I was looking for a scanner for my E36. After some online research, I decided to buy the BMW Creator C310 diagnostic scanner because all reviews claimed it worked and were able to reset airbag light. What’s more, price is down to less than 50 bucks, that pretty attractive.
I have an old BMW e36 convertible 1999 which has had an SRS light on for a long time. I want to troubleshoot the issue.
The tool arrived today. The small little hand-held garget is well packed in a bag and a box. I plugged in the C310 OBD2 scan tool to the under dash port and ran the SRS Airbag troubleshooting. But I keep getting a communication error. The instructions on the screen suggest me to check connection, turn off and back on ignition key, and then try again. I have done these several times follow the system prompts.
I then run other systems checks and C310 well display vehicle information and data stream etc, I have not change to reset oil yet. For some reason it does not read the SRS system?
Then I search the answers on bimmer forums. This is what I got:
The SRS system is separate from the general OBD-II system and requires special software to mess with it. A scan tool is not able to access the SRS system through the OBD-II port under the dash. They all go through the 20-pin connector under the hood. I was advice to order a 20pin cable to hook up.
I ordered an engine bay round connector – (OBD-16 to BMW-20pin socket) at obd365 for cheap 8 bucks and ran the diagnose using the C310 Creator Scanner. I made the adapter to connect to the circular connector in the engine compartment, connect there. It picked up the error (Driver Seat Belt Buckle) and cleared it without any issues.
The Creator C310 BMW code reader worked well. But I am sure if it works all BMW models.
