[April1]

Coding made easy: Step by step instructions for Fxx Series

Coding is for people who want to play with the settings of BMW car software to achieve something more desirable. Coding is not really a programming; it is another name for re-configuring the software of your car. There are limited risks of messing up with your car SW but if you are careful, follow step by step instructions and know and understand what you are doing, it may be OK to go ahead. Never try to guess and do it, be absolutely sure for your steps, clarify your doubts before you proceed. There are experts on the forum willing to help you, don’t hesitate to ask even a silliest question. Never-the-less, if you want to try new unknown settings which others have not tried, believe me, you are playing with fire.

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS VERY CAREFULLY.

What is needed for coding:

1. ENET cable
2. E-Sys software 3.18.4 with installation password, token and coding PIN
3. psdzdata 48.3
4. A dedicated laptop with Windows XP (preferred) or Windows 7 with minimum 44 GB of free space
5. Software installer (optional), files attached
6. Backup utility for CAF files (optional), file attached
7. Useful Cheat Sheet for F25, file attached

Prepare your setup:

You can build your own cable or buy from a good source. Cable should be reliable as interruption of any kind during coding can be very risky. E-Sys software and psdzdata is also available through various sources.

Delete unwanted SW and data from your laptop. It may be worthwhile to de-fragment your HD of laptop before installing the coding software as this software will occupy almost 22 to 44 GB of space on HD. Use the power adapter to keep batteries charged all the time as installation will take several minutes depending upon the performance of the laptop and data storage media.

Try to clarify your doubts on forum as it helps other readers too, but you are welcome to contact me directly for any help of any sort on if that helps boost your confidence.

Software installation:

You can use the manual procedure (attached) to install software on your laptop or follow automatic installation steps given below:

1. Create a folder on laptop or any external media and give any name such as BMWInstall. If you are creating folder BMWInstall on laptop, then you may need 44 GB of clear space as the installer will not move or delete any file from your laptop. If the folder BMWInstall is created on external media, a clear space of 22 GB on HD of laptop may be sufficient.
2. Copy folders psdzdata and E-Sys_3.18.4 into BMWInstall (Look at the BMWInstall Folder attached image).
3. Also copy Setup_3.18.4-47.4.v1.bat, EDIABAS.INI and Esys.Properties files into the same folder.
4. Double click on Setup_3.18.4-48.3.v1.bat. It will install the complete software with correct settings to your laptop if the folders names are correct. Enter the password for E-Sys when asked. Installation time may vary from few minutes to several minutes. Don’t interrupt the process, let it run and finish. You are good to go now.

Preparation for coding:

1. It’s a good practice to shut off any wireless or Bluetooth service on the laptop. Let just laptop and car talk to each other with no external interference.
2. As a precaution, disable any firewall on the laptop. I don't even like any anti virus software as their behavior is not well known, better disable them.
3. It is preferred to start with fully charged batteries of laptop and car as no interruption can be tolerated during transfer of data from laptop to Car.

Setting up the token to E-Sys:
This step is not needed if you have used the attached installer.

1. Launch E-Sys by double clicking its shortcut on desktop. It might take a minute to start, have patience.
2. Select Options > Settings > EST
3. Click on the browse button with three dots ( … ) and navigate to EST folder. If automatic installation was done, it should be at C:\ESysData\EST
4. Select file “******.est” and click OK.

ENET cable testing with Car:

1. Connect ENET cable between car’s OBD port and network port of laptop.
2. Switch on the ignition of the car, don’t start the engine.
3. You will notice laptop tries to connect to the car. Wait a few minutes until the network icon on laptop shows a Connection with the yellow exclamation point over it.
4. Launch "C:\EDIABAS\Hardware\ENET\ZGW_SEARCH.exe" to verify cable and connection are working. IP Address, MAC Address, & VIN will be displayed in a separate window. That shows that communication between car and laptop can be established with the used ENET cable. It may be useful to create a desktop shortcut for starting ZWG_SEARCH every time. ZGW_SEARCH may not work on Win 7, try running under Windows XP compatibility mode by right clicking on its exe file and selecting the correct mode.

First time full backup of Car’s configuration files:

It’s a good practice to take a full back up of Car’s setting before any changes are made to the car. This would help reverting back to original settings in case a mistake is made or it is desired to go back to original settings of any or all features.

1. Connect ENET cable between car’s OBD port and network port of laptop.
2. Switch on the ignition of the car, don’t start the engine.
3. You will notice laptop tries to connect to the car. Wait a few minutes until the network icon on laptop shows a Connection with the yellow exclamation point over it.
4. Press connect button on top row of E-Sys to connect car with the laptop.
5. It opens up a popup, select the correct TargetSelector, e.g . F025 and not F025_DIRECT, select "connection via VIN" and press Connect.
6. Click Ok when connection established.
7. Select “Expert Mode” on the left pane and click on “Coding” button.
8. In Vehicle Order Box (upper left), click on “Read” button., it would display FA of your car.
9. Go to SVT Actual Box (right pane, midway down) and click on “Read(VCM)” button.
10. SVT box will display SVT of different modules of your car, some with green bullets. These green CAFD files are of our interest.
11. Right click on each green CAFD and click on “Read Coding data”. Afre codes are read, green icon will change into a folder icon.
12. Read all the green CAFD files one by on or,select multiple by holding the Ctrl key of keyboard and read Coding data by right clicking..
13. Check the folder “C:\ESysData\CAF”, this will contain all the read CAFD files.
14. Copy and Save all the files in a safe place. These are your original CAFD files.
15. You can use utility "Copy_CAF_v2.bat" , copy it anywhere on your laptop and double click on it to automatically save the files under a Folder “C:\My_CAF_Files “ with date and time stamp.

Coding CAFD files:

1. Follow 1 to 9 steps of above topic.
2. Expand the folder of any read CAFD of a module that you would like to edit with the changes as shown on the cheat file.
3. Right click on the CAFD file and click “Edit FDL”. Enter the pin if asked.
4. Open the module you wanted to edit, click on the Functionen folder, ausgelessen folder of the selected function will show the current settings.
5. Change them as per Cheat Sheet and Save.
6. To be on the safer side, edit only one module at a time.
7. After making all changes in the module as per the cheet sheet for that function, save and go back by pressing top extreme left green arrow “back” button.
8. Now you can see FA again. Right click on it and “Activate FA”. You will see a green active text next to FA. Also FP will open on the right side.
9. Select the edited CAFD file on SVT box and Click on “Code FDL” in coding box on right.
10. Coding process will start and should end with no errors.
11. Take a backup of all the CAFD files again and save in a different folder. Best way is to use “Copy_CAF_v2.bat”. Copy it any where on your laptop and just double click on it, all will be done for you and files will be saved under a new date time stamped folder.
12. Great, you coded one module. Disconnect E-Sys by clicking on top Connect button which is showing a red x. You are done.
13. Test the car for the changed feature. Some features require 15 -30 minutes to get activated where as some are instant and few need you to switch off the and lock the car and unlock and start.

Note : Use the following batch files with your SW and data:
Use Setup_3.18.4-48.3.v1.bat for fresh installation. This installs E-Sys and plugs the data.
Use Uninstall_ESYS_with_data.bat to clean the installation

Note : As the site does not accept .bat files, an .pdf extension has been added to such files, remove .pdf extension and use them.

It shows Tree view of the BMWInstall folder on left and shows Folder view on the right.

[lbjgh]

Unbelievable work april1!

Thank you.

I might even give this a go now.

[April1]

Originally Posted by lbjgh

Unbelievable work april1!

Thank you.

I might even give this a go now.

Yesterday late night at 3 am finished writing and testing the installer and thought of sharing with all immediately.

[JoeyO]

Wait a sec. That's "made easy"? I'd like to see your steps for something made difficult.

[April1]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

Wait a sec. That's "made easy"? I'd like to see your steps for something made difficult.

More difficult steps:

1. Wash the car after coding so that your codes are clean too.
2. Better to take out all the 4 wheels before coding as you would be sure that car won't run away.
3. Don't load with more codes, mph will go down.

...more for your imaginations...

[lbjgh]

So April1,

Would there be any issues using a netbook running win7 32bit to code my car?

thanks,
lbjgh

[April1]

Originally Posted by lbjgh

So April1,

Would there be any issues using a netbook running win7 32bit to code my car?

thanks,
lbjgh

I don't anticipate any issue if you have enough free space.

Infact, Shawn, one of the pioneers in coding Fxx series, has hinted that probably we can further reduce space requirement by 15GB.

[BMWLVX]

After reading around on some of the coding forums the last few days, I can definitely say that this is one of the more concise step by step guides in one place. Thanks April1!

[April1]

Originally Posted by BMWLVX

After reading around on some of the coding forums the last few days, I can definitely say that this is one of the more concise step by step guides in one place. Thanks April1!

Thanks.

Please note Setup file has been modified to save space on HD and to reduce installation time. This is the most upto date instruction available on any forum now.

[Fryguy29]

Thanks so much for posting this. This is very helpful and represents a lot of time on your part. We all appreciate it. And people thought the forum would decrease in quantity when Lotus7 left....HA!

That being said. I am glad you posted this, it is likely not for me, given the complexity.

Can this be done with a Mac. My guess is no, but I thought I would ask. I know I can run Windows on my Macbook, but i'd rather not.

[BMWLVX]

I installed esys successfully on a mac running Parallels with Windows 7 Ultimate.

[plymjack]

Going to give this a go... anyone else in the SW UK want to team up on this then I am happy to work with another,

Looking to
1. make wipers auto on Default
2. Main beam auto on Default

Anyone have the cheats for theses to add to the cribb sheet?

[gareth3685]

Originally Posted by plymjack

Going to give this a go... anyone else in the SW UK want to team up on this then I am happy to work with another,

Looking to
1. make wipers auto on Default
2. Main beam auto on Default

Anyone have the cheats for theses to add to the cribb sheet?

1. Haven't seen the option for this anywhere.

2. F10/F11 X FRM 3050 FLA_AUTO_AKTIV aktiv / Werte=01 nicht_aktiv / Werte=00 Set High Beam Assistant Defaukt to Automatic on (is for F10/F11 but worth checking as most settings are the same as F25)

[BMWs]

Excited to start coding once my cable arrives! This will be my first time coding a BMW but have used VAG-COM to code my Audi A4 with many changes. Question, can you use this software to read fault (check engine) codes or reset service intervals, etc like with VAG? Also I don't see the seat belt chime disable on the cheat sheet if someone can post. Thanks!

[gareth3685]

Originally Posted by BMWs

Excited to start coding once my cable arrives! This will be my first time coding a BMW but have used VAG-COM to code my Audi A4 with many changes. Question, can you use this software to read fault (check engine) codes or reset service intervals, etc like with VAG? Also I don't see the seat belt chime disable on the cheat sheet if someone can post. Thanks!

Do a search for the F30 cheat sheet, pretty much the same as F25 and 3 pages of codes (rather than the 1 for F25).

[April1]

Originally Posted by BMWs

... I don't see the seat belt chime disable on the cheat sheet if someone can post. Thanks!

I didnt list Seat Belt chimes as it didnt work on many X3 versions, reason is not yet known. In one case a visit to dealer was needed.

The list included in my post is for beginners to start and get confidence first before venturing into other features. I purposely kept the list very short.

[April1]

Originally Posted by plymjack

Going to give this a go... anyone else in the SW UK want to team up on this then I am happy to work with another,

Originally Posted by BMWs

Excited to start coding .............

That was the purpose of the thread.

[cadman50]

April1, is it possible to make the clock time easier to read in the Nav screen thru coding? With the grey background it is not easy to see. Maybe make it bolder and/or change the grey background.

[flexfft]

Is it possible to disable the side marker lights through any of these coding options? (the amber lights on the side of the xenons that always stay on). If someone that is going through this now could confirm it would be greatly appreciated.

[ingook]

Thank you very much for your great guide!

[scs-X3]

Thanks for your work, this helped clear up and simplify the instructions on the F30 board.

[April1]

Thanks mgoblue62 for suggesting better descriptions in few steps, I updated them.

More such suggestions are welcome.

The purpose for the post is:

1. Simplify the procedure for coding
2. All at one place
3. Software installation through click of a button
4. Automatic backup with date time stamp