[BaliDawg]

If you have a smart phone or tablet, get an OBDII app and wireless adapter to see exactly what is going on with the engine fuel management system.

A quality OBDII tool supports the following:

• Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) in Pxxxx format (such as P0171)
• Individual emissions readiness monitors state
• Live display of parameters (such as RPM, O2 sensors, fuel trims, MAF)
• Freeze Frame parameters (stored when the CEL/SES light comes on)
• Log many parameters (capture problems encountered while driving)
• Export parameter logs in CSV file format
• Upload parameter logs to Dropbox for sharing

OBD Fusion and a proper OBDII adapter provide all these features, and are less than $40 for Apple iOS or less than $20 for Android. OBD Fusion is an app for your smartphone or tablet you use to to connect to your car for reading/clearing codes, viewing live engine data, logging engine data (for export and later analysis or plotting), viewing emissions readiness monitors, among other things. Here's a link to the OBD Fusion website.
OBD Fusion® - OBD2 Diagnostics for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch | OBDSoftware.net

See this video for an overview of using OBD Fusion.

OBD Fusion for Android - Google Play Store

‎OBD Fusion for iOS - Apple App Store

You'll need a wireless OBD adapter. The bluetooth LE one is by far the best.

VeePeak BT LE
A Bluetooth LE OBDII adapter works well on both Android and iOS, is more reliable than WiFi, supports higher speeds, but is more expensive. BT LE is not supported on older devices, so first check if your device supports BT LE.

Veepeak WiFi
A WiFi OBDII adapter works with both Android and iOS and is cheaper than BT LE. Some folks have had problems with it losing connection or connecting to other WiFi networks.

Veepeak Bluetooth
For devices other than Apple iOS, a standard Bluetooth OBDII adapter will work and is cheaper than WiFi or BT LE. It does not work on iOS as Apple doesn't support the serial port protocol that BT OBDII adapters use.

Configure OBD Fusion
Read this PDF document on how to configure OBD Fusion and use it to run a Diagnostic Report, log parameters, and share the logs.
https://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=651719&d=1489505619.
This write-up is Android specific. iOS support is similar, but the menu options may be slightly different.

Notes:

• we recommend OBD Fusion here as it has all the important features, is very reliable, reasonably priced, has excellent support from the developer, and properly supports many OBD PIDs that other apps don't. We have no affiliation with OBD Fusion or its developer OCTech, LLC.
• we recommend the VeePeak brand of OBDII adapters here as they've shown good quality, reliability, stand behind their products, reasonably priced, and readily available. We have no affiliation with VeePeak.

 

[BaliDawg]

Threw this in here so it can be pointed at after seeing jfoj having to copy/paste it into so many posts.

 

[74123]

I have OBD Fusion and TorqueLite on my Android devices. OBDFusion only gives you a max 4 lines on a single chart. TorqueLite gives you as many lines as you want side by side. I prefer to look at charts when looking at O2 sensors and fuel trims. I was looking at intake manifold pressure yesterday and TorqueLite couldn't see the data. OBDFusion could. Mind you that might be because TorqueLite is the free download. I might buy TorquePro and see ifit can see the IMP data stream. But it doesn't hurt to have the both of them.

 

[jfoj]

These engines do not have a MAP sensor of any kind. Any tool that shows any sort of intake vacuum is somehow deriving this based on other parameters. No exactly sure how in fact this value is derived or if it should even be displayed.

This is not the only time and only value I have seen when playing around with different tools or Apps. You always need to cross check and see what PID's are actually presenting data before you take what is displayed for gospel.

 

[LeverThis]

You'll need a wireless OBD adapter. The bluetooth LE one is by far the best.

Hey Bali,

For an Android phone, is there a benefit to having Bluetooth LE versus the regular Bluetooth obd2 adapter? Will BT LE be faster? Or is the benefit only vs the WiFi adapters (and being functional with iPhones)?

You mentioned in another thread that you have all three types, so wondering if it's worth upgrading from BT to BT LE on an android phone.

 

[BaliDawg]

For an Android phone, is there a benefit to having Bluetooth LE versus the regular Bluetooth obd2 adapter?

That’s a good question. I recall the BTLE seems faster, but I haven’t done any A-B tests to confirm that.

FWIW, I use both an 11” iPad Pro and a Nexus 6P phone for scanning and logging, depending on if I need a cellular signal or not. Because I’m switching them around a lot I haven’t paid enough attention to speed or responsiveness. The fact that BTLE works with newer iOS and Android devices and the WiFi adapter sometimes has problems, I usually use the BTLE most times.

 

[a65racing]

I'm sure my M54B30 engine has an oil temp sensor (on OFH near low pressure sensor) but so far not found an app that displays it.
Does OBD Fusion?

 

[BaliDawg]

The oil temperature isn‘t available to standard OBD tools. You can view it using INPA, BMW Scanner 1.4, Carly, or other BMW-specific adapters and software.

INPA

BMW Scanner 1.4

Carly

 

[74123]

I'm sure my M54B30 engine has an oil temp sensor (on OFH near low pressure sensor) but so far not found an app that displays it. Does OBD Fusion?

No. Not on Torque Pro either. I have an iCarsoft i910 hand held multi system BMW scanner that gives you dynamic coolant and oil temps. Relatively inexpensive.

 

[TobyB]

LE stood for Low Energy, initially-
the standard dongle will eventually drain the battery if left plugged in.
The LE version was supposed to fix that.

The bluetooth connection is so much faster than the car's data busses
that it really shouldn't be the limiting factor in how fast data is presented.

t
low energy

 

[a65racing]

Will Carly only work if you buy their £60 adaptor?
I already have one wifi obd2 + one BT obd2 + a cable shack obd2 to usb, i really dont want another!!

 

[BaliDawg]

Will Carly only work if you buy their £60 adaptor?

Yes, you need their adapter for E39, E46, E53, and other old generation BMWs.
I bought their WiFi Gen2 adapter a few years ago and use that.

Looks like they have a newer one.
https://shop.mycarly.com/en/adapter/a-1100/#technicaldata

 

[choularton]

Does Carly have many other important advantages over Fusion, Torque, others? I've been using a ScanTool LX and Torque Pro for a bit, and looking into options for greater diagnostic and monitoring capabilities. Looking into PASoft, etc., but that may be outside the purview of this thread. From what I'm gathering, I may need to get an adapter more specific to the e46 to maximize utility? Thanks for your original post and info.

*Edit: Just saw some of your other posts BaliDawg, more good info, thanks! Still need to do some reading on the differences between PASoft vs BMW Scanner, but [slowly] getting a better understanding of the different tools and which may be best for certain tasks.

 

[TheRiddle]

I miss Jailbreak on my Iphone, with that i was able to run Dashcommand, torque and all other apps with a china BT dongle and 0 problems..

now i transferred averything on Android tablet as Obd fusion can't be used on Iphone (with that dongle)

can you advise me on a 100% functional dongle for IOS use?
thanks

 

[BaliDawg]

Does Carly have many other important advantages over Fusion, Torque, others?

Carly, like BMW Scanner and INPA, is BMW-specific software.
OBD Fusion, Torque, and others are standard OBD software that work on any OBDII cars.

Looking into PASoft, etc., but that may be outside the purview of this thread. From what I'm gathering, I may need to get an adapter more specific to the e46 to maximize utility? Still need to do some reading on the differences between PASoft vs BMW Scanner

PA Soft is the company and BMW Scanner is the software/cable product they produced and sold. People get those names confused all the time. Get the cable and software here.
https://www.xcar360.com/bmw-scanner-1-4-0-car-diagnostic-interface-tool-code-reader.html

Look in the Important Links list for more info.

 

[choularton]

Awesome, appreciate the clarifications. Especially the bit on PA Soft and BMW scanner...can't even count the number of times I've read things that confuse the two! Thanks, also, for the links.

 

[BaliDawg]

I miss Jailbreak on my Iphone, with that i was able to run Dashcommand, torque and all other apps with a china BT dongle and 0 problems..

now i transferred averything on Android tablet as Obd fusion can't be used on Iphone (with that dongle)

can you advise me on a 100% functional dongle for IOS use?
thanks

Post #1 tells you what you need, either WiFi or BT LE if your iPhone supports it. I think iPhone 4S introduced BT 4.0 which includes LE, but you should double check.
https://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/973945