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Thread: which cable for diagnostic?

  1. #1
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    which cable for diagnostic?

    I have a K+DCAN cable and 2001 530i. It's not working when I run ISTA. Do I have the wrong cable?

  2. #2
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    It should work. Most cables need to be modified with a connection between pin 7&8.

  3. #3
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    Do you have the cable with the switch that can bridge on-and-off pins 7 and 8 ?
    Do you install the INPA software on a Windows laptop ??

  4. #4
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    This cable does NOT have a switch. So wrong cable then? I was trying ISTA not INPA.
    Last edited by RickNickles; 01-19-2019 at 11:09 AM.

  5. #5
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    Not sure about your software, but you'll need to make sure pin #7 & 8 are shorted together.
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  6. #6
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    A K+DCAN cable with pins 7 and 8 shorted or bridged, should work with the INPA software.

    I recommend buying the cable with the switch -that can bridge on and off pins 7 and 8-, then download and install the INPA software (https://www.4shared.com/zip/VWi1bzg2ee/EasyBMWTools_Mikes_.html) on a Windows laptop.

    Then you are sure it will work on either the old or the newer BMW models with the different OBD connectors.

  7. #7
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    Is there a special name for the one with bridged 7-8 pins? Something I can search for on google.

  8. #8
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  9. #9
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    I recently bought this cable for my 2000 528 and have installed and run INPA successfully. The eBay listing shows ISTA as included.
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-K-DCAN-...0AAOSwK~VbLqQM

    Just a heads up, M52TU engine runs Siemens MS42 and I needed to buy a 16 to 20 pin adapter for this cable to work so I can’t say 100% it’ll work with your 530. I would ask the seller to confirm the pin 7/8 situation mentioned above.

    good luck

  10. #10
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    Personally, I fell into the same trap you did sort of and ended up buying whatever INPA cable was on Amazon for like $20. It ended up being one of the ones with out the jumper so I just opened it up (4 screws) and then soldered a little jumper onto the back of pins 7&8 and if I ever need to switch it back I just open it up and remove the jumper.
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  11. #11
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    Thanks guys. But I think the proper name is K-Line cable.... ?

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by RickNickles View Post
    Thanks guys. But I think the proper name is K-Line cable.... ?
    You’re right. You definitely want a K Line cable and if you check out the eBay link in my previous post you’ll see that the “K” in K+Dcan is an abbreviation for K Line.

    I want to help you as I’ve recently been wrapping my head around BMW software and the cables and I believe if you just ask the seller to confirm compatibility with M54 engine you have (Siemens MS43 engine management I believe), that cable should work fine.
    I don’t know what ISTA is but it is listed as included.
    Last edited by Sewciu; 01-20-2019 at 03:53 PM. Reason: Bad English

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by RickNickles View Post
    Thanks guys. But I think the proper name is K-Line cable.... ?
    If you look for a K-line cable, you'll end up with a KKL cable that will only work with VWAG products.

    You want a K+DCAN cable.

  14. #14
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    Why do pins 7 and 8 need to be soldered exactly? It seems weird to me that these tools are built for BMWs but won't work without the pins being soldered first.

  15. #15
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    Get the K+DCAN cable with the switch that can bridge on and off pins 7 and 8.
    Google "bmw k dcan cable switch".

  16. #16
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    Okey Dokey Artichokey.

    The cable you have most likely will work fine. There's alotta well-intentioned but ill-advised jumpin' to conclusions in this thread.

    First, the cable should work 100% with the DME regardless of whether 7&8 are bridged; second, it should never actually need those pins physically bridged (if its a proper K+DCAN cable); third, there's some other basic critical failure modes before running off and throwing money at other cables when this one very likely is fine...

    1. COM port assignment: Are you sure your software install is OK? Cable is on the COM port that your ISTA setup is looking for etc? You could order 100 cables and if you don't figure that out its never gonna work. Using INPA is the faster-booting simpler way to be sure your cable is basically working first. If you haven't installed INPA, you can take the package from "Mikes Easy BMW" or Bimmergeeks. Either of those installs are pretty bulletproof proven to install properly and work fine with a cable set up to use COM1. There's every chance this cable is getting assigned to COM27 or something and that's your problem. Get it on COM1, set latency to 1, and Bob is a sibling to of one of your parents.

    2. Test just DME: EVEN IF PIN 8 IS TOTALLY DISCONNECTED, the cable should work fine to scan the DME. See bit above about INPA. Install INPA, check the COM port, then try and scan just the DME. If you can scan the DME (and trans computer if the car is an auto) but not the in-car modules, then we are mostly in business, only then indeed is there some kind of pin-8 problem (more on this below).

    3. D vs K mode: If cable is on right COM port and software installed fine, and INPA still doesn't see the DME, then it ALSO could be that the cable in question is in "DCAN mode". For those K+DCAN cables, there's a software utility that comes with them to set the mode. This is what takes the place of the physical switch on some of the cables. Annoyingly you have to put the cable into the computer AND into a car, and then run the utility and then just respond to prompts, however once you do its not hard. None of this is documented or explained at all by most eBay sellers because they just buy these things in crates from some Chinese factory and barely know what the cables do. I will say, these cables mostly seem to arrive in K-mode by default, but not always, so... worth checking.

    Important Note About the "Solder it Up" advice:

    The mode-switching software (or physical switch on the other style cable) does more than just bridge and unbridge those pins. It changes software modes inside the cable (which ain't a dumb cable - it has quite a smart little CPU inside it).

    If you DO solder the pins (which again should be 100% unnecessary for a proper K+DCAN cable where the CPU is logically handling inputs on both pins), then that cable will always / only work in K-mode forever more. It won't work on say, an E90 that needs DCAN mode. If you use the software utility to switch modes (and the cable isn't bad of course...) then at some point in future, you can always easily switch it back and forth should you have a DCAN type car to scan. There's no reason to physically solder a cable like this at all when using the utility does the job fine.

    Quote Originally Posted by djb2 View Post
    If you look for a K-line cable, you'll end up with a KKL cable that will only work with VWAG products.
    Minor point but - not entirely DJ... the VAG cable works fine for the most part. If you want to use DIS or Progman (uggh) then those tools like to have ignition sense capability, but the VAG cables otherwise can work fine. Even for those there's an FTDI hack-around where you can fake ignition sense (essentially force the virtual pin output high in software) and make them work, but I'll grant you its much nicer to have a cable where the "dots" come on and off like they are supposed to.

    I use modded and unmodded VAG cables all the time and they work great. EDIT: Although I'll grant you're correct for OP who wants to use ISTA, I'm sure ISTA wants to see the ignition-sense...
    Last edited by geargrinder; 01-22-2019 at 07:56 AM.
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  17. #17
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    Exactly geargrinder, thanks for the detailed explanation.

    And that is why I use and recommend the K+DCAN cable with the switch.
    You can just flip the switch to work in DCAN vs K mode: No need to run that software utility in the car, and no soldering of pins either.

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