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.