You will actually select the desired module to code in later steps. It has no bearing!! all NCS is doing is reading the text/number string that is your VO off the memory in these modules in this first step. Now that NCS Expert knows it, it can code your car properly!ĬODING HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MODULE YOU JUST SELECTED TO READ THE VO FROM! This perplexed me for the longest time, I didnt understand why i selected two modules each time, or what the difference selecting AKMB or ALSZ or etc the first time was. When it is able to read it, you will see a long string next to "FA" starting with your chassis "E46_" followed by numbers and text along with #'s and $'s. if it doesnt load, or cant be accessed, no harm done, just try a different module. In most cases it will probably be in an "A" module. Why? because it needs to know your "vehicle order" information. Once it does this, it will ask you to select a module.
Once the profile is loaded, you basically need to select Vin/ZCS/FA in order for ncs to download VIN info off your car. This has something called "manipulation" enabled. In order to code your car the first time, you should pick "revtors".
if you dont have it, you can find it on the net easily. The two profiles i stick to are "expertmode" and "revtor's expert profile". These profiles just change how ncs expert behaves when you read your car. When you load NCS expert, you need to load a profile. The stuff below is basically identical however for individual parameter coding.ġ. Those cars have their ZCS (which acts like a VO) stored in the EWS or KMB modules. OK the one difference is pre-02 cars dont have a VO. you'll have to contact BMW so they can give you the VO for your car from their records. The chances of both modules failing is slim, but if it does. When you buy a new LSZ/LCM, you can retrieve all your settings of VO from AKMB and then code your new LCM to YOUR factory settings. For example ALSZ is the "light switch module" in your car, for some reason it fails. Why is it written into two places? because if one module is failed and has to be replaced, then the other will serve as a backup so you can code the new replacement module to your car. Its nothing more than a string of text/numbers stored in the flash memory of these modules, nothing special. On my '00 328ci it was stored in EWS, KMB. In my 02 M3, the VO was written in ALSZ and AKMB. The VO is written into a couple modules of the car, usually ones that start with an "A", like AKMB or ALSZ. Why is it called ZCS you ask? because its abbreviated german, and its confusing as hell. Because each car is different with a different set of options/modules or country that its located, the "vehicle order" aka. This is like your car's DNA! for example if the car has a sunroof, or a convertible or radio etc etc and that it was meant for US,Canada,France etc.
When BMW makes a car, they create whats called a "vehicle order", this is basically a bunch of numbers writen into the car that tell what modules are installed in the car, regional info etc. The first part to understand is what this stuff about ZCS/VO or "vehicle order" is.
I am only going to elaborate on coding individual parameters, you can go learn how to code entire modules thru the VO later once you learn the basics below.
On Pre '02 cars the coding is slighly different method than Post '02 cars. Please read it fully if you want to understand, this isnt exactly a quick cheat sheet guide. This was copied from another forum and I did not write this.Hope this helps you understand it! lol I'm not comfortable just plugging into my car and changing things unless I understand how it works - just like how I wouldn't just plug in someone else's voltage and bus values to overclock a processor without understanding what everything was and how it was working. I'm interested in knowing what each tool does, how they relate, how the car interfaces with the software, what communications methods are used, the file system and layout, etc. Rather than just giving names of tools and steps, are there any resources that explain the underlying theory and concept better? I'm a technology-oriented person with a background in programming, systems and network administration, all sorts of stuff, but I've found the existing resources to be confusing in that they don't actually explain what it is you're doing, what is being affected, how it's working and why.
Different sources often have conflicting information about what software to use and how to do it. I've noticed that a lot of the tutorials are often just a mash up of information - a do this, do that, use this, use that.