BMW ICOM A3 pro+ ISTA-D 3.54 ISTA-P 3.58 with WiFi adapter

BMW ICOM A2 has been updated to ICOM A3 pro+ with ISTA-D 3.54.12 ISTA-P 3.58.0.500 nowadays, which is modified for vehicles (MW Cars, BMW Motorcycle, Rolls-Royce, Mini Cooper) with OBD access receives a significantly more powerful processor and more storage capacity. Robust aluminium case will help to avoid damage when using in harsh environments.

Version:

Hardware Version: V1.40

Software version: v2016.03

ISTA-D 3.54.12

ISTA-P 3.58.0.500

About ICOM A3 pro+ hardware:

This is the latest BMW diagnostic tool in 2016

    

NOTE:

This is the biggest difference from ICOM A2 emulator, including appearance and wifi (icom a3 pro+ internal board needs wifi adapter for wireless diagnosis).

With wireless adapter, you can connect your laptop and ICOM A3 PRO+ mux by wifi as long as your ICOM A3 pro hardware supports wireless network.

The wireless adapter set one pair contain two PCs, one for ICOM A3 PRO+ main unit and one for your laptop.

About ICOM A3 pro software:

ICOM A3 PRO and ICOM A2 share the same software - latest: ISTA-D 3.54.12 ISTA-P 3.58.0.500.

        

Two ICOM A3 pro+ software at wobd2.com

V2016.3 ICOM A3 256G SSD Win8 System 

V2016.3 ICOM A3 500G HDD Win8 System

--> So, SSD or HDD, which version better?

Software on SSD will run faster and more stable. Please refer to the post: SSD vs. HDD: What's the Difference? for more specification.

BMW ICOM A2 emulator system red indicator flash

Before go deep into the topic today, let’s check the ICOM A and ICOM B module indicator and meanings.

   

It is not different to see that if the Red LED indicator of either ICOM A or ICOM B emulator flashes, the Rheingold ISTA-D ISTA-P software will report error and fail to communicate with vehicle.

Problem& Symptom:

BMW ICOM A2+B+C diagnostic system A2 module red indicator blinking when connected to vehicle with LAN cable.

Solution:

2 solutions provided by experienced BMW ICOM diagnostic system experts:

DISCLAIMER: We are not responsible for the damage.

1)

1-rehot hot air gun this IC

2- Replace or change new one if necessary

3-The problem is the IC

2)

Fix the ICOM A2 emulator firmware follow the PCB board displayed below:

The pulse generator to buy on auctions

white wire=the line to the WiFi antenna.

Others all marked in the PCB board

How to setup BMW ICOM Rheingold on ENET E-sys cable

BMW mechanic has set up ICOM Rheingold ISTA-D ISTA-P diagnostic & programming software on other coding cables instead of BWM ICOM A2+B+C WIFI diagnostic emulators. Here is an example on configure BMW ENET (Ethernet to OBD) cable to loaded with Rheingold.

Tool needed:

BMW ENET (Ethernet to OBD) cable for F-series coding

BMW ICOM Rheingold ISTA-D ISTA-P software HDD

NOTE:

ENET cable with E-sys software is only for BMW F-series coding, but if loaded with BWM Rheingold software, it will do all BMW chassis. As for BMW ICOM software, we recommend 2015.1V Rheingold ISTA-D 3.47 ISTA-P 54.3 software HDD which performs more stable.

DISCLAIMER: We are not responsible for the damage.

Configuring ICOM Rheingold on ENET cable:

The configuration is based on Virtual Machine.

1.Open used for connection network adapter properties, then “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” properties, then enter 169.254.1.1 for “IP address” and 255.255.0.0 for “Subnet mask”

2.If VMware is installed, open Virtual Network Editor and disconnect from the host any adapters with Subnet address 169.254.0.0

3.Connect ENET cable with laptop and the other end with vehicle via OBD socket. Turn ignition on with engine off

4.Run BMW ICOM Rheingold ISTA-D ISTA-P software shortcut on start menu, wait until it boots, then press “Settings” icon the top of the program

5.Select “VCI Config” (VCI Configuration) Tab and tick “HO-ICOM/ENET local and ISIS network”, press “OK”

6.Go to “Operations” menu, the “Read Out Vehicle Data” and “Complete Identification”

 

7.Select your ENET connection from the list and press “Set up connection” button. The software will detect vehicle and process Vehicle Identification procedure.

8.Alternatively you could select “HO-ICOM/ENET direct connection” in “VCI Config” tab and “ENET” mode with empty “IP-Address” field during connection setup.

9. Configuration is done. You can start running the Rheingold software.

How to Use BMW ICOM A2 D-link USB WIFI adapter

Following the 9 steps as below, you can easy to use BMW ICOM A2 D-link USB WIFI adapter:

1.Plug D-link USB WIFI adapter into the computer via USB port.

2.Only enable ICOM WIFI. Disable computer built-in WIFI or additional wifi source, not plug local network cable or ICOM LAN Cable into wired network port.
3.Start the computer.
4.Open “Network Connections" to confirm the local area network connection is not connected. "D-link DWA-131 Wireless" is ICOM wifi and the X mark is normal, just ignore it.

5.Click "ISPI-NEXT Admin Tools", tick "wifi for ICOM".

6.Plug ICOM A2 into the OBD connector on the car, wait 20 – 60 seconds, you will see the WLAN indicator stop flashing or flash slowly which indicates D-link USB WIFI establish a good communication with ICOM A2 WIFI.

7.Click diagnostic or programming software. Click "OK" when this window pops up.

8.Program ISTA-D, ISTA-P, ISPI, ISSS etc. cannot be closed but be minimized, shown as the following red-circled window.

9.Now ICOM A2 device is recognized working, shown as the following underlined part.

BMW ICOM HDD cannot find ISTA-D ISTA-P entry

There is no ISTA-D/ISTA-P software icon on the BMW ICOM HDD entry program, how to fix it?

Problem:

A BMW ICOM A2 diagnostic system new user has well installed 2015.10V HDD on Dell laptop, but he can only see engineering software INPA, WInKFP, E-sys etc, cannot see ISTA-D ISTA-P diagnostic and programming software (ISTA-D 3.51.31, ISTA-P 3.56.5.002) on the main/entry interface.

Image saved:

Solution:

Double click the yellow area marked red mark below to enter the ISPI-Next

You can find ISTA/D (Rheingold) and ISTA/P (ISSS-NEXT) software under ISPI-NEXT Admin Tools program.

How to solve BMW E60 520D 2007 Idle problems

I have following problem.

BMW E60 520D M47N2 Engine which has rough Idle.

Also when I start the car from cold, it works fine, but when it starts to warmup, especially when the gearbox lever is on P or D, or i start AC, or i start seat heating, the Rpm needle goes up and down , and the engine sounds like it is misfiring.

I have changed, Glow plugs, Glow Plug relay, Cleaned air intake, Swirl flaps are all ok, cleaned Air Mass Meter, changed Vortex Engine breather. The problem is still the same.

I did a full diagnosis with ICOM ISTA-D ISTA-P and no errors were found, and parameter checks are ok. Smooth running measure is ok, max +0.3 , min -0,2 on all injectors.

Then, a member in the forum advised me to do these work: check it I can force ECU to drop some DTCS in ECU, by unplugging MAF or EGR while engine is running as DTC table might be removed in the past, that’s why I might looking forever. He had few cars like that, someone disabled DTC in the car and diagnosis was more complex now he learnt the lesson,

Then, I learn the lesson from him, and tried to do these:

-try to unplug vital sensors for engine to double check if errors are dropped.

-inspect throttle body module, clean it

- have look on egr valve as it might be issue

- try to unplug egr and see if there is any difference

-check for bad ground some where in the harness, check all ground locations

- PLUGGED UP/CLOGGED up catalytic converter/muffler. Pre-existing condition was car running rich, over long time caused too much back pressure in the exhaust.

Finally, problem was solved by cleaning throttle body module.

How to upgrade ICOM A2 A1 fw 1.38

Why need upgrade ICOM firmware?
To run ICOM A2 A1 with the newest ISTA-D Rheingold 3.49.30 ISTA-P 55.4.000, user is required to update firmware to the newest version.
Current SYSTEM IMAGE version: 01.24.00
Current APPLICATION IMAGE version: 01.38.01

Which version of ICOM the upgrade files and steps apply to?
The following upgrade guide applies to both perfect vesion ICOM A2 and common version ICOM A1 A2. UOBD2 identify them via item NO.
Perfect vesion ICOM A: item NO SP168-BA and SP168-BO
Common version ICOM A1, A2: item NO SP168-C, SP168-B, SP168 and SP168-D
All BMW ICOM list:

1. Perfect ICOM A1 A2 fw 01.38 / 01.24 free download at:

2. Please connect super ICOM A2 with computer using internet cable, and supply power for super ICOM A2 using 12V power adapter or by connecting with BMW.

3. Unzip perfect ICOM A1 A2 fw 1.38 upgrade files.

4. Use Network cable to connect perfect version BMW ICOM A2 with computer, supply power for ICOM A2 with 12V power adapter or connect ICOM A2 with the BMW vehicle.

5. Open IE Internet Explorer, enter address http://169.254.33.45:60080/, log in with username/password: root/NZY1150263
OS: to upgrade common version ICOM A2 A1, browse http://169.254.92.38:60080/ and the next steps are the same.

6. Click "Update Firmware", you will see ICOM firmware version information.

7. Click "Browse" to select file "ICOM-BootImage-01-24-00.bin", set image type as "SYSTEM", click "Send the file".

8. When it pops up "Write the image file to the flash?", click "Yes", then ICOM indicator light will turn red.

9. When it pops up "The SYSTEM IMAGE update was successful", click "Update Firmware".

10. Choose "ICOM-ApplicationImage-01-38-01.bin", set image type as "APPLICATION", click "Send the file", it will spend several minutes since the file is a little bit large.

11. When it pops up "Write the image file to the flash?” click "Yes", then the ICOM indicator light will turn red for the second times.

12. When it finish upgrading, click "reboot".

13. Click "Home" - "Update Firmware", you will find ICOM A2 firmware update to the newest version:
Current SYSTEM IMAGE version: 01.24.00
Current APPLICATION IMAGE version: 01.38.01

Additional Note:
Please be sure your computer is to obtain IP address automatically.

Tips to connect and programmer BMW ICOM A2 software

Notice on the software suitable for ICOM A2 (Item NO. SP168):
Common version BMW ICOM (item No. SP168) software updates to ISTA-D 3.49.20 ISTA-P 55.4.000, this. It is required to run with the ICOM software after 2015.1 ISTA-D 3.46.30 ISTA-P 3.54.1.001.

ICOM (SP168) Connect Picture:
This picture shows how ICOM connect with the computer via Bluetooth / Wifi and with the BMW OBD2 connector.

Our Engineers who are experienced at retrofitting BMW vehicles advise:
If you want to do programming, you are advised to connect ICOM with the computer using network cable not WIFI.
And to ensure the software run smoothly and speedily when you are retrofitting the vehicle, advise you use perfect version Rheingold ISTA-D 3.46.30 ISTA-P 3.54.1.001 256G SSD (Solid-State Disk) which is high quality.
And it can help you program ECU to find out some hidden function to improve your car performance Except F series.
Note: when you order ICOM (Item No. SP168), if you want V2015.1 software with SSD, please leave message.