318ti - Am I OBDI or OBDII ? Where it the port?

**mikc** · 02-12-2005, 09:06 AM

X

**1996 328ti** · 02-12-2005, 09:17 AM

OBD-II
You have a port in the engine bay. Probably secured to the right strut tower.

There is another port under the dash.
There is a rectangular cover that needs to be removed.
Judging my the ebay ad, that is the one you need.

On a left hand drive the port would be on the bottom left above your knee.
I am assuming on a right hand drive it would be on the bottom right.

**JedzE36/5** · 02-12-2005, 11:53 AM

what he said ^^ there should be a port next to the driver's side strut tower. it is circular and has a screw off cap on it. and then you have the under dash one.

**mickd** · 02-13-2005, 10:04 PM

It's OBDII, only '95 ti's are OBDI

**mmzcee** · 02-13-2005, 10:13 PM

its OBD II, and you've got a nice little car, love your sig.

**elements018** · 02-13-2005, 10:15 PM

if u have a palm pilot, u can buy the softwear for odbII and it'll come with the cable, it looks extremely cool to have a palm pilot plug into ur car, or atleast i think its easy and fun

**SecretAznSauce** · 02-14-2005, 04:12 PM

theres your problem, your steering wheel is on the wrong side. sorry man, I have no idea on those right handed cars

**ZeroG** · 02-14-2005, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by mikcanavan

Okay guys - this is driving me mad now! I have looked both sides and am really begining to feel a bit daft now!!!

There was a rectangular cover next to my ASC button, but all my excitement was for nothing! It has nothing even behind it!

I have attached a picture of the inside of my car (although it is a bit mucky)

I am hoping that some kind sole may be able to tell something from that!

Thanks again

I should be on the drivers side knee bolster. Get on your knees and look in the footwell area by the pedals somewhere. you should see a little plastic plate that says "OBD II" using a flat head screw driver the plate will open up and inside you will see a little rectangular thing. Remove the cover and then plug in your cord. If you look down there and still find nothing, try removing interior panels by your feet and you should find it.

-Chad

**HOOJ** · 02-14-2005, 05:43 PM

OBD-II ports are there for USA/Canada emissions laws only. European market BMWs are not so equipped, I recall reading somewhere; perhaps in my BMW's user manual.

**ZeroG** · 02-14-2005, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by mikcanavan

That may be the case then HOOJ...?

In which case, my next question would be, can I still run the OBDII scan tools from the circular port in the enigne bay? Is it even possible to get a cable to connect to this port?

Thanks again everyone for your help.

I was all over my car this weekend and saw that port like a hundred times. I don't about that US/Canada stuff it could be true though giving that you can't seem to find it.

Anyways, you should be able to hook up the scan tool with the correct adapter to the OBD port under the hood. It even unclips from the tower so you can push it down in the engine bay and shut the hood to obtain reading while driving.

-Chad

**1996 328ti** · 02-14-2005, 08:06 PM

That makes sense. I guess you don't have one afterall. It would have been near the light which I don't have.

I haven't seen an adapter to convert the pacman looking OBD plug to what you are looking for. Can't say it doesn't exist either.

**Robstah** · 02-14-2005, 08:06 PM

what about OBDI software for my palm... i am still trying to find a use for this thing.

mikcanavan, i love your car. i want your seats as well....

**HOOJ** · 02-14-2005, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by mikcanavan

That may be the case then HOOJ...?

In which case, my next question would be, can I still run the OBDII scan tools from the circular port in the enigne bay? Is it even possible to get a cable to connect to this port?

Thanks again everyone for your help.

There's a simple test to see if you have it. If you have a yellow "Check Engine" light, not "Check Control" or "Check" light, that turns on when you start the car, you will have the diagnostic port on-board. If you do, then the port should be somewhere on your car, perhaps behind that little plastic tab above the pedals in one of your photos. If you don't have a yellow "Check Engine" light, then the codes will have to be obtained by a different method, which you can ask about at your BMW dealer as I am not sure. Hope this helps.

**Trentos** · 05-03-2005, 04:11 PM

Well i want to add more to this as it has been doing my little nut in. One of my friends has just got the tool to do this so i thought i'd have a good search for my obd port. I have a 97 manufactured 323i touring. I search high and low for it took parts of the dash out and still couldnt find it. searched around the engine bay and couldnt find anything there that wasn't just a connector for the electrics to continue on there journey. So i rang Birds in britain who deal with BMW tuning(hartge) etc. they seemed to think that there isnt one so i rang BMW. They also said that other here in good old blighty we didnt get it till e46. Now all this seemed to ring true a little as the last time i had my car over a pit i could only see 1 o2 sensor just after the manifold. So i did the stomp test which used to work very well on my old e34. Nothing. But there isnt a light that lights up when i turn the car on. Apart from my gear box light. So how do i tell if its throwing codes? ok so my bulb might be blown i havent really been arsed to check it yet because it looks like a hassle. But what also throws me is if i press the check light on the computer it just lights up all the segments on the display.

Need Help really....

2. What fluids is used on the Naff GM Auto box that some gimp decided to put in these cars? Is it supposed to be lifetime?

**TrunkImpaired** · 05-03-2005, 04:58 PM

There is a rectangular cover that will say "OBD II" on it. It will have a little 1/4 turn plastic screw attached to it. It should be under the steering column. Anyways, the port it behind this little panel.

Here's a pic.

And here's the accompanying article
http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/tech...mult-ODBII.htm

**Trentos** · 05-03-2005, 05:18 PM

Nope it isnt there. I also stripped most of the dash on the passenger side and the drivers side. Similar situation to the pictures above by mikanavan. and there isnt one in the engine bay. But if you enter the details into BMW TIS i have a 98 car. But if that is the case that it is OBD I then how do i read codes? DOes this mean also i can do all sorts of stuff to it that you can't do on obd 2?

**Henry80** · 05-03-2005, 07:58 PM

I'm sorry this is a lil off topic but i'm just wondering what OBD I and OBD II stand for. I have a '95 ti so I guess I'm OBD I i just don't understand what that means. thanx.

Caleb

**Trentos** · 05-04-2005, 08:44 AM

Not entirly sure of its meaning but i presume On Board Diagnostics is somewhere close. From my searches and my understanding obd II is readerable via laptop etc where the first type uses a special tool that plugs into the port where the service reset light is. OBD II is also for the greater american emission test that came around in 96.

**TrunkImpaired** · 05-04-2005, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by Trentos

Not entirly sure of its meaning but i presume On Board Diagnostics is somewhere close. From my searches and my understanding obd II is readerable via laptop etc where the first type uses a special tool that plugs into the port where the service reset light is. OBD II is also for the greater american emission test that came around in 96.

On Board Diagnostics is right. OBD II also standardized the connection. Before then all the car companies had their own way to hookup to the computer and get the codes.

Thread: 318ti - Am I OBDI or OBDII ? Where it the port?

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318ti - Am I OBDI or OBDII ? Where is the port?

Hope this helps..

Crazy ...

Obd Ii

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