Carly for BMW OBD

[suttz83]

Hi,

Just posted in the Newbie section and as I said I have a load of questions I'd love to get some help with if possible. I'm due to pick my Z4 up at the weekend so as you can imagine looking into everything.

First up is Carly for BMW.

I think it would be a really handy piece of kit to have. The app seems Ok at the asking £45 but when coupled with the genuine Carly OBD lead at another circa £60 it starts to sound a bit expensive.

My question is, does the Carly need to have the genuine lead to work? I.e can I get another OBD lead and use it to hook up to the App?

Anyone got one for sale?

Many thanks in advance.

[MACK]

I use Carly with my BM Cables silver cable so you dont need to have their lead for it to work

[Ducklakeview]

The genuine Carly lead is £30 on Amazon, I take it you have an android phone?

I too have the BMCables silver lead, but chose to use the one that they guarantee to work with the app.

Mike

[suttz83]

I don't have android. I have iPhone but I thought they work with both?

If the genuine lead is £30 then that makes it a lot better. I'll look into the BM silver leads too.

Thanks for the help.

[Ducklakeview]

I don't have android. I have iPhone but I thought they work with both?

If the genuine lead is £30 then that makes it a lot better. I'll look into the BM silver leads too.

Thanks for the help.

Not sure if the lead works with Iphone.. Think you need the WiFi adaptor, but not 100%

Mike

[suttz83]

Cheers Mike, I think I'm getting a bit confused. You are right, I do need a WiFi adaptor so it will work with my phone. Does that only leave me with the option of buying Carly WiFi adaptor or can I can any brand WiFi OBD adaptor?

[IAmOrion]

Pretty sure for iPhone you require the WiFi adaptor. Now, my frustration is, they HAVE coded it to pretty much work with their own Gen 2 Wifi adaptor.

I have an expensive (when first bought) PLX Kiwi 2 WiFi (was around £120 - £140 when first released) and I also have the PLX Kiwi 3 which works via BT for android and BLE (aka BT4.0) for iPhone - so the Kiwi 3 works with BOTH devices where previously you needed a different depending on iOS or Android.

I also have tried numerous wifi adaptors claiming to be suitable for Carly but have as yet failed to get ANY to work with Carly.

They all work perfectly with Dash Commander / OBD Doctor and a fair few other apps but refuse to work with Carly. Having done some quick reverse engineering on the iOS App (I'm an iOS Coder, and played an active part in Jailbreaking code etc so I know my way around the iOS System ) and some aspects of code specifically looks for their adaptor.

I personally feel £43 for the app is too much given for many of us "joe public" users it would be a 2 - 3 time usage thing at most I reckon. But then coupled with the fact you pretty much need their Gen 2 WiFi adaptor at another £57 I really begrudge spending the money and think it's a pretty arsehole move on their part to code their app as such. Especially when you consider I already have 2 high quality OBD readers as it is! Don't want to have to buy a bloody 3rd - I'm sure arguments could be raised for and against but we'll not debate that here.

[markeg]

^ what he said.

I've tried with other wireless modules, none work with Carly. I ended up buying the OBD plug and professional version of the app - it's proven pretty useful for coding and diagnosis and is far easier to use than plugging in the laptop with INPA etc. But I also agree that for the casual user it's an expensive piece of kit.