OBD K+CAN Cable with Switch FT232RL K+D CAN for BMW E-Series Coding

Worked great for BMW

Worked great to connect to my nephew's E39. We were able to connect and diagnose some of his EWS issues with this.

Used for my E39, works great. Do not bother with packaged software, I spent way too long trying to get the install to work properly just to find Eric's Easy BMW tools on Web Archive and got to diagnostics and live data within minutes. Just go there and search their database for INPA under software and it'll come up

This cable was used to upgrade the DME on a 2005 Mini Cooper. This car originally had a 5 speed manual transmission and was replaced with a 6 speed gearbox, which resulted in losing its cruise control in 6th gear. The DME was flashed with an upgraded software, which returned full cruise control functionality.

This product is used to communicate with BMW computer modules to perform diagnostics and to make changes to vehicle features by "coding" values to the modules. Despite ample online warnings about the prevalence of faulty cables, I purchased this one based on generally positive reviews. This cable is equipped with a four position switch that is supposed to modify the cable function. Most important for my purposes is one setting that is supposed to internally connect two of the pins on the OBD-plug end of the cable. After hours and days of failure in my attempt to set a parameter in a replacement module in my car I finally put an electrical meter to the plug to confirm the operation of the cable switch. I was able to confirm that at least for my purposes, the switch was non-functional. I opened the plug casing and determined that the wires that were meant to "bridge" the plug pins were not physically connected to the switch. The wire ends, still fully insulated, had been affixed to the general neighborhood of the switch with a kind of plastic "glue". I have no theory about what might have been gained by such a sloppy effort on what otherwise looked like a reasonable quality product. I stripped and connected the two wire ends, and completion of my task from that point was relatively straightforward. This cable cost a few dollars more than what looked to be the same product from other sellers, but guided by site reviews, I took the foolish leap. The additional expense turns out to be an irritant, but the time lost trying to complete a job with a faulty tool is really infuriating. I wanted to contact the seller directly, but as I was unable to find the means to do so, I seem to be left with this negative review as my only practical recourse.(update) As I mentioned, my original intent was to contact the seller, but I only found that option after I submitted my product review. Since then the seller contacted me with his/her apologies and offered a remedy for the defective product under their warranty. While he/she noted that my wasted time was not something that could be remedied, I am grateful for what has otherwise been a very honorable response. I suppose that the most valuable "takeaway" from this experience is the obvious -- that equipment failure should be considered when the expected results are not achieved. My thanks.

Setting up this diagnostic tool is complex and exhausting. There are many components involved—the operating system, drivers, USB port configuration, adapter cable, K+DCAN interface, and switch position. It took me a long time and a lot of troubleshooting to figure out why it wasn't reading the motorcycle's computer; it turns out that the ECU on the R1200GS (K25 model) rejects the K+DCAN interface (or vice versa) after about two minutes by cutting off the power. I never found a solution; even connecting a charger in parallel to the bike's battery didn't work.

Good quality cable

The hardware itself may actually be perfectly fine. The problem is the software ecosystem surrounding it is an absolute disaster.Installation begins with an Easter egg hunt, followed by a game of hide-and-seek, then “name that mystery executable.” If you somehow locate the correct software package — and that “if” is doing heavy lifting — you then get to enjoy translating random German text into English because only portions of the software are localized.Oh, and yes… mine did come with a CD.To get that working I had to use ChatGPT to help interpret German prompts and walk me through the install process. But before you even get there, you’re likely going to need some form of 16-bit compatibility workaround because portions of the installer appear to have escaped from a Windows XP time capsule.Honestly, let me save you the trouble:forget the CD entirely.If you insist on trying this setup yourself, go download the package from Mike’s BMW Tools instead. That at least got me far enough to install INPA and successfully detect both:* Battery* IgnitionUnfortunately, that still wasn’t the end goal. Getting the lights to turn black is apparently just the tutorial level.Then comes configuration roulette:* COM ports* latency timers* FTDI drivers* EDIABAS configs* random INPA scripts* obscure BMW forum posts from 2009* and finally the unlabeled mystery switch on the cable itselfAt that point you’re basically choosing settings by astrology.So I reached a crossroads:either wait for hell to freeze over or continue troubleshooting for another six hours.My money is on hell serving iced coffee first.Returning the cable.