[knt]

The autocom is frequently recommended in this forum, but it is generally not available in the US. The eBay sellers are almost all in China. I'm also searching for the 'best' scanner under $100 that will cover more than the basic codes for the Mini. So far it looks like Innova has a few models in this price range.

AliExpress sells them

AliExpress - Online Shopping for Popular Electronics, Fashion, Home & Garden, Toys & Sports, Automobiles and More products - AliExpress

Passion shouldn't cost a fortune. On AliExpress, shop online for over 111 million quality deals on Fashion, Accessories, Computer Electronics, Toys, Tools, Home Improvement, Home Appliances, Home & Garden and more!

www.aliexpress.com

People also use BlueDriver

BlueDriver Scan Tool | BlueDriver

www.bluedriver.com

Worth checking on Amazon to see if any seller have them stocked in Amazon warehouse.

 

[knt]

I'm currently have use of Carly, Bimmercode, Autocom & Rheingold.

I have heard good thing about BlueDrive (but never used it myself) and cheaper than Carly and as it's Canadian company (I think) so should be easy to get hold of in USA.

 

[knt]

its a hard one i got autocom and wurth snooper and insta d and inpa also have access to latest snap on diagnostics which i like a lot really good to use so many functions that i know works, but the price £1000 start off point and that's no where near the top end one but does enough if you understand voltages and controllers and how they work etc, autocom and snooper can be hit and miss sometimes i had a Citroen not so long ago had a short circuit on thermostat housing and autoocm do not read it right ie -48 on coolant sensor so i ended up wasting a load of time thinking ecu fault or wiring and after going through the whole system to find with mulit meter every volat age was there and changes with heat and cold etc. was not until i spat my dummy out with it gave it to john at black magic to sort the ecu ie clone it as thought it was the internal control of it,, i left car there for few days as i had other stuff to do, when i collected it he said nothing wrong it all working as should seen on snap on it was , turned out the autocom was at fault, also cheap diagnostics can mislead when they dont read all codes

I can't really recommend Carly for BMW Pro for diagnostic purposes as it's costly since the developer changed to subscription based service, but it's easy to use for changing settings on different ECUs within the BMW & MINI platform.

BlueDriver is primarily a diagnostic tool and easily obtainable for people in the USA/CANADA region and within the price of a low end standalone scan tool.

 

[knt]

Went off topic, not sure if BlueDriver can do battery registration, but Carly for BMW Pro can.

 

[knt]

anyone noticed as soon as we talk about something selective adds pop in between our conversations, ha ha just knew it since new revamp of site must be getting its money from adverts now as well,

Yeah targeted advertising.