Rennie
Not simply has BMW electrical architecture adjusted over the last decade, but so has the equipment to company them. The gear has transformed, the interfaces have altered as well as the complexity of set up and use. More info BMW Service Salt Lake.
Early tools
Back while in the 1990's, the Team Tester A person (GT1) was launched. There have been a couple of versions, like DIS Moreover (stationary set up), however the GT1 is considered the most prevalent and is what will be referenced in this article. The GT1 is a portable unit which contained a rechargeable battery. It's got a touchscreen screen for simple use. It contained software package for Diagnosing in addition to had software package called TIS (Technical Information and facts Screen) which happens to be the Assistance & Repair Details. Early versions of Diagnostics also contained software program referred to as Coding, Programming & Individualization (CIP). So from the same tool, you could Diagnose the problem, look up how to replace the component and then perform the needed initializations for the new part. Two interfaces ended up used: EDIC (yellow interface) and the OPS (orange interface). Later variations of the OPS ended up called OPPS, since they carried additional diagnostics for the Byteflite system and they have been also yellow, but much bigger than the EDIC. Authentic GT1s are on the transportable touchscreen unit. There are many "cloned" units out there, adapted to work on a PC. Either genuine or cloned, the interfaces work the same and connect via an Ethernet port.
Later versions of the GT1 program removed CIP, and moved it to a separate computer (for storage), but still accessible from the GT1. This new computer software was called Progman (short for Program Manager). This new computer software contained all of the CIP functions and added new features like multiple car programming and dual channel programming for each car (DIAGBUS and MOST bus simultaneously).
Third Generation tools
Fast forward to about 2008 when the Third Generation (3G) of gear was released: ISIS. The contents of ISIS are so large, that dedicated servers are installed at the dealership. An online version is available to the aftermarket for a fee, called OSS. It can be found at BMW's tech website. With the introduction of ISIS comes a new interface, referred to as ICOM. Previous interfaces (EDIC & OPS) won't work with ISIS. ISIS consists of some parts, since it completely replaced GT1 & Progman. The main part of ISIS that is used during the shop is termed "ISTA", which can be further broken down into two parts: ISTA/D for Diagnosing vehicles and ISTA/P for Coding, Programming & Individualization.
Comparison
GT1s can be found just about anywhere, including eBay for very cheap. BMW realized that the tool was easily cloned and sold worldwide. Many levels of security have been put into the creation of ISIS to prevent this, in both resident servers and online versions. This makes it much harder for non-dealer shops to work on the newer cars. 1 would think that since the GT1 was discontinued in 2009, you could just keep using that for several more years until the newer system became more available, nevertheless, BMW stayed one step ahead! Whenever a car is programmed with the new ISTA/P, it upgrades the program beyond the level of what Program can recognize. That means, once a car has been updated with ISTA/P, you can NEVER use Progman on it again, rendering the "cloned" versions useless on that particular car. Also, when a new module is installed, the program that is pre-installed on that module is also newer than what Program can recognize, which can stop the entire programming process, forcing the car to be programmed by ISTA/P.
