Forum

Coding 


Notes:


I fully assume someone doing the coding has familiarity with NCSExpert and WinKFP. This is not the place to teach about what those are and how to use them. There are numerous sources on the web to figure them out, or, go find somebody who has them / knows them / etc. (Lots of enthusiasts like myself would be happy to help w/ the recoding in return for merely copious amounts of tasty craft beer.) Anyone who is familiar with NCSExpert should find all this easy and straightforward however. 
This all should be able to be done at almost any time in the job once the car is no longer going to move with the automatic.


Overview… Here is what needs to happen:


DSC (DSC/ABS…) needs to be recoded for a manual. Whether it 'can tell' if it is a touring vs. limousine is unclear but I suggest ideally coding as a Touring. 
EWS (Immob) needs to be recoded as a manual. 
IKE/KOMBI (cluster) needs to be recoded for a manual transmission


Options options options… Coming out the far side of this project, there are a number of ways to skin this cat:


1. Use "Code Car" to recode the whole car to a USA Manual Sedan 540 for ZCS GM code - Type DN53 = 5B530000. In this case you will later have to hand recode some modules back to touring settings - aka GM: touring hatch vs trunk lid, possibly some DSC issues, and likely the SLS system is going to have issues. However this definitely works for a basic start. We did this and it worked for sure aside from the trunk refusing to open and a few funny SLS codes. You could then go back and hand code those modules back to the original ZCS. I think a lot of shops have done it this way as anecdotally I hear of swaps that scan as manual sedans. 
2. Use "Code Car" to recode the whole car a ROW Manual Touring 540 for ZCS GM code - Type DM51 = 5D510000. In this case you will later have to hand recode even more modules back to USA settings - aka IKE: gallons/miles/Fahrenheit, LCM: USA settings, EWS: turn on the clutch lockout if you want that feature, etc. I did this also and in the end aside from one screw up on my part, it worked fine. In this case I recoded the whole car as a ROW Left Drive Touring, then restored my saved OEM coding for the GM, LCM, IHKA, and IKE but then tweaked the saved IKE for the manual transmission (I started to hand-tweak the IKE settings starting w/ the ROW version, but there are so many units to change it's a huge hassle).  


Note: The hazard I ran into here is that the ABG airbag aka MRS module is REAL fussy about coding. It does not like being coded as a Euro unit, and in fact, I didn't take this seriously enough (and didn't do my research - seems a known issue if you try to hand-code the SRS system it will often flag an invalid config and then be nearly impossible to recover (I have hopes here for recovering mine, but it counts on getting another E39 MRS module and reading that and writing the hard EEPROM back…) At any rate, I thought this was a good route until I hit this issue. I do believe now I could have made this way work if I was very careful about recoding the MRS module using a ZCS after the original code but still - this one turns out to be a lot of work. 


3. Selectively code the most important modules using the ROW Wagon or USA Sedan ZCS, and leave the rest of the cars modules untouched, keeping the OEM coding. This is what I currently think is the best route, and the least bit of work / intrusiveness and leaves as much original as possible although it is not the only way. This is what I will describe below but a NCSExpert Expert should be able to pull this off through any of the methods described… The only downsides to this are:


Anybody who recodes or reprograms the car in the future blindly / automatically may overwrite the changes as we are not changing the ZCS stored in the EWS or IKE. Techs and shops need to know not to run any automatic recode / programming update on the whole car. 
Automated diag software like DIS will still look for a transmission computer and be all crankypants that it can't find it. Not a big deal but not quite as clean as if you are saving the ZCS into the IKE and EWS as a ROW Touring or a USA Manual Sedan. 





Tools Needed:  


Laptop with working EDIABAS/INPA installation with appropriate cable - aka VAG-COM or DCAN type 


(side note: I have burned out 2 eBay DCAN cables now while my VAG-COM homebrew keeps churning away perfectly… use a quality DCAN or something else as being stranded 1/2 way through could be a huge hassle at the least, or brick your DME at the worst. I dodged a bullet with that one.)


Zeko ZCS calculator (possibly optionally "BMW Decoder")
NCSDummy
Optional: working GT1 installation, PASoft installation 


Step 1 - Preparation:


Use Zeko ZCS calculator to calculate a new ROW ZCS code. This can be done before you even start the project. 


Read your existing ZCS using NCSExpert and carefully save and record it . Use Zeko to decode your ZCS and save a screenshot of it to capture all the details. 
Using Zeko, calculate the GM part of the code for a ROW Left Drive Touring (Type DN51) or USA Sedan (Type DN53)
For the SA portion of the code, start with the decoding of your existing SA code. Remove option 0202 from existing vehicle SA, keep all other existing codes, and recalculate SA (can also use "BMW Decoder" although I had mixed results with it...)
For the VN portion of the code I left it unchanged. 
Record the resulting ZCS code (primarily the GM & SA components) - I took Zeko screenshots to save them. 


Before making any changes, use NCSExpert to save existing coding for key modules. Again, can be done before starting the project. 


Read coding for each key module one at a time:


GM, IKE/KMBI, DSC, ABG/MRS, heck even LCM & IHKA


Save each TRC file in a backup folder with a clear file name (I save as filename moduletype.FSW_PSW.TRC aka GM3.C05.FSW_PSW.TRC)


Clear all fault codes in the vehicle. Something like GT1 or PASoft makes this easier than going module by module in INPA. 


Step 2 - Recoding:


Load an Expert profile, and read the current ZCS from EWS or IKE using NCSExpert (this saves you retyping the VIN)
"Enter ZCS" and enter the calculated ROW Touring or USA Sedan you came up with above, including the checkdigit (leave "calculate checkdigit" unchecked… if you have a typo this will help catch it)
Now recode the EWS and DSC one by one to a ROW Touring (note depending on NCSExpert version the prompt labels can be slightly different…):


Process CPU - select ECU
Read CPU (this seems minor but is important for good recoding I find - it clears the .TRC files and ensures NCSExpert is aligned to the correct module)
Change Job - SG_CODIEREN
Execute Job (this will recode the module for the hand-entered ZCS)
Note in this case I do NOT save the changed ZCS code to any modules using ZCS_SCHREIBEN. This seems to be fine. 


Using NCSExpert and NCSDummy, hand change the one setting transmission type to manual in the cluster - GETRIEBE_TYP to handschaltung
At this point, no modules should want to look for the EGS. Turn power off, disconnect and remove the EGS (transmission computer) from the E-Box
Confirming re-code - If successful, the cluster should now no longer show PRND and there should be no "FAILSAFE" error on the cluster. 


Step 3 - Reprogramming the DME as Manual:


You can now reflash the DME w/ manual variant part number using WinKFP as it's programming has not been changed yet. 


Look up the appropriate ZUSB number from the last 7 digits of the part number from ETK page with DME reprogramming information. I used ZUSB 7533707 as that seems to be the latest version I could find. Other versions may work fine as well, I know some conversions are using different ZUSB numbers. 
Normally you do not want to write UIF and "take up a flash spot", but in this case I strongly suggest you ensure Write UIF option is enabled to avoid accidental reverting to an automatic in future (we had this happen when trying to use my shops ISTA/P to update the car). You can disable the Write UIF option after you have done this once. 
Once the DME is written you can scan the car again and should have no EGS related errors at all. 


If all start-up rewiring is in place you should now be able to start the car and test it.


If you powered the car up/down with EWS disconnected and/or tried to start the car with something disconnected there is a chance you might have to re-align EWS/DME, however if you were careful this should not be necessary
If EWS Immob tampering is triggered sometimes there seems to be a 'timeout' before it wants to let you align it. Leave it shutoff for a while, then clear all fault codes, then try the alignment. Again, hopefully anybody following these instructions finds that is not necessary. 





Step 3 - Final Tweaking & Housekeeping:


If everything looks good - no MIL light, no SRS light, no ABS light, no fault codes on cluster or in scan tools then do a backup
Using NCSExpert, go through each of the key modules - GM, IKE/KMBI, ABG, DSC etc… read the module again and save the TRC file in a new folder
After this you might want to tweak some other preference settings in the cluster or GM or LCM for personal preferences, but I strongly suggest not making any of those changes until the car is all up and running with no codes, AND after you've saved all the "good conversion" TRC files for backups. 

Hallo, dieser Beitrag ist sehr hilfreich, allerdings sind mir ein paar Dinge unklar:
Ich habe einen E39 530dA, den ich zum Schalter umbauen möchte. Dafür hab ich einen Schalter Motorkabelbaum, ein Motorsteuergerät samt EWS, Schlüssel und Zündschloss, natürlich die restliche Peripherie. Muss ich die Rückfahrlichter trotzdem wie oben beschrieben anschließen oder? Die restliche Codierung ist mir klar, aber was ist mit der Lenksäule? Bekomme ich Probleme wegen dem fehlenden P N Signal? Wäre wirklich dankbar wenn ich mich mit jemanden unterhalten könnte, der den Umbau bereits hinter sich hat. Grüße

(Zitat von: Eddie90)