Voltage to maintain during coding/programming?

[parad0x]

Hey guys, I have access to four car chargers and I wanted to know which would be the best to use and why, and what usually is usually used at the dealership for coding, as well what is needed/used for programming for example on my e46 m3 2002.

I have access to a normal float charger with no settings on it, a portable car booster which I dont recall what settings if any on it, a normal car car that hooks up to the wall and has 6/12 volt settings and 2/6 amp settings on it, and finally I have access to a V.W. car battery charger which maintains a voltage of 13 volts, and adjusts current automatically to maintain that voltage, and is supposidly guaranteed to not drop below 12.5.

So let me hear some thoughts from you guys on the subject. Somebody has gotta know the recommended voltage to maintain, or the range to keep within?

Oh, one last question. It's more of a confirmation actually, just wanted to hear a confirmation a bi-xenon retrofit on a '02 m3 is actually a coding not programming?

[champaign777]

Schumacher SC-8000A
verry happy

[parad0x]

Schumacher SC-8000A
verry happy

what setting do you set that car charger to? and have you measured the voltage to see what it hovers around?

[P2Hakes]

finally I have access to a V.W. car battery charger which maintains a voltage of 13 volts, and adjusts current automatically to maintain that voltage, and is supposidly guaranteed to not drop below 12.5.

this, at the very least.
All the others you listed will not put out the amperage needed for coding/programming

[champaign777]

it keeps around 13V all time + my battery is a new Interstate
no more settings

[Robstah]

At least a 10A charger and higher if you have daytime running lights. Your voltage should not drop below 12V.

[parad0x]

I went down to my local bmw dealership and spoke with one of their mechanics. They claimed to be using +14v on the E46 m3 during programming/coding, so when I went to go plugin the V.W. battery maintener (they used this for their programming/coding) and powered on ignition which caused voltage to drop down to a steady 12.5volts. I didnt think this was optimal so I hooked up the one and only big boy battery booster they had, it had settings of 12volts-5 amps I think?, 12volts-15amps, and finally 12volts-40amps. I switched between 12volts-15amps and 12-volts-5amps I believe on the machine, and I was using my multimeter and I was able to maintain a 13.5-14 voltage rating.

I proceeded, and was successful with the retrofitting/coding. During the coding though, I was a bit curious what was meant when it mentioned something about a risk of my remote key memory needing programming or soemthing? And finally at the very end it mentioned something about going into Service Functions > Body > Electronic Immobilizer > enter retrofit and adding something at the very end of the coding when it completes. So when the coding completed successfully I went into diagnostics, clicked on I believe control modules or something like that, and found those sub-trees "Service Functions > Body > Electronic Immobilizer > enter retrofit " but when I clicked on "enter retrofit' finally, there was "None" in the next category so I was wondering if I was doing it wrong or if it does not need anything else?

I will mention when I first went into Diagnostics, it highlighted all the modules for me in black as always and put the "!" infront of all of them, but when it got to the LSZ light module, it had a "?" infront of the module instead of the common "!". Is there something I need to do else?
__________________

[joako]

Yes next time record the EXACT messages you are given!

[parad0x]

Yes next time record the EXACT messages you are given!

Hey joako nice to see your post, and to reply I actualy jotted down the important part of that message exactly as shown below.


Control Unit must be added Diagnosis
Service functions > body > electronic immobilizer > enter retrofit was the highlight of the message.

it mentioned after a successful coding I must do the above. This is all using dis v39 of course. Other then this concern, do you know what they were referring to about the key memory? It is the introductory warning before even coding, it popped up right after i selected LSZ Programming.

[o5moto5]

To be able run diagnostics for modules you retrofit that you vehicle didn't have earlier you need to add them through
Service functions > body > electronic immobilizer > enter retrofit
This means that the new modules are autorecognised.

If you only opened features for allready installed modules this is not needed.

Now back to threat topic: what is the voltage to maintain during conding/programming?

[parad0x]

To be able run diagnostics for modules you retrofit that you vehicle didn't have earlier you need to add them through
Service functions > body > electronic immobilizer > enter retrofit
This means that the new modules are autorecognised.

If you only opened features for allready installed modules this is not needed.

Now back to threat topic: what is the voltage to maintain during conding/programming?


I guess I didnt need to add anything, because when i went into that "enter retrofit" sub-category, there was "None" listed. I thought maybe I would have to re-add the module since changing it from halogen to bi-xenon sounded like a pretty big change.

But yes Getting back to the original topic, I think the voltage requirement is different on different generations/series as the mechanic phrased his response to me "On the E46 m3's we set the charger to +14v volt range." which was what bmw recommended like he told me. To as well add to that, he mentioned that the battery maintainer/charger they use is very adjustable in terms of voltage and amperage, and implied that they have different settings for different bmw vehicles as per my quote above.

I did tell him the chargers I had at my disposal, and he just told me to make sure that at bare minimum it does not drop below 13v for coding/programming. This was also a bit trickier for me as I have DRL's which were draining the amperage a little.

[joako]

Hey joako nice to see your post, and to reply I actualy jotted down the important part of that message exactly as shown below.

was the highlight of the message.

it mentioned after a successful coding I must do the above. This is all using dis v39 of course.

Super easy to take a screenshot from within vmware and then you know exactly what it said. I think the "something" part that you did not jot down was needed.



Other then this concern, do you know what they were referring to about the key memory? It is the introductory warning before even coding, it popped up right after i selected LSZ Programming.


Yes, you need to go and do car and key memory again -- all those settings have been reset to defaults (visual & audio alarm confirmations = on, recirculation memory = off, etc, etc, etc)

[o5moto5]

minimum voltage 12.6V according to
http://rapidshare.com/files/209922719/General_Rules_for_Programming___Coding.pdf

[Snowcatxx87]

SSS requires 14 IIRC.

[IcemanBHE]

I use a 13vDC Float charger....

Works fine...but Ive not done a DME reprogram either...those are the longest and most intensive

[stritarja]

The minimum stable voltage requirement is 12.6v, but to provide a stable 12.6v you need a regulated power supply that will supply about 45 amps without significant drops and/or peaks in voltage. A float or trickle charger is totally inadequate, and "fast" chargers that supply 12 or more amps aren't much better. Most "chargers" that provide up to 30 or 40 amps are also inadequate because they do not provide a stable output. Think regulated power supply, not charger, and expect to pay about $400. See for example the Midtronics MDTPSC550S.

[o5moto5]

The minimum stable voltage requirement is 12.6v .

This is a good note!

[e39dream]

At least a 10A charger and higher if you have daytime running lights. Your voltage should not drop below 12V. Everything that robstah has shared with me I have found to be true so I will back his thoughts on this.

I found voltage info about flashing DMEs in some conforti shark injector information, which also said 10A @ 12V charger is sufficient. I picked up a schumacher 50/10/2 amp charger at autozone and found the 10A setting puts out a nice stable 12.4 volts.

Worked just fine to recode my entire car.

[champaign777]

yap Schumacher is my friend as well ... never failed below 12.7v , usually keeps around 13v
I am using 80/30/2, maybe 10a is a bit low

[strobeyprobey]

I bought this regulated power supply from eBay for $32. It supplies 13.5V (adjustable) and 25 Amps.

http://cgi.ebay.com/180455569172

I have been using this supply for a week now while getting INPA/DIS/SSS setup and is working great. I had to add a power cord and clips to the battery, but you can't beat the price. Connect the supply to the AC power first, then the battery.