znod

Below are two verions of a hidden-menu procedure that appear to be pertinent to what I want to do. I have rewritten both in minor ways for clarity.

The two versions are different. Has anyone used either or a combination of both to get to the accurate speedo and tach? If so, can you, using the steps below, help me identify a procedure that works for sure on the 545i. All help greatly appreciated. And, to your knowledge has anyone ever "gotten into trouble" trying to get these sorts of procedures to work.

Version 1:
1. Hold down the miles reset button, turn the key to first position, and immediately release the button. (This procedure won't work for me unless I can start the car later without disturbing what is displayed. I presume that I can do so.)
2. You will see a small display where the time/temp etc. usually appears.
3. Sequential presses of the button displays the numbers of a menu--1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc., up to 21.
4. Add up the last 5 digits of your VIN.
5. Go to position 19 on the menu and wait a second or two.
6. Under lock you will see a position to enter the calculated number which you do by sequential presses of the button.
7. Once you get to your calculated number stop pressing the button and wait.
8. The menu will go back to position 1.
9. Now toggle through to say position 7.
10. Once you get there wait a couple of seconds and you will then see 7.1.
11. The next press shows 7.2, etc. etc.
12. You will see that "it" displays, rpm, fuel consumption, battery voltage, current speed, core temp. etc. etc. etc.

Version 2:
1. While car is on, press the mileage reset button, and hold it for 15 seconds. (This procedure obviously would work for me since the car is started at this point.)
2. Now you will have menu options from 01 to 21.
3. Use the milage button or the bottom button on the turn signal--pressing the button for 5 seconds to open the 01 Identification menu.
4. Sum the last 5 digits of your VIN.
5. Press the Button (1 sec. intervals) to get to option 19--UNLOCKING.
6. Press and hold the button for 5 seconds to get to execute that menu option.
7. Now press the button (1 sec intervals) to get to the value you computed from your VIN
8. Once the number is displayed, hold the button in for 5 seconds to get back to the main menu.
9. Now all the options on the menu will work (unlocked!)
From above:
9. Once you get to your calculated number stop pressing the button and wait. (This critical step is different than the prior #9. Any thoughts?)
10. The menu will go back to position 1.
11. Now toggle through to say position 7.
12. Once you get there wait a couple of seconds and you will then see 7.1.
13. The next press shows 7.2, etc. etc.
14. You will see that "it" displays, rpm, fuel consumption, battery voltage, current speed, core temp. etc. etc. etc.

The options let you see a lot of sensor information--speed of vehicle (digital readout that is 100% accurate, but in km/h), true tank capacity, .... Also under the Identification menu you can scroll down to MASTER and find out what version of software your car has.

To Enter and Exit menus you hold for 5 seconds; to scroll down you hold for 1 second; to exit the main menu completely hold for 15 seconds. You do not need to unlock the computer next time. It will always be unlocked until you lock it or your dealer locks it.

grogan545

Below are two verions of a hidden-menu procedure that appear to be pertinent to what I want to do. I have rewritten both in minor ways for clarity.

The two versions are different. Has anyone used either or a combination of both to get to the accurate speedo and tach? If so, can you, using the steps below, help me identify a procedure that works for sure on the 545i. All help greatly appreciated. And, to your knowledge has anyone ever "gotten into trouble" trying to get these sorts of procedures to work.

Version 1:
1. Hold down the miles reset button, turn the key to first position, and immediately release the button. (This procedure won't work for me unless I can start the car later without disturbing what is displayed. I presume that I can do so.)
2. You will see a small display where the time/temp etc. usually appears.
3. Sequential presses of the button displays the numbers of a menu--1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc., up to 21.
4. Add up the last 5 digits of your VIN.
5. Go to position 19 on the menu and wait a second or two.
6. Under lock you will see a position to enter the calculated number which you do by sequential presses of the button.
7. Once you get to your calculated number stop pressing the button and wait.
8. The menu will go back to position 1.
9. Now toggle through to say position 7.
10. Once you get there wait a couple of seconds and you will then see 7.1.
11. The next press shows 7.2, etc. etc.
12. You will see that "it" displays, rpm, fuel consumption, battery voltage, current speed, core temp. etc. etc. etc.

Version 2:
1. While car is on, press the mileage reset button, and hold it for 15 seconds. (This procedure obviously would work for me since the car is started at this point.)
2. Now you will have menu options from 01 to 21.
3. Use the milage button or the bottom button on the turn signal--pressing the button for 5 seconds to open the 01 Identification menu.
4. Sum the last 5 digits of your VIN.
5. Press the Button (1 sec. intervals) to get to option 19--UNLOCKING.
6. Press and hold the button for 5 seconds to get to execute that menu option.
7. Now press the button (1 sec intervals) to get to the value you computed from your VIN
8. Once the number is displayed, hold the button in for 5 seconds to get back to the main menu.
9. Now all the options on the menu will work (unlocked!)
From above:
9. Once you get to your calculated number stop pressing the button and wait. (This critical step is different than the prior #9. Any thoughts?)
10. The menu will go back to position 1.
11. Now toggle through to say position 7.
12. Once you get there wait a couple of seconds and you will then see 7.1.
13. The next press shows 7.2, etc. etc.
14. You will see that "it" displays, rpm, fuel consumption, battery voltage, current speed, core temp. etc. etc. etc.

The options let you see a lot of sensor information--speed of vehicle (digital readout that is 100% accurate, but in km/h), true tank capacity, .... Also under the Identification menu you can scroll down to MASTER and find out what version of software your car has.

To Enter and Exit menus you hold for 5 seconds; to scroll down you hold for 1 second; to exit the main menu completely hold for 15 seconds. You do not need to unlock the computer next time. It will always be unlocked until you lock it or your dealer locks it.
[/quote]

First let me say that I have checked out menu 7 in the hidden menu and there is no discerable diff between the analog tach and the numbers displayed in the menu.At a standstill I rev'd the engine between idle and 3000 rpm and could detect no diff at any point.

My procedure to get into the menu iseems to be simpler:
With engine running hold trip reset button until menu comes up(about 15 sec)
Scroll to KD Test hold reset for about 5 sec.
Scroll to code 19(unlock)wait about 5 sec(screen comes up with another code menu)
Scroll to the code # of your last 5 digits of VIN(21 in my case).
Menu will go back to 01 in about 5sec.
You can now scroll and view the various menu's

The only useful menu I found is 20.This will change your mpg readings in the instrument cluster.After many manual calculations of actual mileage I found the readout to be 4% high.If you are interested I will go over this procedure again.I posted on this subject about a year ago but i thik I can refine it a little more now.

Also I found that after you turn the engine off the menu will not stay unlocked.You must unlock it again if you want to view.

I do not have NAV but I don't know if having NAV makes any diff in this procedure.

znod

Thanks much grogan. Did you test the MPH part of the hidden menu?

znod

grogan, how is your car????? And, did you see my mention of hooking up an independent tach on my car? What do you think would be involved? What brand would work, and have you ever heard of anyone doing so? Last, if I have not made things clear, when I talk about compartive decreases in torque, I am talking about road torque.

grogan545

Have not had car ouy today it is pooring rain all day.With some driving yesterday it feels same as usual,but will have to wait for better weather to test with GT2.I did not test mph ,only rpm's in driveway.Based on rpm being the same on tach & in menu I expect mph will also be the same.I will test tommorow.

I haven't used an aftermarket tach in years,but Sun was the brand of choice back then.I really don't think it would be any more accurate than the tach in the 545,but at least you would have a direct comparison.

I am still thinking about your torque information.I will elaborate on it later.

SaintK

BMW just released new version of progman. I do not know exactly what the fixes are in this version, but you might want to talk to the dealerships in a week or so.

cattman

A new version of the program, meaning a new CIP? Newer than 20.01?

Znod, I will look at RPM's at shift later today/ tonight. My car is still feeling groggy (slow) after 20.01, although I am able to get wheelspin.

znod

Here is the way the hidden menu works on my car--a 4/05 build 545i with nav under 20.01.00. I don't think I have made any errors below, but what I am writing is from memory, a few bad notes, and a trip downstairs to check something out. One trip downstairs is my maximum for a project like this one.

If I have made an error, then PM me if you want. But, once you get the hang of what's below, you quickly will be able to figure things out intuitively. There are a lot of words below about something that actually is quite simple.

I don't know if it is possible to get into trouble when fooling with the menus. I did manage to accidentally reset time, date, mpg, and average mph. If you bump into a way to do a "system restore" back to 19.01.01, then please let me know. And, you are own your own. I take no responsibility for what happens if you try what's below

Here we go.

1. Start your car. I don't know if you have to start your car at this point, but I wanted to because my purpose is to compare the readings of my car's instrument cluster speedo and tach with those of digital speedo and tach available through the menus.
2. Hold down the mileage reset button (or plunger) on the instrument cluster for about 8 seconds.
3. When 01.-- appears, let up and wait.
4. Then, 01.01 will appear.
5. At this point, you can scroll through menus numbers 01.01 to 01.08 by repeatedly pressing the reset button; however, you can't access any of the menu items at this time, and the complete set of items of interest is not yet viewable.

Short cut: Go from the appearance of 01.-- in step 2 to step 7.

6. Next, when on any of these items (e.g., 01.06), press and hold the resst button down.
7. As soon as you see 01.--, start scrolling and scroll immediately to item 18.
8. Next, scroll to 19, but this time continue to hold down until you see 19.-- Lock On (on two lines).
9. Once you see 19.-- Lock on, release and wait until you see 19.00 Lock On Code (on three lines).
10. At this point, immediately scroll until you see the sum of the five digits at the end of your VIN--which can't be greater than 5 X 9 = 45. Obviously, you should determine this sum before you start.
11. Once your sum, say, 25, appears, wait until you see 01.--, and then start scrolling immediately to the menu item you want--up to 21 as I recall.
12. If, for example, you want menu item 07, then scroll from 01.-- to 07 being sure to hold down when moving from 6 to 7.
13. After stopping on 7 and holding down briefly, let up.
14. Now, you can scroll through menu items 07.01, 07.02, 7.03, etc., etc.
15. Once you get to this point, you can press and hold down to get out of the current menu and to scroll to another. Hold down, etc., when moving to the one you are interested in.

If you make a mistake somewhere during this process, then use your intuition. But, regardless, you can always start over. The menu will be locked again once you turn your car off and restart it.

I was interested in getting to only the k/ph (kilometers per hour) menu and to the tachometer menu (U-rpm as I recall). k/ph is at 08.00 and U-rpm is at 07.03.

znod

Thanks much. Actually, I have an appointment to at least get things on record this coming Tuesday. I will ask if they know about a new release. "Oh that'll be the day that I cry. That'll be the day that I die."

I am getting a little wheel spin, but no real improvement in anything. "Oh Mabeline why cancha be ture. Oh mabeline." Thanks much.

Bokke

Znod - I found a stationary radar station on a nearby street, the kind that the city puts up for a few days to let people know how fast they are going...

..well anyway, I made a couple of passes to compare my HUD to the displayed speed and in all three instances there was a 3mph difference = HUD @ 39 & radar @ 36 / HUD @ 58 & radar @ 55 / HUD @ 65 & radar at 62....

...the last one a man walking his dog waived at me rather angrily to slow down

Cheers,