[FCaz]

New to BMW. Inherited a 2011 X3 with 200K+ miles and several gremlins. Next step is to replace/register a new battery and see if that cures some things (such as AC blower intermittent).

Purchased a K+DCAN cable and downloaded Standard tools at bimmer geeks. Followed the install instructions. Open INPA (5.0.6), and see that cable connects and registers ignition "on", but can't seem to get it to actually do anything - getting error messages (see examples below). Have downloaded the "F025" Sp-Daten file (is this the correct file for me?) and gone down some rabbit holes updating using the coding tool and WinKFP, but no affect on the INPA program. I must be missing something very elementary - some basic step I failed to take. It can't possibly be this complicated just to get INPA to register a new battery. I'm somewhat handy with computers and cars, but this BMW standard tools stuff is completely new to me. What am I missing?

Sample error codes:
"Error #100 SYS-0010: INITIALIZATION ERROR API job error or no such result!"
"Fehler! Gruppendatei: G_CAS.GRP IFH-0003: DATATRANSMISSION TO INTERFACE DISTRUBED."

[pungo]

Why are you trying to use INPA instead ISTA+ for a F25
AFAIK, you're using the wrong cable, you need an Ethernet OBDII cable for F series.

[FCaz]

Originally Posted by pungo

Why are you trying to use INPA instead ISTA+ for a F25
AFAIK, you're using the wrong cable, you need an Ethernet OBDII cable for F series.

Thanks for the reply. To answer your question: because I don't know the difference. As I said, I'm completely new to BMW jargon. I've downloaded what is available on the download page at bimmer geeks. I do not see ISTA+ there. If ISTA+ is available somewhere for download, I'm willing to give it a try. A week or so ago I had never heard of INPA or ISTA, much less which is newer/better/easier. As far as the cable, I ordered what was recommended reading posts here.

Like I said, the first step is to just replace/register a new battery, which I was hoping would be achievable with a free download somewhere. Getting a better read on whatever is making the CEL light up would be a bonus.

[FCaz]

Originally Posted by pungo

Why are you trying to use INPA instead ISTA+ for a F25
AFAIK, you're using the wrong cable, you need an Ethernet OBDII cable for F series.

Again, thanks so much for your reply. Is there any chance you can direct me in the right direction? Is there a place to obtain ISTA+ legitimately? Everything I've found looks super sketchy. I'm guessing that's the case, but posts here make ISTA+ sound like ubiquitous freeware, but I'm guessing I've been given the wrong impression?

If the only answer is that I've got to disable virus protection and trust some super-sketchy torrent site, or fork over $100+, I'll move on, but maybe I'm just stuck in some scammer loop and there's something or someplace obvious I've overlooked?

[pungo]

Everything you need can be found @bimmerfest in the "BMW Coding and Programming" forum.
Though you're not going to get very far without a proper Ethernet>OBDII cable

[FCaz]

Originally Posted by pungo

Everything you need can be found @bimmerfest in the "BMW Coding and Programming" forum.
Though you're not going to get very far without a proper Ethernet>OBDII cable

Thanks. I saw all of that, and that's what I was referring to. The links there are super sketchy torrent download links, most of which have been suspended for usage violation of some sort. I did find a forum for how to update my INPA for the F25, and to do it with the Ican cable, but in the end it still had gremlins, so I gave up. Found a OBD dongle supported by Bimmerlink that wasn't outrageously expensive (~$30), so with that and $40 for Bimmerlink, I was able to register a new battery (~$180).

The great news is that I was only $250 in to get a new battery registered, which did indeed fix my AC blower issue! Turns out the blower WAS being throttled by the electronics because of the old battery, just as I suspected, and came right back to life with the new battery! From there, I was able to bring the AC back to life with about 5oz of refrigerant.

So far, I'm less than $500 into this vehicle, and it's currently running without any pressing, immediate issue. Bimmerlink reported about 40 errors, but looks like a lot of them were related to power issues driven by the dying battery. I reset the errors and will check it again after a while and see what else I might be able to address without spending a lot more. I expect the CEL to come back on and find a lot I should do, but for now, so far, so good.

[pungo]

Originally Posted by FCaz

Thanks. I saw all of that, and that's what I was referring to. The links there are super sketchy torrent download links, most of which have been suspended for usage violation of some sort. I did find a forum for how to update my INPA for the F25, and to do it with the Ican cable, but in the end it still had gremlins, so I gave up. Found a OBD dongle supported by Bimmerlink that wasn't outrageously expensive (~$30), so with that and $40 for Bimmerlink, I was able to register a new battery (~$180).

The great news is that I was only $250 in to get a new battery registered, which did indeed fix my AC blower issue! Turns out the blower WAS being throttled by the electronics because of the old battery, just as I suspected, and came right back to life with the new battery! From there, I was able to bring the AC back to life with about 5oz of refrigerant.

So far, I'm less than $500 into this vehicle, and it's currently running without any pressing, immediate issue. Bimmerlink reported about 40 errors, but looks like a lot of them were related to power issues driven by the dying battery. I reset the errors and will check it again after a while and see what else I might be able to address without spending a lot more. I expect the CEL to come back on and find a lot I should do, but for now, so far, so good.

For sure, bimmerlink is the simpler solution, good you got the battery registered with it. I assume the capacity in mAh of the replacement battery was identical to the battery it replaced?
Yeah, I low battery can cause all kinda strange errors, hopefully the errors stay gone.

I set up inpa(E & F series), ista+, e-sys & NCSExpert using a DCAN and ethernet OBDII cables on a old laptop. Installation seemed pretty straight forward with no issues. With that, I can do custom coding, diagnostics/scanning/clearing. I maintain both E and F series so needed software & cables that supports both.

[FCaz]

Originally Posted by pungo

For sure, bimmerlink is the simpler solution, good you got the battery registered with it. I assume the capacity in mAh of the replacement battery was identical to the battery it replaced?
Yeah, I low battery can cause all kinda strange errors, hopefully the errors stay gone.

I set up inpa(E & F series), ista+, e-sys & NCSExpert using a DCAN and ethernet OBDII cables on a old laptop. Installation seemed pretty straight forward with no issues. With that, I can do custom coding, diagnostics/scanning/clearing. I maintain both E and F series so needed software & cables that supports both.

The closest I could find at the discount store was 95 Ah vs 90 Ah on the original battery, otherwise pretty much the same AGM battery. From what I recall, Bimmerlink only had a few pre-set options, and 95 was not one of them. From what I've read here, that's not enough of a difference to worry about, and I'm fine just registering it as the same battery. So far it hasn't been an issue at all. Thanks again for your replies.