NCS Dummy 0.6.10

NCS Dummy 0.6.10

1. Introduction

The functionality of various electronic control units (ECUs) in BMW vehicles is controlled by parameter settings in firmware internal to the modules. This allows BMW to use the same ECUs across different market versions, models and sometimes even platforms by setting different parameter configurations.

The parameters are set at the factory but it is possible to read and change these later. This process is generally called (re)coding.

Dealer-level software like BMW Diagnostic & Information System (DIS) and BMW Software Service Station (SSS) usually provide only limited and coarse coding options. For direct access to individual parameter settings specialist software is needed, like NCS Expert.

NCS Expert downloads the parameters from the ECU into a trace file on the computer, which can then be edited, after which NCS Expert is used again to upload the changes into the vehicle ECU.

Traditionally the trace files were edited by hand in a plain text editor but this is only feasible for small and trivial changes. Trace files provide no information or guidance on which parameter values are accepted and many settings have cryptic or even meaningless names.

In comes NCS Dummy... NCS Dummy does not replace NCS Expert but it does away with the error-prone process of manually editing trace files. Trace files are still downloaded and uploaded through NCS Expert but NCS Dummy makes editing the files safe and simple.

NCS Dummy features an easy-to-use yet powerful user interface. For each setting NCS Dummy displays all accepted values and thousands of English translations help clarify settings. Finding settings is straightforward with the powerful filter and search functions and making changes is as easy as ticking checkboxes.

For those looking beyond basic coding, NCS Dummy provides insight into the order options, allows byte-level coding and can even decompile and modify the NCS Expert data files for functionality that was previously impossible to achieve.

Don't let the name fool you. NCS Dummy puts NCS Expert on steroids!

While NCS Dummy should be quite self-explanatory for basic coding it can do a lot more than might be visible at first glance. Therefore it is strongly recommended to read this user manual and familiarize yourself with NCS Dummy, its features and how it can help you make your coding easier

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