Search BMW Scanner 1.4. The software is free and Windows based but the hardware (basically a cable with a decoder on it) can be found for less than $20.

 

PA soft is good I also have the Foxell 510 for eye I don’t want to deal with the computer

 

Take a look here:

IMPORTANT LINKS

 

If only we could route every new member through this list before they can post.

 

Ista d is the best

 

I'm interested too thwackdown. I looked at the links provided, but those don't seem to address the question about a basic code reader. The OBD Fusion might, but the thread is 10 years old.

 

Folks, please do some searching. If you search for OBD Fusion, you would learn that among the folks in this forum, it's the most popular way to gather data over a time period (not just a single timestamp, but a time range) to debug issues such as fuel trim, misfires, MAF, Cats, etc. BMW Scanner is a relatively inexpensive way to read BMW and generic OBD codes. How to Install BMW Standard Tools provide a complete (free) software suite so that you can read BMW specific and generic OBD codes and additionally code the various modules for your car. Since the software is free, all you need is a $40 cable and a spare Windows laptop. A $50 eBay Windows laptop would do. For <$100, you're never going to find a code reader that can do all this.

That is why this information is all contained in the Important Links

You get much more bang for your $$ compared to buying a basic code reader for arguably less money.

 

Check out bimmerlink.

 

I don’t think BimmerLink supports E46.

BimmerLink - The direct link to your BMW or MINI.

www.bimmerlink.app

 

I need to pick of a code reader, but looking for the best bang for the buck to get me going in the right direction.

For reading and clearing OBDII Codes, I use the U480. For coding options and accessing other modules, BMW Scanner 1.4 and a Windows XP laptop works wonders.