerCode app and a recommended bluetooth ODB2 adapter to code a bunch of 'convenience' items such as;

Disable legal disclaimers
Side mirror folding/unfolding with the fob
Unlock doors on engine stop
Video in motion (not tested yet)
Enable iDrive office / full messages
Electronics off when door opened
Enabled AM Radio
Changed startup animation to M-logo

I couldn't get the triple blink to go to 5 blinks and the tire temp and pressure didn't appear (not sure if I have/need TPMS).

But here's the thing, I swear the iDrive screen transitions are different now. Before coding and not using split screen, when you went from one menu option to another the whole screen would change. Now, half the screen shows the menu options and what looks like half is the sub menu?? Again not using split screen.

Someone please tell me that I just didn't notice it in the 24 hrs that I have had the car. ;) I even tried going to the original settings via backup but it still the same. I'm not sure if the process to restore from backup resets everything back. This is really bugging me lol.
 
If you're in the USA, you have TPMS. If you're in Canada, you probably don't. If the valve stems are rubber, they're not TPMS. No TPMS, no pressure readout is possible. I used that app, and I do see the pressure, so I know it can work, hardware dependent, though.
 
jadnashuanh said:
If you're in the USA, you have TPMS. If you're in Canada, you probably don't. If the valve stems are rubber, they're not TPMS. No TPMS, no pressure readout is possible. I used that app, and I do see the pressure, so I know it can work, hardware dependent, though.

Right I forgot about that. Will check later. Thanks.
 
Hi, been following this thread with interest so decided to code my 2018 LCI i3.

However, hit a problem.... was coding the head unit using Bimmercode on Android when the coding was interrupted *gulp*

Bimmercode when restarted recognised that this ECU had an error and offered to recover, an option I selected.

All seemed to be O.K, except my bluetooth phones seem to be confused....two of my phones now seem to "share" the same name (i.e. two phones appear under one entry, so can't easily switch between the two in the BMW menu). I can switch using the phones, but less than ideal. I can't seem to use the BMW menu to "delete" the entry.

Any ideas of coding that might clear the bluetooth settings back to factory settings, or any other ideas?
 
i3Houston said:
Question - Can BMW identify if the car has been ever been coded?
tl;dr yes, read on for why and how it can be avoided...


Certain combinations of coding options will trigger faults that then will show up in ISTA if your dealer runs a scan. Additionally, the dealers themselves have access to ESYS and could code your car or look at what coding changes you have made. If you change the vehicle order (VO code the car), then your new VO will not match the factory VO, which could prompt a suspicion, though I doubt your dealer really truly cares (at least mine doesn't). The point is, "yes" they could possibly tell that you've coded (depending on what you've done, just enabling AM radio for example won't trigger any of the scenarios I listed above), but it's unlikely they'd go looking for it. If you really want to sleep better at night, you can backup your original factory VO/FA to your computer, and then restore it to your car before it goes to the dealer. This will put it back at factory specs (on the coding front). Lastly, make sure that E-SYS doesn't update the VCM after TAL execution. There is an option in E-SYS's settings for that. By doing this, it won't tell the car "Hey we did coding on x date". The silver lining on all of this is that coding may need to be done as part of an 'official' service function (i.e. the software needs to be updated- see the airbag recall), so the memory in the car of a coding event shouldn't necessarily mean a giant red flag for the service advisor.
 
That's annoying, however you should be able to flip the expert toggle at the top of the screen, and then change
3005->TNK_VOLL_ANZEIGE set to 6_liter (This one is unimportant because all it does is change the display value, doesn't actually do anything with how much fuel is allowed)
3005->TNK_LITER_RECHTS set to mcv_rex_liter_kl_rechts_usa
3005->TNK_OHM_RECHTS set to mcv_rex_ohm_kl_rechts_usa
 
TheMK said:
That's annoying, however you should be able to flip the expert toggle at the top of the screen, and then change
3005->TNK_VOLL_ANZEIGE set to 6_liter (This one is unimportant because all it does is change the display value, doesn't actually do anything with how much fuel is allowed)
3005->TNK_LITER_RECHTS set to mcv_rex_liter_kl_rechts_usa
3005->TNK_OHM_RECHTS set to mcv_rex_ohm_kl_rechts_usa

Thank you!!!!!
 
i3Houston said:
TheMK said:
That's annoying, however you should be able to flip the expert toggle at the top of the screen, and then change
3005->TNK_VOLL_ANZEIGE set to 6_liter (This one is unimportant because all it does is change the display value, doesn't actually do anything with how much fuel is allowed)
This one setting is to 7liter and 6 is not listed.

Also found out the restore option, it appears under each Menu item, for example inside Instrument Cluster OR head unit but not on the main/home page. It showed that values will set to factory settings.

I did this and verified the values you provided and they matched except for one above.
 
For many months, changing the number of "lane change" turn signal flashes from 3 to 5 via coding hasn't worked for most i3 drivers. A Facebook i3 group member discovered that resetting the driver profiles after changing the coding will change the number of "lane change" turn signal flashes from 3 to 5. I have verified this on our 2014 U.S. i3 with system software version I001-18-11-520 (i.e., the November, 2018, version). However, restoring the driver profiles from a backup will revert the number of "lane change" turn signal flashes back to 3.

The bottom line at this time seems to be that to have 5 "lane change" turn signal flashes, profile restorations cannot be made which eliminates the value of backing up profiles so that they can be restored, if necessary, an unfortunate requirement. So if you want 5 "lane change" turn signal flashes, after resetting your driver profiles, you'd need to laboriously reset the side mirror positions, the pre-sets, Eco Pro settings, and a number of iDrive settings that aren't completely obvious until one notices that something has changed.

One possibility that I didn't check is to uncheck the iDrive setting that enables 3 "lane change" turn signal flashes prior to backing up a driver profile, resetting the profile, restoring it, and then manually checking the iDrive setting that enables 3 "lane change" turn signal flashes. I would check this possibility if it weren't likely that I would have to once again manually set all of my settings that are stored in my driver profile. If you try this, please post your findings.
 
Tonight I got the GPS, set the time, to work:
  1. Set the head unit to allow the option to be set.
  2. Set the body unit to allow the GPS to set the code.

To verify it worked, my BMW clock was about a minute behind my cell phone time. So I enabled the option under the vehicle settings and the BMW i3 'caught up.'

Bob Wilson
 
bwilson4web said:
So I enabled the option under the vehicle settings and the BMW i3 'caught up.'
So now the question is, "Will the i3's clock periodically synchronize automatically with the GPS time so that it stays accurate?"
 
alohart said:
bwilson4web said:
So I enabled the option under the vehicle settings and the BMW i3 'caught up.'
So now the question is, "Will the i3's clock periodically synchronize automatically with the GPS time so that it stays accurate?"
Well I bought the car in May 2016 and today is February 2019. The car clock was off by ~3 minutes. Ask me again in 3 years.

Bob Wilson
 
bwilson4web said:
Tonight I got the GPS, set the time, to work:
  1. Set the head unit to allow the option to be set.
  2. Set the body unit to allow the GPS to set the code.
For those interested in how to automatically set the car's clock via its GPS, the coding edits in my 2015 BEV were:

1. HU_NBT module > 3000 > SETTINGS_TIME_AUTOMATIC > set to navigation
2. BKOMBI module > 3000 > GPS_UHR > set to active

In some older U.S. i3s, the auto-clock setting is active from the factory, but it's inactive in others, requiring drivers to manually change the car's time in spring and autumn. Unlike the 2015, the auto-clock setting was active in my 2018 BEV.
 
Back
Top