Limp mode

[rowsdower]

At a track day with my 128i and each session is cut short due to the car going into limp mode. It doesn’t put any lights on the dash or make any noises, just cuts power. I know there are a few settings to turn off such as the brake heat thing. I am back here tomorrow and have the standard tools on my computer at home, but have only used INPA. Is there a step by step walkthrough for changing these settings? Are they in NCS Expert? Something I can do in a couple hours tonight or does it take time to research and figure out what to do?

EDIT: I finally got this working after lots of troubleshooting and research. See post #10 for details on how I got this fixed.

[beattiecj]

I have a 135i, basically what I do mid session is run a lap or two in higher gears or let off for a bit to cool the car back down. It's sketchy when the car completely shuts down mid lap.

It's annoying but I'm not aware of anything else to do other than get a larger oil cooler, maybe it's different on the 128?

Also research coding electric nannies it should be in the track section of the forum, but I think it ultimately is caused by high oil temps.

Edit found the link: https://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=19239847

[chris_flies]

Check for codes. A proper limp mode will generate a code that will tell you what's causing it. I'd point it at either the brake temp thing, or oil temp reasons (depending on what track you're at)

[rowsdower]

Thanks for the replies. I checked codes with Carly and in the ABS/DSC section I have "005DEC: FLR (driving power reduction) activated". No other codes related to power reduction.

So I'm reading it's NCS Expert but I can't get that to work. I may try reinstalling everything with Mikes Easy Standard Tools or whatever it's called. Trouble will be removing my existing Standard Tools install completely. I wonder if it's easier to reinstall Windows first to get a completely fresh start...

[rowsdower]

Who can I contact to remote code this POS car?

[gjm120]

Check this article out.
http://www.onelapx1.com/blog/how-to-...w-actually-fun

[rowsdower]

Originally Posted by gjm120

Check this article out.
http://www.onelapx1.com/blog/how-to-...w-actually-fun

Thanks. That is the article I intend to follow, I just can't get NCS Expert to run. I have a cheap eBay cable that works but NCS Expert keeps giving me errors that I can't find answers to online. I have a BimmerGeeks cable that my computer won't recognize so I've emailed them to see what I am doing wrong. I have zero patience left to work on this so I'd rather find someone who can update the settings remotely or locally (DFW area).

[gjm120]

Originally Posted by rowsdower

Thanks. That is the article I intend to follow, I just can't get NCS Expert to run. I have a cheap eBay cable that works but NCS Expert keeps giving me errors that I can't find answers to online. I have a BimmerGeeks cable that my computer won't recognize so I've emailed them to see what I am doing wrong. I have zero patience left to work on this so I'd rather find someone who can update the settings remotely or locally (DFW area).

Not that I know much about coding, but, have you checked the obvious things like the drivers and latency?

[rowsdower]

Originally Posted by gjm120

Not that I know much about coding, but, have you checked the obvious things like the drivers and latency?

I have no idea about the driver. I have a cheap eBay cable that worked using a driver I found online, but the BimmerGeeks cable did not work. So I don't think they use the same driver and there is no mention of a driver on the BG website. Anyone using the BimmerGeeks cable, what driver did you install?

[rowsdower]

So I finally got everything working correctly and coded out the settings I needed to. I'm writing this down here in case someone else runs into issues like this.

First, the hardware. The Bimmer Geeks cable works better than the eBay cables and isn't much more money.

Second, the software. I would avoid "Mike's Easy BMW Tools" and the other versions you find posted all over the forums. Bimmer Geeks has a link to a good version of this software on their website. You do not need to download gigabytes of DATEN files - the BG version has everything you need to code an E82/E88 without downloading anything else. Go to their site, then Downloads, then "Standard Tools". The install instructions are very clear and simple.

Third, setting up your computer. I used Windows 7 x64 with a clean install of Windows. My issue with connecting to the BG cable was that I did not update Windows all the way. Google "Convenience Rollup" - this is a package that includes all of the Windows updates through April 2015. Download that, then go into Windows Update in control panel and download every available update. It will take a few iterations to get all of the updates. Keep checking for updates and installing them until Windows tells you there are no updates left. After these updates come through, Windows should be able to recognize the BG cable. For mine, it recognized the cable but the drivers failed. I had to go to Device Manager and uninstall the drivers for the cable. I then unplugged the cable and plugged it in again, and that time it worked correctly. After changing the COM port to 1 and latency to 1, it worked. I had to change a different COM port to 2, in order to free up 1... everything still seems to work fine.

Once you have the software installed and the cable is working, use the following resources to learn how to code the car. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL - it is easy to mess up your car. Read every word and take your time. One of the profiles in the BG version of the software already has manipulation enabled, I think it is actually called "Manipulation".

Dummies Guide to NCS Expert

Guide to coding out track nannies - thanks to chris_flies for posting this in your build thread!

The coding section of E90post is extremely helpful.