BT tool

dzenno · 05-25-2011, 10:19 AM

EDIT: BT tool has issues in the latest version with connections and blank screens. This was initially misdiagnosed as a Cobb flash issue and was determined not to be the case.

For now, if you're using the BT tool, use the link below to get the last stable version.

vasillalov · 05-25-2011, 10:24 AM

Wow! That's some serious overlooking on behalf of Cobb. My BT tool worked fine prior and after installing GIAC S1. Used it multiple times, including after getting my ECU reflashed from BMW with ISTA 2.40.2. So something ain't right with the Cobb flash...

I have not plugged my BT after installing Cobb, but it would be horrible if it continues to eat licenses...

dzenno · 05-25-2011, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasillalov

Wow! That's some serious overlooking on behalf of Cobb. My BT tool worked fine prior and after installing GIAC S1. Used it multiple times, including after getting my ECU reflashed from BMW with ISTA 2.40.2. So something ain't right with the Cobb flash...

I have not plugged my BT after installing Cobb, but it would be horrible if it continues to eat licenses...

Its not even about eating licenses, why isn't it restoring back to 100% original software which it backs up initially? Bummer..

vasillalov · 05-25-2011, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dzenno

Its not even about eating licenses, why isn't it restoring back to 100% original software which it backs up initially? Bummer..

Well, it *could* be restoring the portions it updates, but I have the suspicion that the BT tool performs some sort of a check sum on a region of the ECU to determine if it needs to use a new license or if it should use one of its existing license allowances. If only one bit is wrong, then the checksum won't match, forcing it to use a new license...

I am definitely curious to find out more.

As a side question: how can you see how many licenses has the BT tool used up to date?

dzenno · 05-25-2011, 10:44 AM

Don't think you can look at how many its used...

I doubt it'd be a checksum as that has potential a lot of screw up potential as you reflash and upgrade software...i think our VINs don't get restored maybe to the car the way they were there before?

I really think Cobb's flash has their VIN number somewhere in there

Alan l. · 05-25-2011, 10:48 AM

Hmm if this is the case I might be on my last vin. I certainly hope not as i planned to either use the BT tool on my next car or sell it with one last vin slot. Keep us posted.

Alan

vasillalov · 05-25-2011, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dzenno

Don't think you can look at how many its used...

I doubt it'd be a checksum as that has potential a lot of screw up potential as you reflash and upgrade software...i think our VINs don't get restored maybe to the car the way they were there before?

I really think Cobb's flash has their VIN number somewhere in there

You know what's interesting... Come to think of it, when I first tried to install my Cobb, the AP told me that "Previous install detected! Press continue to uninstall." This was very weird because at that time I was running stock ECU with latest BMW firmware at that time. The install went fine after that, it was just a weird message I saw....

I wonder if COBB and BT use different portions of the ECU to do their business...

zeenon53 · 05-25-2011, 11:44 AM

I would imagine if a tool as simple as the BT tool can detect that "something" happened BMW would be able to as well. Which brings up the question, is this tune really undetectable by BMW?

pHo_e92 · 05-25-2011, 12:09 PM

good thing you brought this up dzenno. ive had my cobb for over 3 months now and for the first time i was unable to install my AP because my rom apparently become unsupported. when my software was updated i was able to install my ap just fine, but when i took my car in to have my rims looked at last week, just to be safe i un-installed my ap and ever since was not able to install it again. i emailed cobb about this yesterday and now waiting.

forza1976 · 05-25-2011, 12:10 PM

wow, well if the BT tool knows I bet the dealer would know too... Something racey and I were just chatting about. makes you wonder?

OpenFlash · 05-25-2011, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeenon53

I would imagine if a tool as simple as the BT tool can detect that "something" happened BMW would be able to as well. Which brings up the question, is this tune really undetectable by BMW?

Of course it's not. Absolutely no flash is invisible if the dealership were to actually look.

marv85 · 05-25-2011, 12:20 PM

Thanks for the heads up. I won't be using my BT tool for a while... Keep us updated

acdHQK713K · 05-25-2011, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dzenno

Just to give everyone a heads up. Do not plug your BT tool back in if you've switched flash tunes or it will be bricked. I'll open a ticket with Cobb and BT to get this issue resolved as I now can't use the BT tool. I get the exceeded the 3 car limit on the Enthusiast version of the cable and it tells me to get the pro version. I don't know why this happened as I was convinced that the Cobb AP backs up and restores the "exact" software back to the car that used to be there before it was installed. This is obviously not the case. I use the BT tool every once in a while and to me this is now quite a hassle as the tool might need to be shipped back to BT for a fix.

How did I manage to exceed 3? Well first one was my car, 2nd was me scanning a friend's car forgetting about the 3-vin locking feature on the cable so I was left with one extra. I recently got the Cobb AP flash to try on my car and I datalogged a few times with the BT tool. By the way a few functions of the BT tool didn't work any longer with Cobb on the car.

And this morning, with Cobb unistalled since a few days ago running procede 5-10, the BT tool gave me the VINs exceeded error

I had this issue a few weeks ago. Swapped computers and the BT tool worked again. I have no idea why that happened. My BT tool should have no VINs left. I will try it out today and see what it says.

topspin · 05-25-2011, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeenon53

I would imagine if a tool as simple as the BT tool can detect that "something" happened BMW would be able to as well. Which brings up the question, is this tune really undetectable by BMW?

I assume you're asking if the dealer can detect a change even if you reflash with the original version of the software previously backed up.

Unless something is wrong with the BT tool the reflash doesn't restore the exact same image to the ECU as the BT saw previously.

It would really suck if this is true and the dealers start picking up on whats going on.

vasillalov · 05-25-2011, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shiv@vishnu

Of course it's not. Absolutely no flash is invisible if the dealership were to actually look.

I would have to disagree with that. You can make a flash that completely dumps the entire ECU and all controllers into a file. Yeah, it is long process and noone is currently doing it, but it is most definitely doable.

OneThreeFive · 05-25-2011, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasillalov

As a side question: how can you see how many licenses has the BT tool used up to date?

I remember it being under one of the menus at the top, I believe one of the options from the Help menu.

vasillalov · 05-25-2011, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneThreeFive

I remember it being under one of the menus at the top, I believe one of the options from the Help menu.

Ahaa! I'll have to give it a try! Thanks for the tip.

Rob@Cobb · 05-25-2011, 01:46 PM

There is absolutely no doubt that we 100% restore the original factory data when the AP is uninstalled. We leave no trace of our flash when the AP is uninstalled.

Cheers,
Rob

sonorous · 05-25-2011, 02:18 PM

Have you contacted Bavarian Technic yet? I don't have Cobb but did have the same issue. For me it was a bad version of the PC software (1.8.3.1) that was causing the problem. It was pulled from their site and fixed in a later version. I downloaded the latest version and the problem stopped. Check which software you have and then try the latest...

dzenno · 05-25-2011, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob@Cobb

There is absolutely no doubt that we 100% restore the original factory data when the AP is uninstalled. We leave no trace of our flash when the AP is uninstalled.

Cheers,
Rob

I think there are some incompatibilities between the a Cobb flashed ECU and the BT diagnostic tool. I tried datalogging the car with the BT tool the other day when Cobb was still on the car and BT tool couldn't get into the "Actual Values" part of the screen and it also couldn't read out any codes. Do you know why that would be?

dzenno · 05-25-2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonorous

Have you contacted Bavarian Technic yet? I don't have Cobb but did have the same issue. For me it was a bad version of the PC software (1.8.3.1) that was causing the problem. It was pulled from their site and fixed in a later version. I downloaded the latest version and the problem stopped. Check which software you have and then try the latest...

Yes, a ticket is open with them and we're working it out. Eventually the cable will be reset and we'll find out why exactly this happened on my car so it can be prevented in the future..

CosmosMpower · 05-25-2011, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob@Cobb

There is absolutely no doubt that we 100% restore the original factory data when the AP is uninstalled. We leave no trace of our flash when the AP is uninstalled.

Cheers,
Rob

Can the dealer still see that the ECU was modified if not as indepth as how or what changed?

Also what does the BT tool do, just reset ECU codes etc right? I thought the AP already had that function build in?

05-25-2011, 10:19 AM	#1
dzenno Banned 287 Rep 5,876 Posts Drives: Join Date: Feb 2006 iTrader: (1)	BT tool - vins exceeded EDIT: BT tool has issues in the latest version with connections and blank screens. This was initially misdiagnosed as a Cobb flash issue and was determined not to be the case. For now, if you're using the BT tool, use the link below to get the last stable version. Last edited by dzenno; 05-25-2011 at 07:11 PM..
	Appreciate 0 Tweet Quote

05-25-2011, 10:24 AM	#2
vasillalov Mad Linux Guru On The Loose 1198 Rep 5,455 Posts Drives: 2008 335i Sedan, 2023 M3 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Chicago, IL iTrader: (5) Garage List 2023 BMW M3 [0.00] 2008 335i E90 [8.00]	Wow! That's some serious overlooking on behalf of Cobb. My BT tool worked fine prior and after installing GIAC S1. Used it multiple times, including after getting my ECU reflashed from BMW with ISTA 2.40.2. So something ain't right with the Cobb flash... I have not plugged my BT after installing Cobb, but it would be horrible if it continues to eat licenses... __________________
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-25-2011, 10:44 AM	#5
dzenno Banned 287 Rep 5,876 Posts Drives: Join Date: Feb 2006 iTrader: (1)	Don't think you can look at how many its used... I doubt it'd be a checksum as that has potential a lot of screw up potential as you reflash and upgrade software...i think our VINs don't get restored maybe to the car the way they were there before? I really think Cobb's flash has their VIN number somewhere in there
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-25-2011, 10:48 AM	#6
Alan l. Major General 5841 Rep 9,066 Posts Drives: 2020 F95 X5M Competition Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: United States iTrader: (9)	Hmm if this is the case I might be on my last vin. I certainly hope not as i planned to either use the BT tool on my next car or sell it with one last vin slot. Keep us posted. Alan __________________
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-25-2011, 11:44 AM	#8
zeenon53 Major 44 Rep 1,155 Posts Drives: BMW Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: obx iTrader: (3)	I would imagine if a tool as simple as the BT tool can detect that "something" happened BMW would be able to as well. Which brings up the question, is this tune really undetectable by BMW?
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-25-2011, 12:09 PM	#9
pHo_e92 Captain 32 Rep 878 Posts Drives: SGM e92 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: 905 iTrader: (4) Garage List 2008 BMW 335i [7.26] 2000 BMW 323i [6.00] 1997 Honda Civic HB [10.00] 2007 BMW X5 4.8 [10.00]	good thing you brought this up dzenno. ive had my cobb for over 3 months now and for the first time i was unable to install my AP because my rom apparently become unsupported. when my software was updated i was able to install my ap just fine, but when i took my car in to have my rims looked at last week, just to be safe i un-installed my ap and ever since was not able to install it again. i emailed cobb about this yesterday and now waiting. __________________ 08 335i \| Space Gray \| Burl Walnut Wood Trim \| Sport pkg \| Premium Pkg \| LOGIC7 \| Navi \| Comfort Access \| COBB \| Injen DCI \| Active Autowerke \| Sonic Tuning \| E92 Lighting \| ER \| HKS \| BMS \| Ground Control \| Vortex Tuning \|
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-25-2011, 12:10 PM	#10
forza1976 Major General 3514 Rep 6,627 Posts Drives: BMW Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: 49456 iTrader: (13) Garage List 2022 BMW M3X [9.50]	wow, well if the BT tool knows I bet the dealer would know too... Something racey and I were just chatting about. makes you wonder?
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-25-2011, 12:20 PM	#12
marv85 Colonel 71 Rep 2,626 Posts Drives: '07 E92 335i MT Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (7)	Thanks for the heads up. I won't be using my BT tool for a while... Keep us updated __________________ '18 F80 M3 Comp 6MT - Stock '07 E92 335i 6MT- HP650, inlets/outlets, ER FMIC, VRSF CP, LPFP stg2, CSF rad, 'is Aux rad, ER OC, Ohlins, M control arms, eibach front sway bar. '05 C55 AMG SOLD - '22 Tesla M3P \| '10 E92 335i M, 6MT \| '07 E90 335i, PTF COBB E50, FBO, HFS4
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-25-2011, 01:46 PM	#18
Rob@Cobb Lieutenant 41 Rep 468 Posts Drives: 2011 E92 335i ///M Pack Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Austin, TX iTrader: (0)	There is absolutely no doubt that we 100% restore the original factory data when the AP is uninstalled. We leave no trace of our flash when the AP is uninstalled. Cheers, Rob
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-25-2011, 02:18 PM	#19
sonorous Private First Class 14 Rep 124 Posts Drives: E90 335i Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY iTrader: (2)	Have you contacted Bavarian Technic yet? I don't have Cobb but did have the same issue. For me it was a bad version of the PC software (1.8.3.1) that was causing the problem. It was pulled from their site and fixed in a later version. I downloaded the latest version and the problem stopped. Check which software you have and then try the latest...
	Appreciate 0 Quote