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Which diagnostic tool for R56 cooper?

63K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  genus9 
#1 ·
Hi, I've got an R56 cooper 2006, had since (almost) new. It was one of the original demonstrator cars for the R56.

I want to buy a diagnostic thing to plug into the ECU and I was wondering if anyone knew which ones work on the R56?

I've been looking at eBay and most say they work on the R50/53 but don't specify the R56.

Can anyone help?

Thanks :)
 
#4 ·
I have downloaded an app for my iphone and iPad called DashCommand(£35 from AppStore), it's pretty useful. You can check error codes and clear them through the diagnostics function. It's feature packed and outputs OBDII information into a UI for more detailed information while your car is running.

The beauty about this app is I have it set up for both my BMW E90 MSport and my MCS R56 and can just select which car I'm driving and I get all the rich information from the sensors which are somewhat lacking in these cars, such as oil temp, water temp, IAT, boost pressure. There is a full list of what sensors are output for each car on the PalmerPerformance website.

More Information here on iOS DashCommand

There is also windows software and Android app I believe. But never used those.

If you have an iphone you will have to purchase a WIFI ELM327 OBDII reader/scanner, as the bluetooth ones don't work with iphone because of Apple's strict ruling with Bluetooth.

This is the one I got - purely for the right angled connection and the long lead so I can hide it out of the way. (although they have come down alot in price, i paid about £60 for mine a year ago).

If you use android, then I believe that you can just get a bluetooth OBDII reader, but you will have to research that, as I'm not an android user. For Windows you can use either. Come to think of it I have a Bluetooth one if you want it and can use it. I bought in error over a year ago thinking it would work with my iOS devices. I can easily send it to you.

Hope this information is helpful and useful to you. Let me know if you want anymore info.

Cheers

Dave
 
#5 ·
I started last year with an ELM327 (~£10 off eBay) wired into EasyObdII (again~£10) on my laptop primarily to monitor coolant temps since I had a fan-running problem. (the thermostat/temp sensor mismatch lark!)

Later I replaced the wired ELM327 with the bluetooth version (~£14 off eBay) and this worked as well as before since EasyObdII upgrade supported wireless bluetooth and did away with the lead stretched across the car.

(A confused friend sent his wi-fi ELM327 for me to find out 'what's wrong' 'cos he couldn't get it to work with his laptop. It looks exactly the same but seems a little more complex to set up. It's easy to confuse these; I think wi-fi ELM327 works for Apple and bluetooth ELM327 works with android apps and laptops/tablets.)

Getting an android phone I looked at trying to make the display less 'laptop-ish' so I kept my bluetooth ELM327 and substituted the EasyObdII + laptop for my phone with the Torque app (~£3). I monitor coolant temp, boost and intake temps (there are loads of others!) and can clear codes with it, apparently, although I have already done so successfully with EasyObdII and would prefer to stick with what I know 'works'. I have the best of both options and both allow me to collect data. (Again, I've done this with EasyObdII not Torque and would favour this known method.)

Hope my experience helps. IMO it's really important to keep an eye on R56 derivative temps...

(ps I leave my ELM327 attached to the OBD port permanently and the battery doesn't seem to 'mind'.)
 
#9 ·
when i was searching for a bluetooth obdII device, i found tons and was overwhelmed by the amount of choice and good and bad reviews. so maybe this helps? i'm running a Samsung galaxy S4 that has had android 4.4.2 and now 5.01 (lollipop) and both systems are compatible with this bluetooth adaptor, also i've tested it on an R50 and my current R56, works on both...

this one here, from amazon

also, for the app, i use torque pro loads of great reviews, for only £3 it's a lot cheaper and probably just as good as dashcommand, especially if it's just codes you want to look up.

anyways, hope it helps
 
#10 ·
I use Torque pro on my android sony and HTC phones which cost 3 quid for the app, bargain. It Has nice dash set up allowing me to see temp which we don't have thanks to the satnav dominating the center facia, revs, boost and a host of other dials you can custom call up.
I bought a 2 bluetooth dongles, 1 was 99p off eBay and the other a named make made by Kiwi.
To be honest, I can't tell the difference in performance, but the price was about 44 times more expensive. The cheap one is permanently plugged into the OBD socket and is great when the wife drives, as I can see what's going on the car live time.
Not cleared any codes on the mini yet as none showing, but I have on other cars that needed it and it's saved quite a few trips to the garage for them.
 
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