DummiesGuidetoBasiccodingwithNCSExpert

Iwashelpinganotherperson,butithoughtthisinfomight
helpothersouttheretryingtomakesenseofncsexpert.
Ifoundlotsofguidesthatjustshowsyouwhatbuttonsto
pressoronesthataretoocomplicatedforalayman(nota
programmer)toreallyunderstand.Iliketounderstand
whatimdoingandwhatsgoingon.Sothisiswhyiwrote
thispost,tohelpunderstandwhatncsisdoing.Ididntcome
upwiththisstuff,theexpertsouttheredid.Imjusttrying
tochew,regurgitateitforthe'dumb'masseslikemyself
whoarestilllearning.
IfIsaidanythingwrong,expertspleasechimeinand
correctme.
Proceedatyourownrisk,thisisjustmyinterpretationfor
educational/entertainmentvalueonly.Iamnotresponsible
foryoublowingupyourcarordamagingyourmodules.Im
serious!
DUMMIESGUIDETOUNDERSTANDINGNCSAND
CODING
Thisisroughlyhowitworks...andmydummy
interpretationofit.Pleasereaditfullyifyouwantto
understand,thisisntexactlyaquickcheatsheetguide.
OnPre'02carsthecodingisslighlydifferentmethodthan
Post'02cars.Iamonlygoingtoelaborateoncoding
individualparameters,youcangolearnhowtocodeentire
modulesthrutheVOlateronceyoulearnthebasicsbelow.
ThefirstparttounderstandiswhatthisstuffaboutZCS/VO
or"vehicleorder"is.WhenBMWmakesacar,theycreate
whatscalleda"vehicleorder",thisisbasicallyabunchof
numberswritenintothecarthattellwhatmodulesare
installedinthecar,regionalinfoetc.Thisislikeyourcar's
DNA!forexampleifthecarhasasunroof,oraconvertible
orradioetcetcandthatitwasmeantforUS,Canada,France
etc.Becauseeachcarisdifferentwithadifferentsetof
options/modulesorcountrythatitslocated,the"vehicle
order"aka."ZCS"or"VO"maybedifferent.Whyisitcalled
ZCSyouask?becauseitsabbreviatedgerman,andits
confusingashell.
TheVOiswrittenintoacouplemodulesofthecar,usually
onesthatstartwithan"A",likeAKMBorALSZ.Onsome
carsitswrittenelsewhere.Inmy02M3,theVOwaswritten
inALSZandAKMB.Onmy'00328ciitwasstoredinEWS,
KMB.Itsnothingmorethanastringoftext/numbersstored
intheflashmemoryofthesemodules,nothingspecial.Why
isitwrittenintotwoplaces?becauseifonemoduleisfailed
andhastobereplaced,thentheotherwillserveasa
backupsoyoucancodethenewreplacementmoduleto
yourcar.ForexampleALSZisthe"lightswitchmodule"in
yourcar,forsomereasonitfails.Whenyoubuyanew
LSZ/LCM,youcanretrieveallyoursettingsofVOfrom
AKMBandthencodeyournewLCMtoYOURfactory

settings.Thechancesofbothmodulesfailingisslim,butif
itdoes...you'llhavetocontactBMWsotheycangiveyou
theVOforyourcarfromtheirrecords.
OKtheonedifferenceispre02carsdonthaveaVO.Those
carshavetheirZCS(whichactslikeaVO)storedinthe
EWSorKMBmodules.Thestuffbelowisbasicallyidentical
howeverforindividualparametercoding.
Nowgogetintothebasicsofcoding.
1.WhenyouloadNCSexpert,youneedtoloadaprofile.
Theseprofilesjustchangehowncsexpertbehaveswhen
youreadyourcar.Thetwoprofilesisticktoare
"expertmode"and"revtor'sexpertprofile".ifyoudonthave
it,youcanfinditontheneteasily.Inordertocodeyour
carthefirsttime,youshouldpick"revtors".Thishas
somethingcalled"manipulation"enabled...illelaborateon
thatlater.
2.Oncetheprofileisloaded,youbasicallyneedtoselect
Vin/ZCS/FAinorderforncstodownloadVINinfooffyour
car.Onceitdoesthis,itwillaskyoutoselectamodule.
Why?becauseitneedstoknowyour"vehicleorder"
information.Inmostcasesitwillprobablybeinan"A"
module.ifitdoesntload,orcantbeaccessed,noharm
done,justtryadifferentmodule.Whenitisabletoreadit,
youwillseealongstringnextto"FA"startingwithyour
chassis"E46_"followedbynumbersandtextalongwith#'s
and$'s.ThisisyourVO.NowthatNCSExpertknowsit,it
cancodeyourcarproperly!
CODINGHASNOTHINGTODOWITHTHEMODULEYOUJUST
SELECTEDTOREADTHEVOFROM!Thisperplexedmefor
thelongesttime,Ididntunderstandwhyiselectedtwo
moduleseachtime,orwhatthedifferenceselectingAKMB
orALSZoretcthefirsttimewas.Well...Ithasnobearing!!
allNCSisdoingisreadingthetext/numberstringthatis
yourVOoffthememoryinthesemodulesinthisfirststep.
Youwillactuallyselectthedesiredmoduletocode
inlatersteps.
**PRE02cars,youwontseethelongFA"VO"string,
insteadtherewillbeafewlinesFG,GM,VN,SAfollowedby
numbers,itsbasicallythesamethingdifferentformat.For
allintentsandpurposesthisisreferredtobymeasthe
vehicleorderorZCSforapre02car.
ONPOST02carsselectanymodulewith"A'infrontof
it,onPRE02the"A"moduleswontwork,youwillneed
touseEWSorKMBforthisstep...Itdoesntmatter
which.
NowthisguidewilltouchonthebasicstocodeINDIVIDUAL
itemsonyourcar.ThestepstoadditemstoyourVOand
codeyourmodulesisdifferentandiwontcommentonthat
here,becauseitwillconfusetheamateur.Justunderstand
thebasicsofindividualcodingfirst,thencodingfromyour
VOwillallmakesenselater.
3.Thenextpartistodownloadyourfactorysettingsinyour

cartoyourPC.OnceyougettheVOloaded,youhitthe
BACKbutton.ThedefaultjobinNCSistowriteSOBEVERY
CAREFULhere.Youwillseeallyourmoduleslisted,for
example"EWS,ABG,ASC,KMB,APL,.....etc"andunderneath
"SG_CODIEREN"
NCSatthispointissettoSG_CODIEREN,whichmeansto
WRITEtoALLmoduleslisted.Youdontwanttodothat.
4.Sonowselect"ProcessECU",andselecttheINDIVIDUAL
MODULEyouwanttocode.ForexampleLSZ(lightswitch
module).Onceyoudothis,itwillsayonlyLSZ(andnotall
themodulesinyourcar).
5.NowyouwanttochangethejobfromWRITEtoREAD.
Select"CHANGEJOB",thenselect"CODIERDATEN_LESEN".
ThisistoREADDATA.
6.Onceselecteditwillconfirmthisbyindicatingthe
moduleandjobtypeonthescreen.Nowyouareready.Hit
"EXECUTEJOB".
ItwillsayCodingActiv,thenCodingEnded.
7.Atthispoint,inyourNCSexpert/WORK/foldertherewill
beafilecalled"FSW_PSW.TRC"
Thisiswhatwewant,thecodingofyourLSZmodulethat
wereadearlier.IMMEDIATELYsaveabackupofthisfile,
renameittoFSW_PSW_LSZ_ORIGINAL.TRCandsaveit
somewhereincaseyoudecideyouwanttoreverttothe
originalcopy.NowIwantyoutoresaveanothercopyof
thisFSW_PSW.TRCfileasFSW_PSW.MAN
(manipulation...hinthint).Makesureitdoesntsaveas
FSW_PSW.MAN.TXTorsomecraplikethat,itwontwork
properly.
OKwhyallthisjuggling??becauseNCSexpertonlyreads
modulesandsavesEVERYTHINGasaFSW_PSW.TRCfile.
Regardlessofwhatmoduleyoureadinyourcar,thisis
whatthefilenamewillbe.AndeverytimeyouloadNCS
expert,thisfileisconstantlyerased,writtenandrewritten.
SothatswhywearesavingitasFSW_PSW.MANsowecan
alteritsafelywithoutourcopybeingoverwritten.
8.NowopenupFSW_PSW.MANwithatexteditor.
Youwillseealonglistofstufflikethis..
LEUCHTWEITENREG_AUTOM
aktiv
FEHLER_BREMSLICHT
nicht_melden
TAGFAHRLICHT
aktiv
Thisiswhereyoucancode.nowitsallingerman,soyou
willneedtorunthesewordsinatranslator(google)to
understandit,ORyoucanuseNCSDummythattranslates
thisstuffforyouandgivesyouallavailableparameters,
butthatsawholedifferentprogramandyououghttolearn

howtouseit.
Thisiswhattheabovelookslikeiftranslated.Nowyoucan
seehowwecandeactivate/activatecertainthings.Imgoing
todeactivateDRLshere.
Translated...
AUTOMATICHEADLIGHTCONTROL
active
BRAKELIGHTERRORREPORTING
dontreport
DAYTIMERUNNINGLIGHTS
active
edited...
LEUCHTWEITENREG_AUTOM
aktiv
FEHLER_BREMSLICHT
nicht_melden
TAGFAHRLICHT
nicht_aktiv
Bychangingtonicht_activ,itdeactivatesthissetting.Now
dontgocrazy,somecodesareredundantsochangingjust
onethingwontdothetrick.Thistakessometimeandeffort
tofindtherightcode/codestoworkwith.
9.Onceyouarehappy,SAVEyourFSW_PSW.MANfile.
10.OpenupNCSexpert,loadup"revtors"profile(with
manipulationenabled),andreloadittothepartwherethe
VOisloadedanditsaskingyoutoprocessecu(Basically
steps13)Lookabovehowtodothis.Onceyou'rethere,
select"PROCESSECU",selectthecorrectmoduleyouare
coding,inthiscase"LSZ".Thenselect"CHANGEJOB"and
makesureyoupick"SG_CODIEREN".Oncethisisdone,you
arereadytocodethecar.
NCSwillbasicallynowtaketheFSW_PSW.MANfile,and
overwritethecodesinyourcar'sLSZmodulewithyournew
settings.ItonlyusestheMANfilebecauseyouareusinga
profilewith"manipulation"enabled.Theothermode
"expertmode"doesnothavemanipulation,andyoucannot
codeindividualstufflikethisusingthatprofile.
11.Hit"EXECUTEJOB".Waittillitsays"Codingended".
NowyournewLSZiscoded.Turnoffthecar,andrestart,
andchecktoseeifyourresultsareasexpected!
12.Openupthe/WORK/folder,opentheFSW_PSW.MAN
file,selectall,delete,saveandexit.
Viola!Thatsit.Youarenowanexpertoncodingindividual
features!

Nowwhatdoyoudoifyouscrewedituporsomethingis
behavingfunnyandyouwanttogobacktooriginalsettings.

Oryoucantrememberallthestuffyouchanged,ordont
liketheresults.
ToloaduptheORIGINALfactorydefaultsifyoumess
up.
Gotoyour/WORK/folder.OpenFSW_PSW.MAN,selectall,
delete,save&exit.
LoadNCSExpert
Select"Expertmode"profile
Hit"VIN/ZCS/FA"toloadyourChassisandVehicleorder
info
HitBACK
HitPROCESSECU
Selectthechassis,thenmoduleyouF'dupon.Forexample
"LSZ"
OnPre02carsItwillsay"LSZ"andunderneath
"SG_Codieren"alongwithsomefilesLSZ.Cxx,LSZ.PRG,etc
etc.SG_CODIERENisthecorrectjobyouwant.
OnPost02carsItwillsay"LSZ"andunderneath
"SG_Codieren"alongwithsomefilesLSZ.Cxx,LSZ.PRG,etc
etc.HitCHANGEJOB,Select"FA_WRITE"Job.
"xx"isusuallythespecificCodingindexusedinyourdefault
module,itsanumber.thinkofthislike"firmwareversion".
Thesefilesarebasicallyfromyour/DATEN/folderand
containthepropercodinginformationspecifictoyourcar.
HowdoesNCSknowwhichfilestouse?Becauseitknows
bylookingatyourVINandVO,thenselectsthecorrect
files.NCSwillthenbasicallyreadthesefiles,thenread
yourVOandrewritethepropercodes,features,activate,
deactivateeverythingtoyourfactorysettings.
ThejobisSG_CodierenorFA_WritebecauseyouwillWRITE
youroriginalsettingsbackin.
HitEXECUTEJOB.
Viola,youroriginaldataisrewrittenandyourcarwillwork
again.Hopefully.
Startsmall,anddontbiteoffmorethanyoucanchew.
Onceyougetthehangofthisbasicstuff,youcandomore.
Dontmesswithstuffyoucanttranslateordontunderstand,
justleaveitalone.Dontgonuts.Ihopethishelpssomeone
outthere.