Vag-com

[M4KTT]

How much will it cost me to get set up on my lap top to monitor things through vag-com?

eg lead, software etc...

Can it monitor lots of things whilst the car is being driven?

 

[Woorlord]

How much will it cost me to get set up on my lap top to monitor things through vag-com?

eg lead, software etc...

Can it monitor lots of things whilst the car is being driven?

Software is free to download direct from the Ross-tech site.

The lead is the trick - a genuine ROSS-TECH USB HEX+CAN is where you need to spend the money Link (Ross-Tech $349)
I paid around £200 direct from Ross-Tech inc. shipping when the £=$2, guess won't be that price for a few years yet! I recall UK web sites were around £260'ish + P&P.
Are there discounts through this Forum site perhaps??

Yes - you can use the VAG-COM (actually called VCDS now) software to real-time monitor various aspects of the ECU and other control modules throughout the car either numerically or graphically through control block channels, etc.

 

[BILKO1]

Might be worth sending a pm to NHN on here as he has a good deal on genuine cables atm.

 

[jb0o]

Whats the down side to buying a £11 VAG-COM cable from eBay?

 

[BILKO1]

Whats the down side to buying a £11 VAG-COM cable from eBay?

No back up or support, also won't work on later cars like the one in you're sig.

 

[Woorlord]

Whats the down side to buying a £11 VAG-COM cable from eBay?

You can only read DTC errors and perform a reset.
I believe it gives you the DTC error numbers and does not give the actual "text" meaning.

You are limited to using "old" software versions of VAG-COM and can not utilise the latest version 805, hence newer cars may not be supported.

No ability to access the "Advanced" features of VAG-COM, i.e. programming & configuring modules (required if repalcing a module), monitoring measuring blocks, etc.

Non-Genuine cables are very unreliable with regard to communication - may not always work! This is because they rely on software drivers on your PC to emulate a genuine cable. However, Gen Cables have a software/hardware installed in the actual cable to correctly communicate with the car.

Non-genuine cables have a tendancy to "blow up" the cable driver circuit and then become "dead" if you have a after-market stereo which may put +12v on the diagnostic pins. Genuine cables are elctrically protected to overcome this.

 

[philipposx]

Hey guys , how about this site here? Looks good but I am not sure whether it fits the European made A4 cabrios...

I am thinking about it since it seems to be ...cheap money.