Bavarian Technic BMW & Mini Cooper Software Diagnostic Tools

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BMW

BMW Diagnostics

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BMW Diagnostic Connectors

All BMW's built since 1988 have a diagnostic connector. The early diagnostic connectors are circular, have 20 pins with a small pie-shapped hole in the middle, and are located in the engine compartment. In 1996 BMW started adding OBD2 connectors for North American market cars. BMW's early use of the OBD2 connector provided access to the engine control module only. Starting in July of 2000, BMW removed the round diagnostic connectors and began provding all diagnostic capabilites through the OBD2 connector. Exceptions were the E38 7-series and Z3 models which used the round diagnostic connector to the end of their production.

If your car has the round diagnostic connector under the hood, you should use the round adapter and not the 16 pin OBD2 connector. Note that not all models below are currently supported by the Bavarian Technic tool. See the Model Feature Matrix for a list of supported models.

Model	Chassis	Connector Type
3-Series 1988-1992	E30	Round Connector
3-Series 1992-1999	E36	Round Connector
3-Series 1998-2000	E46	Round Connector
3-Series 2001-2006	E46	OBD2 Connector under dash left side
3-Series 2005-2009	E90	OBD2 Connector behind cover on kick panel
5-Series 1989-1995	E34	Round Connector
5-Series 1996-2000	E39	Round Connector
5-Series 2001-2003	E39	OBD2 Connector
5-Series 2004-2009	E60	OBD2 Connector behind cover on kick panel
7-Series 1988-1994	E32	Round connector
7-Series 1995-2001	E38	Round connector
7-Series 2001-2008	E60	OBD2 Connector behind cover on left kick panel
Z3 All	E36	Round connector
Z4 All	E85-E89	OBD2
Z8 2000-2001	E52	Round Connector
Z8 2002-2003	E52	OBD2
X3 All	E83	OBD2
X5 1999-2001	E53	Round connector
X5 2002-2009	E53	OBD2
MINI Cooper All	R50-R56	OBD2

Here are some pictures of round connectors:
Here is a 540i (E39)

Here is a 325i (E46)