All Things BMW
General
Remote Coding
Chassis numbers relate to a specific incarnation of a BMW model. The E-series list is below. Note that new BMWs have chassis numbers beginning with F.
1 Series:
2004-2013: E81/82/87/88
3 Series:
1991-1999: E36
1998-2006: E46
2005-2013: E90/91/92/93
5 Series:
1996-2004: E39
2003-2010:E60/61
6 Series:
2004-2010: E63/64
7 Series:
1995-2001: E38
2002-2008: E65/66/67/68
X1:
2010-2016: E84
X3:
2004-2010: E83
X5:
2000-2006: E53
2007-2013: E70
X6:
2008-2014: E71/72
Z4:
2006-2008: E86
2009-Present : E89
As long as some care is taken, there is absolutely no danger of damaging your vehicle. The coding is actually just switching on preferences that either weren't available in your country, or BMW decided not to enable by default. For instance, the alarm chirp when locking/unlocking the vehicle is available by default on US vehicles but not in Europe (I have no idea why this is, but coding allows European vehicles to make the alarm chirp noise).
If you are coding, remember to keep a back up of the .TRC file you read from a module. That way, if anything unexpected happens, you can easily write this file back to the module.
NCS Expert is a piece of software used to code BMW modules. It connects to the vehicle via a coding cable which communicates through the car's ODB port. It enables the reading and writing of data to the car's major modules (lighting, instrument cluster, access etc.) It is not used for coding the ECU. It cannot perform diagnostics - INPA or DIS are good pieces of software for that. NCS Expert is used to code the vast majority of the features listed on this website. See the NCS Expert section of the website for more info and some tutorials.
The NCS Expert section of the website has some useful information on NCS, including demos on reading and writing modules, changing the vehicle order, manipulating NETTODAT files, using NCS Dummy and a few other things. There is also limitless information on NCS Expert available on the internet, if you're willing to search through the BMW forums (bmwcoding and bimmerforums in particular have some great stuff on coding).
These are other pieces of software for BMWs. Here's a short description of each:
INPA - Very good for diagnostics, if slightly user-unfriendly. Can read and delete all error codes (not just engine codes as many non-specific diagnostic tools are limited to).
DIS/GT1 - A much more user-friendly tool for diagnostics, BMW technicians use this (or they certainly used to). However, it can be a pain to install and must be run on a Virtual Machine as the compatible operating system is ancient.
Toolset32 - Useful for some things including limited diagnostics. Can be used for battery registration.
There are a few other pieces of BMW software as well.
NCS Dummy is a fantastic piece of software for coding BMWs in conjunction with NCS Expert. It can be downloaded from here.
A few of the coding descriptions on the Coding Info page mention that NCS Dummy is required to do the change. The reason for this is that the modification is more complex than just changing the .TRC file as most coding mods require. The problem is that the option required doesn't exist, but the underlying data does. For instance, to increase the instrument cluster voltage, the parameter is U_POTI_DIMM_MIN. The options available are 1V (wert_02) or 1.1V (wert_01). Neither are anywhere near the maximum voltage of 5V. However, these voltages are converted to hexadecimal, and it is possible to get the full 5V by directly altering the hexidecimal. NCS Dummy makes this possible by updating the DATEN files used by NCS Expert.
This sounds very complicated, but NCS Dummy makes it relatively straightforward - have a read of the manual at the link above.
BMWs only have CAPPL modules if they have the navigation system installed, otherwise they probably have the MASK. Also, the CAPPL module is for cars with the CCC (Car Communication Computer). Newer vehicles (around 9/2008 for most BMWs, 9/2009 for the 5 Series) have the CIC (Car Information Computer). In this case, the module you are looking for is CIC. In the feature list, if I have written the relevant module is CAPPL, it may well be MASK or CIC that you need to modify.
The remote coding works through a couple of clever pieces of software. The first is a VPN (Virtual Private Network) which temporarily connects the two computers to their own private network. The second allows access to remote USB devices. Because of this, no BMW coding software actually needs to be installed on the customer computer. I simply use the USB port (which is connected to the vehicle via the coding cable) as if it was connected to my own laptop. This makes remote coding very straightforward.
Links to the two pieces of software are provided as well as installation guides if you require remote coding. Don't worry, the process is very easy.
The actual coding only takes about 20-30 minutes. However, setting up the remote connection can take a little while and testing the features after coding takes a little time. All in all, the process will take about an hour.
If the modification is compatible with your vehicle and I can find out which parameters need altered, then yes. The coding list on the website is far from exhaustive, so there may well be possible modifications I haven't mentioned.
Unfortunately, F-Series BMWs cannot be coded with NCS Expert and in fact use a completely different coding cable and protocol. Currently this website does not offer any support for F-Series vehicles, but there are plans afoot to provide this in the future. For now, Bimmerpost (particularly this thread) is a good resource for learning about F-Series coding.