[F87source]

Credit: speedsnice https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...81&postcount=3

In this thread I will be teaching you how to code the steering rack (otherwise known as the EPS) as this process should be almost the same on any F series BMW. But the instructions will be specific to my m2 so I cannot guarantee that they will work on other cars, so you can search on the forum of what modules you may need to code to get the desired results if my instructions are not the same for your car. Again I will be talking about coding in context of my 2017 BMW M2, on ISTEP level F020-19-07-539, so what I may be able to do might be different to what you will be able to do as there is a difference in vehicle and software version.

So before we begin you may ask why would I want to code my steering rack? The reason why is because BMW programs these steering racks differently from car to car, and this different programming has significantly different behaviors. Some programming/codings make the steering wheel super light for comfort, this is typically present on non M BMW’s and is typically geared for the luxury feel - meaning you sacrifice alot of steering feel and precision. Some steering feels are extremely heavy to the point where you have to fight the wheel and lose precision, like the stock F87 steering coding. Some steering feels are absolutely perfect in my opinion, and that is the F87cs coding. So having the ability to select different “codings” will allow you to better tailor the car to your desired steering feel, instead of being forced to deal with what BMW gave you from the factory.


Now you may ask how is this possible? Well the answer to that question is because the M2, M2C, M2CS, M3, M3CS, M4, M4CS, and M4 GTS (the non M models also share their own steering racks, and the SUV’s will share their own rack as well) all share the same electronic power steering rack: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...&q=32107852660. The only difference is the programming or coding that is used to operate the steering rack currently selected in the EPS’s ecu, otherwise they are all the same. The good thing about this is BMW does not have bespoke software for each car. Instead they have a bunch of “codings/programmings” in the EPS’s ecu that are toggled to a specific car. So essentially you will already have all the different codings available, all you have to do is set which one you want. The only exception to this is if your car’s current software level otherwise known as ISTEP has those codings available, aka if your car’s software is too old chances are you won’t have the GTS or CS settings. Of course the model of your car will affect this too.


The last question you may have is what do you use to code these things? Well my answer to that is either BMW’s special software called ESYS (which I will not be explaining in this thread), or Protool which is an android app that allows you to code everything ESYS can.

Here is a link to my review on protool explaining everything a bit more in depth, and why you really should buy this app over the alternatives: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1#post29968171


Disclaimer:

Damage/Injury Disclaimer: Any technical advice, coding advice, installation instruction, or product installation demonstrated in my reviews is to be done at your own risk. I will not be responsible for personal injuries, injuries to others or any living being, or any damage to your car, or any property damage.

Coding these advanced features like the GHAS (differential), power steering (EPS), and DSC (traction control) can be very dangerous as it causes your car to behave much differently than before. So proceed with caution. Again I will not be responsible for any outcome that occurs due to you (the reader) using my instructions to code a car.


Monetary disclaimer: I do not make commission, or profits or any kind of monetary gain from the sale of this App (Protool).

Image Credits:

Images and videos used in this review are all property of their rightful owners as credited below each image, I am just using them for the purpose of this review but if you (the owner of the image) would like them removed please let me know via pm. Otherwise thanks to the respective image owners (I made sure to credit your online name and link where I found the photo) of the photos, without you this review would be so much more bland.


Before we start talking more about coding, I would like to give some tips on how to code your car safely:

Make back ups before you code, this way if something goes wrong you are able to revert your car back to factory settings.
Make sure you know exactly what you are doing before you code. This means doing plenty of research on what coding you will be doing, what the changes itself does, what ecus need to be coded and how to make the changes, and of course if the coding you want to do is available for your car.
Make sure you have an appropriate (and good quality) battery charger to keep your car powered while you code, because if your battery drops below a certain voltage while coding your car will shut off and this can leave the car bricked. For some coding you can leave the engine running while coding, but do not drive while coding.
Use quality cables/wireless adapters - cheapo adapters/cables are slow and can fail part way through the flashing process. In the past I have purchased cheap enet cables from aliexpress, and while on the outside they look clean and good quality. When I opened the obd2 shell I saw how terribly put together they were, the wires were stripped extremely poorly and the cables had patches of exposed copper all over the place. This could lead to a short if the adjacent exposed wires touched, and that would be bad news for the car.
Read the protool’s user guide completely and thoroughly before you begin, failure to do so can result in damage to your car.



How to code the EPS/Steering rack:

Step 0: Connect a battery charger to your car, if it dies during coding you may brick it. Connect only to the under hood terminals not directly to the battery to avoid damaging the IBS. Make sure you read the protools manual before starting to code, failure to do so can result in damage to your car.

Step 1: Connect to your car with protool, after this step you should see a menu screen like so:


Credit: F87Source


Credit: F87source


Credit: F87source


Step 2: From the menu screen you will tap on the Electric Steering (EPS) box under the chassis heading, and the following screen will pop up.


Credit: F87source


Step 3: Click on the coding option and the following screen will pop up:


Credit: F87source


Step 4: From this screen you will click edit coding and the following disclaimer will pop up:


Credit: F87source


Step 4: click confirm and back up the current coding for your car. This is a critical step incase errors were to occur. Afterwards the following menu will be displayed:


Credit: F87source


Credit: F87source


Credit: F87source


Credit: F87source


Step 5: Scroll down to “Variantencodierung Normal” and click on it, the following steering coding options will show up (these options are the chassis codes for each possible car, typically you should code only the chassis codes that share the same steering rack as your car otherwise you risk damage. So for example the m2 can have the m3 and m4 codings and vice versa, as they share the same rack. If in doubt look on the forums to see what others have done before doing anything risky. If you code a non compatible chassis you can get errors, also avoid the not supported, custom, or veh options - only select valid chassis codes AGAIN IF YOU ARE UNSURE DON’T DO IT, RESEARCH THINGS CAREFULLY).


Credit: F87source



Credit: F87source


Credit: F87source


Step 6: select on the desired chassis code, for me I selected F087CS. Once you have done so click on confirm, and then finalize to finish coding your car. You may be told to cycle the ignition afterwards, so follow the instructions on your screen.

Step 7: Disconnect from the car and you are done! If there are any other instructions to follow protool will let you know and you should follow them. Otherwise enjoy your new EPS/steering rack coding!

[F87source]

Reserved for future posts.

[SOM_M2C44]

Has there been an iOS friendly app that is able to do the same thing? Bimmercode does not appear to have the ability to access these modules.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by SOM_M2C44

Has there been an iOS friendly app that is able to do the same thing? Bimmercode does not appear to have the ability to access these modules.

I'm not sure, I don't have an iPhone so I'm not really looking at alternatives.

But yes, bimmercode cannot code any of this, which is quite frustrating and why I moved to protool.

[carchrism5]

Originally Posted by SOM_M2C44

Has there been an iOS friendly app that is able to do the same thing? Bimmercode does not appear to have the ability to access these modules.

Nope, after seeing this new app I just ended up following F87source 's advice and buying a tablet, BM3 adapter and this app. I'm also pretty close to you if you're looking to do coding but don't want to buy all the stuff.

[SOM_M2C44]

Originally Posted by carchrism5

Nope, after seeing this new app I just ended up following F87source 's advice and buying a tablet, BM3 adapter and this app. I'm also pretty close to you if you're looking to do coding but don't want to buy all the stuff.

Thanks man. I'll keep that in mind. Just had FaRKle! do some remote coding for me and all went well! He's super chill and accommodating. He did my coding today, on a Sunday!

[snakebyte]

Hi, its all in German lol,
Would i be able to adjust steering weight so that it feels lighter across all driving modes.
I would want sport + to be my current comfort, and comfort to be lighter

[F87source]

Originally Posted by snakebyte

Hi, its all in German lol,
Would i be able to adjust steering weight so that it feels lighter across all driving modes.
I would want sport + to be my current comfort, and comfort to be lighter

Yeah it's because the car is all in German not because of protool.

I don't know if that's possible to do, because it would require coding outside of the preset profiles. Talk to protool to see if it's possible.

[snakebyte]

Hi F87source
Thanks, having read your walkthrough I think I’m ready to pull the trigger on this.
Sorry I know this is a stupid question, just scared do not want to brick it,

1. Where does the backup store? In your guide, you click yes to make backup and then taken straight to coding screen. Do you assume backup was successful or should you check first?

2. I have a f80 m3 non zcp, so I would be trying the f82gts and the f87gts options? I did not see any option for cs, looks like its gts only?

3. Is the protool license for one car only (like bm3)? If not, can you install it on two devices?

[F87source]

Originally Posted by snakebyte

Hi F87source
Thanks, having read your walkthrough I think I’m ready to pull the trigger on this.
Sorry I know this is a stupid question, just scared do not want to brick it,

1. Where does the backup store? In your guide, you click yes to make backup and then taken straight to coding screen. Do you assume backup was successful or should you check first?

2. I have a f80 m3 non zcp, so I would be trying the f82gts and the f87gts options? I did not see any option for cs, looks like its gts only?

3. Is the protool license for one car only (like bm3)? If not, can you install it on two devices?

Hey!

1. There's a tab you can access to view your back ups, you can navigate to it from the main menu. I can't remember the sequence off the top of my head but it's there and you can view it's contents. You can download protool and play around with it before paying. Also you can upload your backups to the cloud for safe keeping, I have my back ups on Google drive for instance.

2. If you don't see f87cs that likely means your istep is out of date. So you can play around with whatever is available and see what you like best.


3. No, protool is unrestricted - you can use it on as many cars as you'd like.

[snakebyte]

F87source your info is much appreciated!

I have the bm3 login so would I need to reflash back to stock before I do the gts updates on protool?

Is there a way of checking if my DME needs updating before trying to flash? I’m hoping I don’t need to do this as it I’m guessing there’s more of a chance that I might lock the DME?

[F87source]

Originally Posted by snakebyte

F87source your info is much appreciated!

I have the bm3 login so would I need to reflash back to stock before I do the gts updates on protool?

Is there a way of checking if my DME needs updating before trying to flash? I’m hoping I don’t need to do this as it I’m guessing there’s more of a chance that I might lock the DME?

No, coding is different than tuning, so you would not have to flash back to stock to code anything.


If your ISTEP version isn't the newest then it will need updates, however you will need ESYS or ISTA to update it and you'll need a very good power supply as well. So honestly unless you really want F87CS settings it isn't worth it. Plus if your car is new enough you risk locking the DME.