I know its an engine management software, but apart from it showing fault codes, what else does it show/can be used for?

How much does it cost to get? I take it a laptop and cable is all thats needed to opporate it?

Any ideas where to purchase it from?

Dan

Its used to read fault codes, and control various bits of the car. If you install say, cruise control, you need to enable it to work using vagcom. One touch indicators, auto lock, one touch unlock, alarm beep, and loads of other stuff all changed via vag com.

I think theres some places online you can get it, the cable has the license built into it iirc so you need a genuine one.

Matt

For tuning purposes you can also run logs on the move of various sensor outputs, which is helpful to send to tuners when mapping your car

Thanks for the help guys. I appreciate i need a licenced one, but whats the difference between a new one, a genuine ross tech lead (thats on ebay now), and some of the ebay ones costing a tenner? Would the ebay ones still work?

Thanks

Dan

Thanks for the help guys. I appreciate i need a licenced one, but whats the difference between a new one, a genuine ross tech lead (thats on ebay now), and some of the ebay ones costing a tenner? Would the ebay ones still work?

I'd be interested in the response to that too - or a pointer to where else this is discussed in this context - i.e. what do you get in terms of functionality with the 4 pages of entries at eBay 9UK listing only) - and what don't you?

I would suggest getting a proper Ross Tech one if you can afford it.

The cheap ones on eBay are ok but with limited features. You have to scan each module on its own as it will not do auto scan. There is also a very big issue that you should be aware of with these cheap 3rd party scanners, if you have a certain type of airbag control unit it can activiate some coding whats a fault in the firmware that will show the airbag warning light. It'll constantly have a 65535 error code that won't clear. This is something I am still trying to sort, but if you use the software from the website instead of the one on the CD it should give you a warning message about it. More information can be found on the Ross Tech website.

So I guess it'll deppend on what you need it for. If you just want to read error codes and clear them (not including airbags!) then the cheap eBay ones will be ok. But if you want to do more advanced this you probably will need a Ross Tech one.

Thanks for responding - all I want it for is to change the convenience codes - e.g. autolocking, etc. I can't justify paying out lots of money for that - but £10 would be all right. But you've got me worried with that error code now... :S

It's only with the Airbag module. The £10 ones will not allow you to auto scan, it'll do the first two modules then stop. Luckly the Airbag module is 15 so it won;t be scanned by mistake. Just remember DO NOT scan the airbag module and you should be ok.

As far as changing those codes you're on about, I've not done anything like that so I don't know if there are any issues. But the Ross Tech website lists all the known issues they are aware of, so maybe worth having a quick look through before you start.