MUST HAVE BMW Z4 BimmerCode Mods/Coding

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Ever wanted to enable hidden features or modify how your car behaves?

SimpleCarGuy here and today I will show you my top 7 BMW Z4 Coding Mods. This platform BMW Z4 is older, so you won’t see as many options as I’ve done on the BMW i3 in the past, but there are still a few really good ones.

Content:

So, let’s quickly talk about what you will need. You can skip to THIS TIME on the screen if you are already familiar with the process, but I’ll make it super quick. You will need this Veepeak adapter. They don’t pay me to say this and I bought this with my own money, but I recommend it because it’s only $30 and works well. You will also need to buy the Full Version of the BimmerCode app. Then you simply plug the adapter into the OBD2 port on your car and follow the steps to connect. I will have coding steps for each feature I’m talking about on the screen or in the description.

My Favorite Coding:

We’ll start with something simple. Let’s make the Auto Start Stop function remember the last setting instead of always being on when the car is started. I think this should be the default option on all cars with this feature. I know when I need it and I will turn it on. Otherwise, I just find it annoying most of the time and turn it off manually. It’s also probably the reason my starter went out a few months ago.

This second mod is definitely my favorite. We can change the top speed the convertible top will operate while moving. On LCI cars, I believe you can already do so, but on my 2012 Z4 as soon as you start moving, the roof operation stops. Until recent I thought you have to get a SmartTop to do this, but you can code this using BimmerCode. There are a few things to consider, though. I would not open and close the roof while driving every time. This will be more for sudden rains or when driving smoothly. Some say that the hydraulics are different on LCI models, but after checking the part numbers, everything seems to be the same. So, I’m not really worried about it, but this does put more stress on all components, so use at your own risk. This can be set up to open the roof all the way up to 30km/h, which is pretty cool!

Also, some US spec cars do not have convenient closing, so you can enable opening and closing the roof from the remote. At the default setting, it takes a couple of seconds for the roof to start opening or closing, which is too long in my opinion, so we can change that as well.

On top of that, you can also allow your windows to be opened or closed freely while the roof is being operated. Gotta be a little careful with this one, but at least the passenger can freely open the door while the roof is closing. You can also enable easy access. This will lower the windows half way so you can get in and out of the car in tighter spaces. You just have to press unlock twice once the car is already unlocked.

I also added a digital speed read out in the instrument cluster, which is nice to have for a quick glance. Of course, you can just toggle this on or off with the BC button once coded.

If you didn’t know, most BMWs correct the speed that is shown to you on the speedometer, meaning it’s slightly higher than your actual speed, you can turn this off if you like.

  • Wipers

While we are in this area, have you ever noticed how the Windshield Wipers don’t complete the cycle when you turn the car off half way through? We can fix that! We can also fix the level of the wipers when not moving , I always found it annoying that it doesn’t go flat down when you have the auto wiping on but you are stopped.

Another setting that should work like this by default is the air circulation settings. It resets when you restart the car as well, but I prefer it stays as I left it last time. We can easily change this as well!

  • Warnings: Disable Seat Belt BONG!!

Last on my favorites list is the warnings and reminders coding. I have coded out the seat belt reminder gongs as I KNOW to wear my seatbelt and I don’t need to be reminded. Any time I’m not wearing the seatbelt is because I’m moving my car or working on something in the interior. I also hate when it tells my passenger to buckle up since half of the time my passenger is my work bag or some groceries. You can also remove the ignition key warning if that bothers you.

Navigation Specific:

If your Z4 has a screen you might also want to get rid of the startup warning that you have to click ACCEPT on, the camera warning for when you go in reverse and enable video in motion.

Not my Favorite, but you may want:

There are a few coding options that I chose not to do on my own car, but figured I would mention it.

You can enable auto locking of doors and set the speed at which it does this.

You can also have your doors automatically unlock when you eject the key.

You can add panic alarm activation to your keyfob.

You can disable the corner LEDs if you don’t like the look of those and enable double pulse hazard flashers or 5 flashes instead of 3 for turn signals.

You can even increase the angel eyes parking light brightness, just make sure your bulbs can handle that.

  1. Auto lock of doors driving above 2mph/ car locking past 11 km/h.
  2. Unlock doors when key is ejected (if you don’t have comfort access)
  3. Panic alarm activation from the fob.
  4. Double pulse hazard flasher (looks super cool I think… )
  5. Indicator ‘tip’ up to 5 flashes (from 3)

Summary:

Of course, there are so many other things you can do with coding that doesn’t really have anything to do with visuals or convenience. For example, you can change the battery type allowing you to upgrade to a bigger battery or you can turn the voltage monitoring off so that you can upgrade to LED lights without having warnings on the dash. I think it’s pretty cool what we can do with our cars by just using a cheap little adapter and an app. What are your favorite coding options? Let me know down below, I’d love to see if I missed anything cool. Also, if you are new to this channel, why not check out where this car started and how it ended up here by watching this 2-year transformation video. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next one.

Auction Bought BMW i3 – 6 Months Update

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Spoiler Fix:

There were also a few things I’ve done off camera as none of them constituted a full video. If you’ve watched the “Everything wrong with my BMW i3” video, I showed how the rear spoiler was grinding on the roof, so I have adjusted it by loosening the 4 screws from the inside and physically moving it to the correct position. It seemed to have been popped out of place and secured while in that position. No clue how, but now it works perfectly.

Seat and Armrest Repair:

Buying a car at auction sight unseen always comes with risks, but usually it’s the mechanical surprises that get you. For me though, it was the interior. I have never seen such a rough interior on a newer car. Whether it’s the lack of quality of the interior or the neglect from the previous owner, this one was bad. So, I ordered a color matched leather die and tried to fix the seats, the armrest and the door panel as much as I could Here is the result, it doesn’t look perfect, but much better than before.

Got the windshield replaced:

Next, I had the windshield replaced since the crack grew larger and larger and became an eye sore. I’m sure it wasn’t safe either.. I also have a new plastic surround on the way from Europe, but it’s been a month and still not here.

Added tint, replaced rear and front driver side:

With all of the glass now intact on the car, I tinted my rear driver side window and retinted the from driver’s door as well. The glass on the hatch also had some scratches in it and needed to be replaced.

Restored Plastic Trim:

While working on the tint, I noticed how sticky and dirty the plastic panel was and it had to be cleaned. Removing it made it much easier to get rid of all the glue on the glass left by the old tint. It also made it much easier to install new tint and allowed me to properly clean and restore it the plastic panel.

After a good scrub, it was clean, but still didn’t look that great, so I decided to use this technique I saw on the internet. I used a light and later a propane torch to restore the plastic and it turned out better than I expected!

Another Clean:

Speaking of cleaning, I did another round of interior cleaning to get rid of the filth I didn’t notice the first time or couldn’t get it out in the middle of winter. I had a little bit more success this time and it looks much better, especially the doors, headliner and carpet around the seats. Is it perfect? NO, but it’s good enough to use for daily driving.

Q/A, Updates:

Reliability:

Now, let’s answer some of your questions. With all of those upgrades and changes, how has the car been as far as reliability? Surprisingly, after fixing the electricals, for the last 6 moths, this has been the most reliable BMW I have owned. Even after being so mistreated and abused in its past life and with over 90,000 miles, this car drives like a champ.

Suspension Comfort:

Speaking of driving, I’ve got a lot of questions on how it drives after the suspension work I have done. To be honest, it’s not as comfortable as it was before BUT it’s a lot better in the corners and far more stable on the highway. I can easily do 80 mph and not feel like I’m about to tip over or jump in the next lane from a light breeze. The ride is slightly harsher and sometimes a little bumpier on really bad roads, but this could also have to do with the fact that not only did I lower the car and widen the track, I also went from 19 in wheels and tires to 20 in wheels and tires. Overall, I would 100% do it again as it made the car handle better, feel a lot safer and of course look a little less like an SUV. Which I love.

Battery Life:

Another question I’ve been getting in regards to getting a 90,000-mile abused EV was about the range. It seems that most people were expecting this car to have about half of its original range, but from what I can tell, there has been absolutely no noticeable battery degradation as the range is basically what I would expect when the car was new. Of course, I know that BMW has built in some buffers into the battery which it might be using now to keep the range the same, I will do some further investigation in the near future and make a video about it. So, stay tuned! We’ll see battery cycles, state of charge, range extender usage and hours and more.

Plans for Future:

Last thing I wanted to talk about is my plan for the future.. as you can see, I have failed to fix the paint on this car. By now, I wanted to have the body panels painted or wrapped, but being a small YouTuber, my budget had to go somewhere else for a while and I’ve just ordered a new bumper and fenders for my BMW 335 project which will take preference for now. I’m hoping to paint the hood and attempt wrapping it myself. If I succeed, I’d love to do the entire car as well, but I know it’s much harder than it looks If that doesn’t work, it will go to a real shop.

Under the front trunk, I’ve not done much progress either, I haven’t fixed the storage box as I never really use it other than to store the charging cable. As I mentioned earlier, the windshield surround is broken and I will replace it as soon as the part gets here. Other than that, I think the car is great! What would you do next? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Perfect timing for buying EV:

With all of that said, am I happy that I saved this abused BMW i3 and gave it a second chance? Absolutely! Not only have I learned a bunch working on this car, I’ve also got it at a perfect time. Gas prices have more than doubled around here and while I will always drive my gas guzzlers, it’s very nice to use something this efficient for things like grocery shopping. I’ve also learned that I can have fun driving this quirky futuristic electric vehicle which makes the future seem not so grim once the gas vehicles are being phased out. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next one?

BMW 3 Series (E90, E92) CiC Wireless CarPlay Retrofit – Full Install DIY

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BMW 335i (E92) is a great looking car and the design has held up very well over the years, but of course technology moves on. In this video, I modernize my 10 year old BMW by installing wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto that works with the original iDrive controller and the steering wheel controls! It works great and allows you to have modern maps, steering music, videos and podcasts and all of the features CarPlay offers! I was impressed with how fast this unit connects and how good the audio is coming out of this device. This set up will work on all BMW CiC head units listed below. If you have the older style screen/controller, your steps may vary and you have to get the correct version of the add on device. CiC (Same as in this video): 1-Series E81/E82/E87/E88 09/08 – 03/14 1-Series F20/F21 09/11 – 03/13 3-Series E90/E91/E92/E93 09/08 – 10/13 3-Series F30/F31/F34/F80 02/12 – 11/12 5-Series E60/E61 11/08 – 05/10 5-Series F07/F10 03/10 – 09/12 6-Series E63/E64 11/08 – 07/10 6-Series F06/F12/F13 12/10 – 03/13 7-Series F01-03 11/08 – 07/13 X1 E84 10/2009 – 06/2015 X3 F25 10/2010 – 04/2013 X5 E70 10/2009 – 06/2013 X6 E71 10/2009 – 08/2014 Z4 E89 04/2009 – present MINI CIC 10/2009 – 04/2013 If you don’t have buttons around your iDrive controller, you most likely have the CCC headunit: CCC (older BMWs): 1-Series E81/E82/E87/E88 06/2004 – 09/2008 3-Series E90/E91/E92/E93 03/2005 – 09/2008 5-Series E60/E61 12/2003 – 11/2008 6-Series E63/E64 12/2003 – 11/2008 X5 Series E70 03/2007 – 10/2009 X6 Series E72 05/2008 – 10/2009

BMW R Nine T Belly Pan Install

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After installing the carbon fiber headlight fairing and the engine cover, I’m now adding the belly pan to my BMW R Nine T! This would go perfect on the scrambler and of course on the roadster like mine. Not only does it protect the engine and helps with air dynamics, it also looks great! Installing the belly pan is easy and only took me about 10 minutes without any special tools. You will only need a 4 and 5 Hex sockets to complete this job.

BMW Z4 Interior Lights Upgrade to LED

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Very simple DIY upgrade that brings the interior of your BMW Z4 to a new, modern level! In this video, I show you how to replace the old amber, yellow halogen interior lights with modern white LEDs.

BMW 3 Series (E90, E92) Cabin Air Filter Change DIY

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One of the easiest DIY projects you can do on your car is swapping the cabin air filter. It’s very inexpensive to do yourself and doesn’t require more than a very simple socket set. On this BMW 335i, you would save about $100 by not going to the dealer and doing this at home. In the video, I show you where the filter is located, how to remove it, swap it for a new one and reinstall the plastic bracket back on the car.

BMW R Nine T Oil Change DIY

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Whether you are changing your own oil to same money or because you want to make sure it will be done right, it’s important to follow all the steps and use quality products! Your BMW R NineT will thank you at the end! In this video, I will be draining the old oil on my Motorrad, replacing the oil filter and the oil plug gasket and of course adding 4 liters of Liqui Moly 15w-50. I will also show you how to measure and make sure that you have added the correct amount of oil to your bike and talk about all the specs and torque specs as we go! You will need some tools such as the torque wrench, 8 mm hex socket and the oil filter tool (76 mm x 12 flutes). I wouldn’t start this job without these!

BMW 3 Series (E90, E92) Battery Replacement, Coding and Registration

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The battery on my BMW 335i has been failing for months now and I finally got around to replacing, coding and registering it. It’s not a very difficult job and shouldn’t take more than an hour of your time. You will also save at least a few hundred dollars compared to taking it to a dealer or even a local shop. Shop around for batteries as I found this great battery for $100 cheaper than local parts stores or even online! I show the process of removing the battery, choosing the right battery for your car, installing the battery, coding a change if the type of battery is different or the capacity is different and even registering it to tell the car that it’s new.

BMW R Nine T Carbon Fiber Headlight Fairing & Engine Cover!

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BMW has built these R Nine T motorcycles with modifications in mind. It’s a blank canvas that’s ready to be customized! After riding my BMW R Nine T for a year, I’ve learned what I like and what I want to improve and I’m starting with a few cool mods. The first is installing a carbon fiber headlight fairing that not only gives this bike an even more Cafe style look, but also improves air flow when riding at hight speeds. Second part is installing an engine (belt) cover that’s also made from carbon fiber. This piece looks great and replaced a heavy OEM part! Both parts add a personalized style to the bike and I can’t wait to continue this customization journey.

MUST HAVE BMW i3 BimmerCode Mods/Coding

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Do you own a BMW i3 and want to make it better? Hey guys and welcome back to the SimpleCarGuy channel! Today, I will show you my favorite changes I’ve done on my BMW i3 using the BimmerCode app that have completely transformed how I use the car. I will also talk about what you will need to get started and other changes that you may be interested in. So, let’s get started.

To get started,  you will need an adapter that is compatible with the BimmerCode app on your phone and the app itself. I bought my Veepeak adapter for $30 on Amazon so you don’t need an expensive one for this car. You can find links in the description for the exact unit I bought, but there are many options listed on their website. The app itself is free, but if you want to do anything fun, it will cost you another $30 to activate the full version. For the total cost of about $60 you are ready to start coding your car. That’s kind of amazing if you ask me. I won’t go into the set up details, but it’s very easy, plug the OBD2 adapter in and follow the steps in the App to connect. Once everything is set up, you will be presented with different modules on your car. Each is responsible for different functionality and you can easily spend hours going through options here, but let’s highlight the ones I like the most.

With that out of the way, let’s get into my favorites!

  1. The most obvious change that NEEDS to happen on all Rex BMW i3s is adding the extra fuel capacity and enabling the range extender menu. These 2 options extend the distance and speed you can travel. Let me explain. The US model of the BMW i3 has an electronically limited fuel tank which can be unlocked using this method and will allow an extra half a gallon of fuel, It doesn’t sound like much, but that’s an extra 20 miles added to the range. On top of that, enabling the range extender menu allows you to turn on your Range Extender any time you want once you are under 75% charge, which is an option that is normally disabled on the US version of the car. This is very important when going highway speeds as the range extender cannot keep up with the demand if your battery is at a very low state of charge. Your speed will be reduced and you have to find a charger. With the HOLD option, if you know you will be going on a longer trip, you can start charging the battery with the range extender much sooner and keep going the speed you want. This also reduces anxiety of running out of juice on the highway as you can just fill up once out of gas and continue your travel. These 2 options allow this car to be used a lot more like a regular car and personally for me make it comfortable to be used on longer trips and outside of the city.
  2. Coding is all about making the car what you want it to be and I wanted a larger screen. My second favorite coding and a must have in my opinion is enabling the larger screen and resolution. Yes, this one also requires the purchase of the actual screen, but without coding it would be useless. Luckily, it’s very easily done though the app and doesn’t it look so much better!? Check out my full video on this change in the description or the card in the top right corner.
  3. My third favorite feature that I have enabled is the auto-folding mirrors when you lock the car. Not only does it help with exiting the vehicle in tight spots or the garage, but it’s also an awesome indicator to show you if the car is locked when you walk away. Of course, when you unlock the car, the mirrors will auto-unfold as well.
  4. Next modification that shouldn’t even be a modification is showing tire pressure and temperature in the iDrive menu. I have no idea why BMW would hide this information from us, but it’s very helpful to see the actual tire pressure and temperature especially when seasons change or if you suspect a slow leak and more.
  5. Do you hate having to hit “Confirm” or “Accept” every time you start the car or use the camera? Yeah, me too! Once you’ve read it once and accepted it, why do you have to see it every time? You don’t, so I disabled these annoying messages and warning as well. There are 2 options for this, the general Legal Disclaimer and the camera disclaimer.
  6. Another change to add some comfort to the driving experience was actually changing the heated seats temperature. Is this a big deal? Absolutely not, but I always found the lower settings still a little too hot for my liking, so I have lowered it to what’s comfortable for me. Similarly, you can raise the temperature if that’s what you like.
  7. Last, but definitely one of my favorites is coding additional driving modes! Now, this does not add any more power to the motor or anything like that, but you can enable Sport and Sport+ Modes as well as Comfort+ mode that isn’t normally available on these cars. The sport driving mode modifies the steering and sharpens the accelerator response. This takes the i3 back to how it was orifinally designed and release when it first came out, but BMW had to dial back the power off the line on the regular i3 as it was prematurely wearing the motor mounts. So, this does come with a risk and not something I would abuse, but I like to use it occasionally instead of the standard soft start. You will also notice that Sport+ doesn’t show up in the driver’s display, but that’s not a big deal to me as you can clearly see it on the big display in the middle.
  8. However only SPORT mode is 100% “compatible” and allows without issues to Hold State Of Charge (in my 2015 i3 Rex) while driving, in other cases I had to swich to one of the standard driving modes, turn HSOC on and then swich back to i. e. SPORT +.

Wish I could code:

Finally, there is one option I can’t figure out. Whenever I get out of the car to open the garage or get the mail or anything where I have to open the door, the car will shut off including the HVAC system, even if it’s only for 10 seconds. This is very frustrating and unfortunately, there isn’t an option to keep the car and AC running when you unbuckle the seat belt and exit the car, even if it’s in park. If anyone knows how to do this, let me know! I have circumvented this problem by programming the 4th button on the key fob to turn on Auxilliary Cooling for when I leave for longer times or forget to select preconditioning on the main screen, but I’d still like the car to stay on if I didn’t’ turn it off.

Others that may be interesting:

Those are my 7 favorite coding changes and 1 change to solve a problem that should not have existed in the first place. Let me know what your favorites are or the ones you are looking forward to doing on your own BMW i3. Here is a list of other coding options that I thought are worth mentioning. You can

  1. Activate the AM Radio which is disabled by default,
  2. You can also Enable Unlock of all doors with engine off, so if you have kids you can unlock all doors by just opening your own door. This way you don’t have to pull out your keys when you get to the other side.
  3. Similarly, you can disable auto-locking of doors once you start driving and even make it so you don’t have to hold the brake pedal to start the car.
  4. If you have a dog riding in the car, you might also want to turn off the seat belt reminders and gongs.
  5. Everyone knows about the tilting passenger mirror when in reverse, but did you know you can make it go even lower if you like? You can also enable illumination of the exterior door handle LED when you are in reverse and even turn on Fog lights with the welcome lights and have the Tail Lights turn on with the daylight running lights. Speaking of DRLs, you can increase their brightness as well by increasing voltage to the LED bulbs.
  6. And if you like to see what is happening behind you at any time, you can enable rear-view camera at all speeds and activate it by pressing the camera button in the center console.

On that note, thank you guys so much for watching, I hope I have encouraged you to get some coding done your BMW i3 and if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. Don’t forget to like the video, subscribe to the channel and I’ll see you in the next one!