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Old 01-12-2014, 12:56 PM
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Default Secret BMW diagnostic display (E46 and E90)

When my E90's water pump died, I had some time siting on the side of the road to do some google searching for "E90 display water temp dash". To my surprise there were a lot of results that said "it can't be done". That's crap, because it can be done. It's not very straight forward, but it is doable. Surprisingly, it took a significant amount of searching to find the answer, so I thought I'd write it up here for posterity.

So the E90 (and possibly others as well - don't know) has a special diagnostic menu you can get in to via the odometer reset button on the dash. Once in, it will show you the raw output values of many of the cars 8 million sensors, including coolant temp. Here's the process.

Step 1 - entering the diagnostic menu
With the ignition on (you can do this with the car running), press and hold the odometer reset button located to the lower left of the speedo:

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When you do this it'll scroll through some displays. First typically a warning symbol:

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Then an indicator of the next maintenance item (or something past due):

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And finally the diagnostic menu:

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At this point release the odometer button.

Unlock the menu items

For whatever reason, most of the diagnostic info in these menus is "locked" - i.e. not displayed by default. Don't ask why, I have not idea, but it is. So the first step is to enter the unlock code, which is different for each car.

Now the diagnostic menu in the car is made of menus and submenus. When you enter the diag menu, you'll first see a menu "01.__". This means its in a mode to allow you to cycle through the main menus. If you pause, it'll enter the main menu you are on an you can then cycle the sub menus under it. So we enter the diag menus and let it sit on "01.__" for a couple seconds and we'll see menu 1, submenu 0 come up:

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Press the odo button again and it'll go to menu "01.01" which is something the Germans understand I guess:

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Anyway, the first thing we want to see is menu "01.00". The numbers shown here are the last 5 digits of your VIN. This is important because it's using these numbers that we calculate the super-secret unlock code. The code is simply the sum of the last 5 digits of the VIN - in my case 1+5+6+7+9 = 28.

To unlock, get out of the 01 submenu by pressing the odo button for 3-4 sec and go back to main menu mode (displays "01.__"). Then press the odo button briefly until you get to main menu "19.__" (that would be 18 times for those counting at home). Once on "19.__" pause and let it go into submenu 19.00. This is where you unlock the other menus:

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Once in submenu 19.00, press the odo button enough times so "Code: " reads your unlock code (28 in my case). Sucks to be you if your VIN has a lot of 9s in it:

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Now the menus are unlocked. Once the menus are unlocked, it'll reset itself back to menu 01. Then follow the same process to naviate the main and submenus:

- If you are in a sub menu, press the odo button briefly to go to the next submenu
- If you are in a submenu, press and hold the odo button for a couple sec to go back to the main menu
- If you are in the main menu, press the odo button briefly to go to the next main menu
- If you are in the main menu, pause and the car will open the submenu for that main menu after a couple sec.

Display the info
Last step is to find the info you want. This is easier said than done, as the menu items are cryptic abbreviations in German. I'll post a table someone in the BMW universe figured out. The one I remember off the top of my head because of my recent water pump issues is the coolant temp menu, which is 7.00:

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The nice thing about this that it will stay on the display while you drive around, allowing you to see the values update in real time.
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Old 01-12-2014, 01:04 PM
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Here's the menu info copied from this thread on E90 post:

01.00 FGSTNR = "Fahrgestellnummer" (Chassisnumber)
01.01 K-ZAHL W/T
01.02 BMWTNR
01.03 COD DIA
01.04 KI HSTL DATUM = "Herstellungs Datum" (Manufactored/Essembled on date...)
01.05 ???
01.06 SW
01.07 KODIERDATEN
01.08 CAN
02.00 KI TEST = Dashbord test. All light, gauges, displays and so on will light up, move.... works only when the engine is NOT running.
03.00 ??? (maybe it will show something after your first 'service', motoroil change)
04.00 MOM VBR = actual fuel consumption
04.01 RW-VBR-MOM = fuel consumption per hour
05.yy average fuel consumption
06.00 how much you have in your 'tank' in liters. Left- and Right compartment and Total
06.01 dito in hex?
07.00 KTMP-MOM = Temp. Cooling Fluid (celcius)
07.01 ATMP-MOM = "Aussentemperatur" Temp. Outside (celcius)
07.02 dito in hex?
07.03 N-MOT-MOM = RPM
07.04 N-VWF-MOM = max. RPM at the moment. E60 it gives a value. E90 it shows "-----"
08.00 V-EFF = exact speed
08.01 V-ANZ = "Anzeige" speed shown on dash..
08.02 V-SZ
08.03 D-GESCHW 1 WEG
08.04 D-GESCHW 1 ZEIT
08.05 D-GESCHW 2 WEG
08.06 D-GESCHW 1 ZEIT
09.00 Voltage
10.00 KM/WOCHE
11.00 ??? , has to do how the time will be displayed
11.01 km or miles
11.02 Celcius or Fahrenheit
11.03 how to display fuel consumption. km/l or l/100km or mpg
12.00 V-ANKUNFT = arrival time 12.01 ANK-ZEIT = time of arrival
13.00 AUDIO = all(?) sounds. Like the 'boing' of the 'light on warning'
14.00 FS EINTRAEGE = error messages (if any)
15.00 Oil temp??
16.00 Dashbord lighting.
17.00 Temp inside in the car??
18.00 CC-TEST = you can see some of the 'check control' messages.
19.00 UNLOCK
20.YY to 23.YY ???
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  #3  
Old 01-12-2014, 01:20 PM
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The E46 has the same feature: Step 7 is coolant temp.

As some of you may know, the BMW On-Board Computer (OBC) holds more functions than is documented, including a very nice instrument panel test. I managed to get a lot of this information from the web, but it was far from complete. Subsequently I asked my dealer for the missing info, but they could not provide the complete list either. Following is a list for the items I could find, they work in my car (E46 323i). I gather most of them also work in the E36 models. Who can tell what the missing entries represent (especially functions
9.1, 9.2 and 9.3 which are very mysterious)?

Instructions to access the hidden OBC functions:
1. Hold Trip Reset while turning ignition key to on position
2. OBC should show "Test"
3. Use Trip Reset to select function 19.0 that unlocks all the features
3. Wait for display to show "Off"
4. Depress Trip Reset for 1/4 second and release it
5. With no delay press Trip Reset several times to select one of the following function s

BMW E46 On-Board Computer (OBC) Hidden Codes
nr example description
1 Car Engine and cluster data
1.0 46nnn Chassis nr/VIN serial number (last 5 digits)
1.1 4nnn K-number
1.2 690236 Cluster Part #
1.3 045210 Coding (04)/diagnosis (52)/bus index (10)
1.4 1200 Week (12)/year of manufacture (2000)
1.5 09_160 Hardware (09) and software # (16.0) of cluster
1.6 Not used
1.7 04__44 CAN-version (04) KI-revision index (44)
2 (test) Cluster System Test - Activates the gauge drivers,
indicators and LEDs to confirm function
3 SI Data
3.0 1098 Used fuel in liters since last SI (Service Inspection)
3.1 0231 Periodic inspection days; elapsed days (since last SI)
4 Momentary Consumption
4.0 0145+ Instant fuel consumption - 0145=14.5 liters/100km
4.1 0018 Instant fuel consumption - 0018=1.8 l/Hour
5 Distance Gone Consumption
5.0 082 Average mileage; 082=8.2 liters/100km
5.1 0536 Calc. km to refuel (momentary distance to go)
6 Fuel Level sensor inputs in liters
6.0 109330+ Fuel level averaged; Left half sensor input=10.9 liters; Right sensor input=33.0 liters
6.1 0439+ Total tank level averaged; vlgs 6.0: 10.9+33.0=43.9 liters
6.2 0442+ Indicated value (44.2) and tank phase
7 Temperature and Speed
7.0 021+ Coolant/Engine temperature (2.1C)
7.1 130 Ambient/Outside temperature - chg met 5 pts. 125/130/135
7.2 + Engine speed / Current RPMs 1/min
7.3 + Vehicle speed / Current Speed in km/hour
8 Input value in HEX form
8.0 1d0+ System voltage ADC-Value Hex code
8.1 26C33C+ ADC Values HG left/HG right
8.2 0000 ADC Value brake degradation sensor (000=o.k.)
8.3 18C ADC Value outside temperature
9 Battery
9.0 140 Battery Voltage - 140 = UB 14.0v
9.1 242013+?
9.2 074_78+?
9.3 0011+?
10 Not used
11 Not used
12 Not used
13 GonG Gong Test
14 Not used
15 Status cluster I/O-ports (bit codes) 0=low; 1=high
1st-belt contact, seat belt fastened=0; 2) ignition lock contact, key inserted=0; 3) door contact, door open=0; 4) clock button pressed=0; 5) SI reset=0, for reset=0; 6) EGS transmission failure=0
Status Digital Outputs (bits) 0=inactive, 1=active
1) Gong output; 2) Brake warning lamp; 3) Low fuel warning lamp; 4) EGA lamp; 5) seat belt lamp; 6) manipulation dot
16 Not used
17 Not used
18 Not used
19 Lock Status; unlocks functions in range 3-18
19.0 L-On/L-Off Unlock: press button when "L-Off"
20 Not used
21 Software Reset; reset OBC settings
00 End of test
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Old 01-12-2014, 02:28 PM
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Amazing, the same day my water pump failed as well on our Bimmer. $1700 later it is fixed. I got to try this diag menu items.

I also found that the auto in our car is 'self-learning' how we drive and adjusts shifts and throttle response accordingly. As expected it just sucks after a while as it makes all the wrong observations and assumptions. So, to reset the learning process you turn ignition on, and press the gas pedal three times and on the third time you keep it pressed all the way past the 'kick down' thingy for 20 secs, the computer rests its self at that point and you have a smotther running car again.

I think something is really wrong with these Germans, must the beer.
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Old 01-12-2014, 03:35 PM
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^^ Need to try that on my 540. Throttle response is way too quick.
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Old 01-12-2014, 07:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by APKhaos View Post
... Who can tell what the missing entries represent (especially functions
9.1, 9.2 and 9.3 which are very mysterious)?...
9.1 = Masking fog
9.2 = Oil slick
9.3 = self destruct
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Old 01-12-2014, 11:40 PM
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Very nice! C'mon, Jazz, this deserves a Hall-Of-Fame!
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Old 01-13-2014, 09:22 AM
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Apparently E60s work almost the same as the E90, FWIW.
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Old 01-13-2014, 09:22 AM
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Chris,

Does your display actually stay on when you re-start the car? i.e. if you want to always have a real temp gauge you can just leave it on?

I got it to work on my E39 - mine has two buttons so it was a little different. I also didn't realize before that the last 5 digits were from the VIN# - I couldn't figure out my last five digits because I've got some bulbs out in my dash and a few #'s were unreadable.

I also did Fatih's reset on the automatic transmission/throttle response. Is there supposed to be some sort of confirmation on the dash that you did something? Seems like it slowed the response down some, but it may just be in my head.
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