[toy4two]

I recently purchased a 2011 e90 sedan. I installed some LED headlamps and get these annoying warnings constantly on the dash.

Then I saw some YouTuber hawking "Carly" and I fell for it. Got it all connected and talking to my car via my iPhone, read some diagnostic codes off the car and thought this is great. Purchased the full blown version for $89 a year and proceeded to turn off the voltage checks.

"We're sorry your FRM has a rare firmware error we will brick your interior lighting modules if we continue"

So of course I cancel it and contact Carly for a refund, NOPE sorry you bought it on App Store so we can't refund you

I'm pretty upset with this crappy company who takes your money first THEN checks if you car can be coded.

Enough with this Carly junk, so what options do I have?

1. My car has a warranty, can I go to a dealer and ask them for a replacement FRM without a firmware issue or can they update it so Carly will work?
2. Ask the dealer to code out the LED headlight errors? Do they do this?
3. Would another program do what Carly can't and code out my LED errors?
4. Pay someone in the Southern California area I can pay to do this for me?

[sdbmwcoding]

Don't you have the option in Carly to force code?

That Carly check is not always correct, it is true that frm3's which your car comes with is faulty and can brick/fail when coding. But it doesn't happen to all frm3's. I've coded frm modules on cars that said the frm was fault on Carly with ncs expert without any issues. I have also seen it be correct and the frm failed after coding it with Ncs expert.

You cannot take the car to the dealer and have them replace the frm since it is currently in working condition. You'd need to have it failed first for them to warranty it. There are a few ways an frm can fail:

1. Disconnecting battery: causes frm to reboot, faulty frm's will not power back on.
2. Coding the frm: causes frm to reboot, faulty frm's will not power back on.
3. Scanning the frm: causes frm to reboot, faulty frm's will not power back on.

If you'd like to check if the frm is truly faulty then disconnect the battery and reconnect it. If the car works just like it did prior to disconnecting the battery then the frm module is fine. If the turn signals, cluster lights and windows don't work and you have a lighting malfunction on the idrive/dash then it failed and you can go to the dealer to get it replaced under warranty.

[opjose]

Carly does have an option to disable that check.

From what I read it seems that the battery disconnection test is not a good test.

The damage is done to the faulty frm boot loader when it is coded hence the Carly warning for those revisions that may be affected.

In other words you can disconnect the battery without issues for as many times as you like (clearing any codes that may arise). But until you CODE the FRM the issue Carly warns about may occur.

[sdbmwcoding]

Originally Posted by opjose

Carly does have an option to disable that check.

From what I read it seems that the battery disconnection test is not a good test.

The damage is done to the faulty frm boot loader when it is coded hence the Carly warning for those revisions that may be affected.

In other words you can disconnect the battery without issues for as many times as you like (clearing any codes that may arise). But until you CODE the FRM the issue Carly warns about may occur.

Faulty eeprom data will cause it to crash when it reboots. Disconnecting the battery causes the frm to reboot same way coding and scanning the frm causes it to reboot. It is why one of the biggest causes of frm failure i see from my clients and online is battery failing or battery being disconnected. Not everyone codes their car but eventually everyone replaces a battery or disconnects it for some reason.

[opjose]

When Carly codes the FRM it detects the revision and throws the error.

However if the user continues Carly's developers say that the FRM write attempt will corrupt the boot loader and when the write finishes the FRM reboots, never coming back up.

In other words it is not that people can drive around with already bricked FRM modules which the battery disconnection test requires.

Unless you mean that the battery disconnection and reconnection itself causes the corruption.

That said I got this from a discussion with the Carly people a couple of years ago and I do not claim any authority.

I have not seen any references to a dead battery or battery removal alone causing eeprom corruption but you may know better.

[sdbmwcoding]

Originally Posted by opjose

When Carly codes the FRM it detects the revision and throws the error.

However if the user continues Carly's developers say that the FRM write attempt will corrupt the boot loader and when the write finishes the FRM reboots, never coming back up.

In other words it is not that people can drive around with already bricked FRM modules which the battery disconnection test requires.

Unless you mean that the battery disconnection and reconnection itself causes the corruption.

That said I got this from a discussion with the Carly people a couple of years ago and I do not claim any authority.

I have not seen any references to a dead battery or battery removal alone causing eeprom corruption but you may know better.

From what I've seen all it checks is the software version prior to coding. From all the frm's I've seen failed and later repaired, they all share the frm3.c32 software version. I'm 90% sure that is all Carly checks for since it seems to be the one that has the eeprom issue. I've also seen the Carly check be incorrect and I was able to successfully code a customers car with the same message as OP with ncs expert without any issues. So I know for certain that their check is not 100% correct, I've seen it on multiple different vehicles. I'd say in my experience half were correct and half weren't.

Your frm works completely fine with the faulty eeprom data until it reboots. Once it reboots, the eeprom data will not allow it to power on causing the bricked Frm. So cars can be driving around with a faulty frm (already corrupt but still working because it hasn't rebooted) module but not know until it gets rebooted which is caused by either coding or scanning the frm or disconnecting the battery which all causes the frm to reboot itself. I've had frm's fail in all 3 instances.

[toy4two]

sounds like I should ignore the Carly warning the day of my visit to the dealership for warranty work, if it works go ahead and disconnect the battery after coding and see if it boots. I'll be at the dealership anyway so hopefully they cover it. Failing that I'll hire it out.

Just scheduled work for 2 weeks from now at Dealership will see how it goes.

[opjose]

You will not need to disconnect the battery after coding.

If the eeprom is corrupted by the coding you will know it right away.

The last thing Carly does is reboot the module so the coding can take effect, that is the point you find out if there is an issue.

As SD said above the revision check is not accurate, though the risk is yours if you proceed.

[CDirks]

I use Bimmercode instead of Carly, but also get the same corrupt FRM warnings. It sounds like that warning is triggered by the app seeing a specific software version on the FRM, right? So even if I could confirm proper operation through NCS coding and rebooting, there is no way to eliminate that error message in Bimmercode aside from using the Expert settings?

[sdbmwcoding]

Originally Posted by CDirks

I use Bimmercode instead of Carly, but also get the same corrupt FRM warnings. It sounds like that warning is triggered by the app seeing a specific software version on the FRM, right? So even if I could confirm proper operation through NCS coding and rebooting, there is no way to eliminate that error message in Bimmercode aside from using the Expert settings?

You can most likely update the frm with winkfp and it shouldn't give you any more errors in the apps if all the apps check for is the c32 software version.

[90c4]

Argue it with the app store. I bought Carly several years ago before it was subscription and ended up not needing it - was going to use it to check a car I ended up not looking at - and was refunded by Google (I'm on android). Interestingly, I still have the app and it still works

[toy4two]

I wound up using Carly the day before my dealership visit to utilize the last month of my warranty just in case. Carly said it would brick my footwell unit, but I proceeded anyway, and it worked. Coded what I needed. It scary because when its coding you don't get the usual Carly progress bar, it just sits there, so leave the car running for the battery and don't touch anything for 5 minutes just to be safe while its programming. Shut off car and you're set.

its not 100% perfect, like getting the angel eyes to be DRLs but its good enough.

If you do buy carly buy it direct, DO NOT BUY FROM APP STORE, as Carly will give you a refund but can't help if you purchase through Apple / Google.

[roadkillrob]

Or buy bimmercode or bimmergeeks protool, both are a better deal as they don't use a subscription license and the dongles are cheaper.