[mroshaw]

Hello all!

Having bought a new 2013 BMW 520d Touring (F11) last year, I've been continually frustrated by the lack of support that BMW make available for their Sat Navs - I refuse to pay hundred of pounds for map updates that should be done for free! I spent nearly £35K on the car - surely they can chuck in a map update now and again?

Anyway, I'm loath to pay BMW and I'm loath to give in to the cash grabbing forums out there that charge up to £50 for something that is not theirs to sell. So, I thought I'd have a go at generating map unlock codes for myself. Guess I didn't appreciate how complicated that might be!

I scoured the interwebs and this seems to be the one car mod forum where the members are polite and helpful and want to help others and not just cash in. In about 99% of other forums I visited, the last sentence of every post or comment was "PM me for price". Not in keeping with the spirit of information sharing!

So, I'm preparing myself to generate an unlock code for the NEXT Europe 2014-1 maps on my beemer and I'm bricking myself. I like to tinker with technology, but not with something worth 30 grand!

After much reading, I've acquired the following:

• The NEXT 2014.1 map updates
  
• An F Series ENET / OBD Connector
  
• BMW Tools 2.12
  
• SWID Reader (the one that supports DE)
  
• FSC Code Generator (the one with NBT.exe)
  

I've created a virtual machine on my laptop (Windows XP SP3 running on Virtual Box) - seemed safest to stick with XP since I had concerns about running the tools on 64-bit Windows 7 / 8.1.

I then installed BMW Tools (selecting OBD / COM1 interface), SWID reader and the FSC Code Generator - I had to install .NET Frameworks 3.5 to get those to run.

My ENET cable arrives tomorrow, so I wanted to post this and ask:

1. Have I got everything?
   
2. Have I missed a vital step?
   
3. Am I going to end up killing my beemer?!
   

I appreciate that this is long winded and I hope you don't mind a complete noob poking around with things I'm not comfortable with. I'm a firm believer of trying things myself and asking questions later, but on this occasion I'd just like some re-assurance that I'm not going to kill my motor!

Many thanks for taking the time to read and all comments welcome.

Regards,

mroshaw

[Roonster]

Hi mroshaw,

I have the same setup for my 2013 F11 530d. I've read the 00DE0001.fsc with the SWID_DE reader, saved the file and used it directly in the NBT Generator (BMW CIC/NBT FSC Generator (Wrapper by Phonix1129)). I choosed the right map and I've got a key.
I've tried it yesterday and yes, it works perfectly. I put the 2014 map on a 32GB USB Stick and I put this stick in the USB connector in the glove box. It recognized the update and I was aksed to enter the code. I did it and the update started.
It took at least roughly 1 hour (I drove around in the city) until the update was complete.

Best regards,
Roonster

BTW. You can't kill your beemer while trying to update your map. Even when the generated code is faulty, the old map (with the original FSC) remains active.

[mroshaw]

Hi Roonster,

Awesome - thank you so much for posting a reply! That makes me feel much better, knowing that someone has the same setup (well, you've got an extra litre on me! ).

In terms of running SWID Reader, I notice that it fires up and connects to the EDIABAS server.

Did you have to do any configuration of EDIABAS before running SWID Reader?

I've simply gone through the motions documented in the BMW Tools setup post by Bimmer - I haven't done any other fiddling with files.

Is it simply a case of connecting up the laptop and running the tool?

Many thanks again for your help with this.

Regards,

mroshaw

[mroshaw]

Hi all,

Right, I've done it. Not a bad effort, I reckon, for someone that hasn't done anything like this before!

So, to unlock maps on a BMW 520d F11...

Software / Hardware Required

1. NEXT Map update software (I updated with NEXT 2004.1)
   
2. BMW_E-Sys_3.18.4_47.
   
3. SWID_Reader (the original archive)
   
4. SWID_DE_reader (assuming it's the DE file - guess reading the 1B file is much the same)
   
5. BMW-FSC-NBT Code Generator (the one with NBT.EXE)
   
6. An ENET cable (Ethernet on one end, OBDII on the other)
   

I ended up running it all in Windows 8.1 having corrupted my XP VM accidentally!

Steps

1. From the E-Sys archive, copy the EDIABAS folder to the root of your C: drive
   
2. Confirm that the interface is defined as ENET in EDIABAS\BIN\EDIABAS.INI. If not, use Konfigurator to change it to ENET
   
3. From the original SWID_Reader archive, copy the 4 .prg files into EDIABAS\ECU
   
4. Copy the DE SWID_Reader executable to EDIABAS\BIN folder
   
5. Connect the ENET cable to the computer and to the car - on the F11 the OBDII port is under the steering column. Refer to the owners manual for full details
   
6. Wait a minute for the devices to assign themselves IP addresses
   
7. Run the DE version of SWID_Reader
   
8. Select 'F' series
   
9. Click 'Connect'
   
10. Click 'Read VIN'
    
11. Click 'Read FSC (DE)'
    
12. Click 'Save to File'. The file is saved in the BIN folder as <VIN>00DE0001.fsc
    
13. Open the FSC Generator
    
14. Click 'Browse' and open the .fsc file
    
15. Select your map product (Road Map EUROPE Next 2014-1)
    
16. Click 'Generate'
    
17. Note down the activation code
    
18. Expand the NEXT Map update archive to the root of a 32GB USB stick
    Plug the usb stick into the car (my USB is in the centre console of the car)
    
19. When prompted, enter your activation code
    
20. Enjoy!
    

This has been such an interesting mini project to mess around with. I think I've learned a bit about EDIABAS and the various interface options etc. I also spent £10 on an ENET cable, saving me paying £40 to some chancer for the luxury of keeping my maps up to date!

Hopefully someone finds this and finds it useful.

Regards,

mroshaw

[layren]

Hi All,

Could you share me the SWID Reader (DE version)?

Many thanks!
Layren

[mroshaw]

Just search this forum for SWID_Reader - you'll find the DE download a few posts down in the thread that you'll find.

[vince59]

Hello all!

Having bought a new 2013 BMW 520d Touring (F11) last year, I've been continually frustrated by the lack of support that BMW make available for their Sat Navs - I refuse to pay hundred of pounds for map updates that should be done for free! I spent nearly £35K on the car - surely they can chuck in a map update now and again?

Anyway, I'm loath to pay BMW and I'm loath to give in to the cash grabbing forums out there that charge up to £50 for something that is not theirs to sell. So, I thought I'd have a go at generating map unlock codes for myself. Guess I didn't appreciate how complicated that might be!

I scoured the interwebs and this seems to be the one car mod forum where the members are polite and helpful and want to help others and not just cash in. In about 99% of other forums I visited, the last sentence of every post or comment was "PM me for price". Not in keeping with the spirit of information sharing!

So, I'm preparing myself to generate an unlock code for the NEXT Europe 2014-1 maps on my beemer and I'm bricking myself. I like to tinker with technology, but not with something worth 30 grand!

After much reading, I've acquired the following:

• The NEXT 2014.1 map updates
  
• An F Series ENET / OBD Connector
  
• BMW Tools 2.12
  
• SWID Reader (the one that supports DE)
  
• FSC Code Generator (the one with NBT.exe)
  

I've created a virtual machine on my laptop (Windows XP SP3 running on Virtual Box) - seemed safest to stick with XP since I had concerns about running the tools on 64-bit Windows 7 / 8.1.

I then installed BMW Tools (selecting OBD / COM1 interface), SWID reader and the FSC Code Generator - I had to install .NET Frameworks 3.5 to get those to run.

My ENET cable arrives tomorrow, so I wanted to post this and ask:

1. Have I got everything?
   
2. Have I missed a vital step?
   
3. Am I going to end up killing my beemer?!
   

I appreciate that this is long winded and I hope you don't mind a complete noob poking around with things I'm not comfortable with. I'm a firm believer of trying things myself and asking questions later, but on this occasion I'd just like some re-assurance that I'm not going to kill my motor!

Many thanks for taking the time to read and all comments welcome.

Regards,

mroshaw

nothing new in what you are saying...this is the way things go since long time. It is just your time. You DID not invent or discover anything new. I guess you would not willing to pay something event to who actually invented the software you are using...