Z3 OBD?

[petermoffat]

Hi Guys, my FIL has a 1996 Z3 2.8 that's been giving some hassles, uneven revving, intermittent power issues.

I have a a Bluetooth ODBII ELM327 job, and thought we could see if there were any codes stored to help us in the right direction, but the car doesn't seem to have an OBDII port, only the round ODBI (BMW?) one in the engine bay.

I see that you can get get converters from the round plug to the OBDII plug, but has anyone used the ELM327 with these, and will I successfully be able to read codes?

 

[Ratslaaf]

That plug on the Z3 does not support the OBD protocol, it is based on the K-Line protocol and uses a completely different electrical scheme.

The ELM327 can only talk CAN protocol (electrically and logically) and is inherently incompatible with the K-Line protocol that runs on these older cars - even if you were to get the round connector.

 

[petermoffat]

That sucks. Why would they even sell the adaptor then??

 

[Ratslaaf]

Because the adaptor is used where you have a cable that can talk K-Line. I have a set of these:

http://www.one-stop-electronics.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=16

http://www.one-stop-electronics.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=18

The reason they state OBD is because some of the earlier e46's used this format.

 

[ChrisBrand]

I used my elm 327 successfully with the 20 pin adaptor

 

[petermoffat]

Chris, what vehicle was that on?

 

[ChrisBrand]

My car. 1999 e46 328i. I dont have the obd 2 16 pin port under the drivers side.

 

[Ratslaaf]

I used my elm 327 successfully with the 20 pin adaptor

The reason they state OBD is because some of the earlier e46's used this format.

The Z3 does not have an OBD capable interface.

 

[Gizmo]

Your issues sound like un-metered air is getting in, check for air leaks on the intake boot.