zroadster.net

Hi. Having a misfiring cylinder under load. I guess as I plan to keep the Z until it becomes a classic in my twilight years and I've spent a fair bit on replacing suspension, brakes, hoses etc it's probably time to get a reader.
I have a 1.9 MY2000 with the underdash connector.

I looking for a reasonable/sensible priced reader & cable etc. Instructions would be useful as well, as I've never used these before.

Just seen:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELM327-Vehicl ... 2ed23fbce7

Anybody have experience, I would pair with Android via Bluetooth.

I don't have a 1.9 but I have read they can suffer from head gasket failure? Dependant on which way the gasket fails it can course misfire without the usual oil/water mixture.

Cheers
Dave

The under dash OBD port only accesses engine functions I believe and to access the rest of the body control unit you need the 20 pin adaptor for under the bonnet.

These cars caught the OBD II introduction transition period and as Brian suggests, the addition of the under-bonnet adapter would hedge your bets in terms of reading codes. In my opinion these are worth their weight in gold; the advantage of a generic OBD II one is that you can use it on a range of cars. Misfiring under load can also be something simple like bad plugs or coil. As far as I am aware the M42 engine (not used in UK Z3s) allegedly had a design fault with its head gasket and I have heard of the odd, high mileage M43TU engine blowing a head gasket. However, like the over-stated water pump problem, I don't think these BMWs actually have problems any greater than any other cars.

my 1.9 started having a misfire and all the code reader came up with was 'misfire cyl 3 and 4'.
i eventually traced it to the cat breaking up and blocking the exhaust.
just to be sure, try banging the cat and see if it rattles.
a mate had a misfire that was coil breaking down and again the code read 'misfire cyl 1'

I have an ELM 327 (or more likely a cheap Chinese copy) and use it with Dashcommand on the iPhone. As has been said it will only read and reset engine codes and will not reset airbag light etc. The engine error codes don't necessarily tell you what the exact problem is, but it is useful to clear codes and then see if the same error occurs again without having to spend £60 each time with a mechanic.