Torque Pro and Bluetooth OBD II Dongle = Excellent Vehicle Monitoring

I have the one that looks like this.. The lights are super annoying at night so they get covered with tape, but it never gives me any issues.. I use it almost daily..

Looks exactly like the ones I have. Kind of a hit or miss thing in my opinion. I have also tried one of the smaller all blue ones. Couldn't get it to work at all.

So where does one buy a 'legit' ELM327? We all know how well ebay cloned VAG-COM cables work. Where is a legit company selling a legit ELM327 with support?

Torque has a list published.

http://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Bluetooth_Adapters

darkscout said:

So where does one buy a 'legit' ELM327? We all know how well ebay cloned VAG-COM cables work. Where is a legit company selling a legit ELM327 with support?

Click to expand...

I ordered from Amazon. The item description is "BAFX Products (TM) - ELM 327 Bluetooth OBD2 scan tool - For check engine light and other diagnostics - Android compatible".

On Amazon, people were giving it 4-1/2 stars. The back side of mine had a sticker that says

OBD Diagnostic Interface
Part Number 1008
Controller: ELM327
Formware Revision: 1.5
Baud rate: 38400

Click to expand...

So far so good. I don't always have the VAG-COM with me, and it is a quick and easy way to read and clear codes as well as other things.

Lightflyer1 said:

Torque has a list published.

http://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Bluetooth_Adapters

Click to expand...

There's no way to tell if any of those have a genuine ELM327 chip inside other than to buy one and open it up.. The one made in Canada I would think is the most likely to be a non-copy chip..

About 40 1 stars as well for not working and virus on disc.

http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products...?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0

The picture of the one at scantool looks of better quality than the others. Next one will be from them. Sale at $149 right now but currently out with a late June ship date. Just ordered one.

TDIJetta99 said:

There's no way to tell if any of those have a genuine ELM327 chip inside other than to buy one and open it up.. The one made in Canada I would think is the most likely to be a non-copy chip..

Click to expand...

The chip datasheet can be seen here:

http://elmelectronics.com/DSheets/ELM327DS.pdf

http://www.elmelectronics.com/obdic.html#ELM327v20

They say

There is no ELM327 v1.4a, or v1.5, or v1.5a !

Some clone makers have introduced what they call a 'v1.4a', or a 'v1.5', or a 'v1.5a' but Elm Electronics has never made one.

Click to expand...

I guess I got a clone, because mine says version v1.5. I don't know how you would even know other than to buy one.

The elm company says there will be a version 2.0 coming in June..

You *can* just buy the chip from the place in Canada, and use the usual desoldering tools to replace the Chinese chip.

I've seen everything there is on ELM's website, and going by what they have in their PDFs, there's no such thing as a genuine ELM chip in a bluetooth interface.. only the RS232 interfaces..

TDIJetta99 said:

I've seen everything there is on ELM's website, and going by what they have in their PDFs, there's no such thing as a genuine ELM chip in a bluetooth interface.. only the RS232 interfaces..

Click to expand...

I am guessing that there are several other chips inside of that little box, and one of the other ones is a RS232 -> Bluetooth interface of some sort. I am half tempted to try and open the thing up and take a picture, but I am afraid that I will break the plastic case . I guess if it did, I could go and buy another, but I really don't want to reward the pirates.

The claim is that the ELM v1.0 chip wasn't copy protected, which enabled the cloning. We know that the Chinese have hacked the thing to make it look like version 1.5 instead of 1.0. We don't know what if anything else they have done with it. I wouldn't count on much..

Conceptually the idea of using bluetooth is kind of sound - I like the Torque app, and I am fine with using bluetooth instead of having a cable draped over my knees. And for that matter I *always* have my phone with me in the car, but won't always have a laptop. It is really the piracy that bugs me..

I understand, but do the $100 adapters have genuine ELM chips or are they just more expensive knockoffs?

The scan tool one doesn't claim the v1.5 on the web page so that may be something. I will have one of each when they ship mine end of next month. I will open the cheap one and take pics. The scan tool one looks to be screwed together so if that can be opened pics of it too.

ScanTool.net answered my question today via email.

My question.

I have tried some of the cheap Chinese clones out there and was dissatisfied. I am buying this one as I am under the assumption this is not a clone and is a genuine ELM327 chip inside. Is that the case here? Thanks!


Hi David,

Thanks for writing in. I am sorry to hear about your experience. But, you are correct, this is not a clone. It actually has a chip that is even better than the ELM327. After noticing some ways to improve on this chip we made our own, the STN1110. You can read more about it here: http://www.scantool.net/dev-tools/stn11xx/stn1110.html

I am sure you will be happy with this purchase.
Best regards,
Debra


At least they have a 90 day money back and 3 year warranty and are US based. There was no reasonable help on the cheap ebay clones. I will be awaiting its arrival!

I bought the BAFX interface from Amazon, got it in two days with Amazon Prime, and hooked it up last night. Paired very quickly with my old Droid Incredible, and Torque recognized it immediately once it was paired with my phone. Works great with my 2005 Passat Variant TDI.

It seems to have a unique MAC address, so you don't run into the issues discussed on the Torque website with some generic adapters. There are about 640 5 star reviews and only 40 1 star, so your chances of getting a good one are pretty good.

Jon

Lightflyer1 said:

ScanTool.net answered my question today via email.

My question.

I have tried some of the cheap Chinese clones out there and was dissatisfied. I am buying this one as I am under the assumption this is not a clone and is a genuine ELM327 chip inside. Is that the case here? Thanks!


Hi David,

Thanks for writing in. I am sorry to hear about your experience. But, you are correct, this is not a clone. It actually has a chip that is even better than the ELM327. After noticing some ways to improve on this chip we made our own, the STN1110. You can read more about it here: http://www.scantool.net/dev-tools/stn11xx/stn1110.html

I am sure you will be happy with this purchase.
Best regards,
Debra


At least they have a 90 day money back and 3 year warranty and are US based. There was no reasonable help on the cheap ebay clones. I will be awaiting its arrival!

Click to expand...

Nice.. It's nice to know it's not a clone of some sort, but is it worth 6X the $$?

Being that I have been through several of the clones already and the last one isn't working correctly now either, yes (assuming this new one works properly). I want to be able to monitor regen events and Torque is the best way to do this easily.

looking at what you described as your problems, it might be an issue with your phone as well.. having to reboot the phone to initiate a bluetooth connection usually isn't the fault of the bluetooth device.. I was having some weird issues at first with mine, but after flashing a different ROM on the phone it's been fine since..

But it connects and reconnects with multiple other BT devices without issue.

I read about problems from low-end OBD2 readers, so I went straight to the Scantool OBD MX bluetooth.

All my buddies want to borrow it because theirs don't work and mine does. I use it on all of our cars, no issues, and it has a sleep-mode so I can leave it plugged in to the OBD port

Lightflyer1 said:

But it connects and reconnects with multiple other BT devices without issue.

Click to expand...

That's weird.. maybe I just got a good one lol

Mine's been trouble free. Amazon, top seller, BAFX.....$24. I know they were cheaper but maybe I what I paid was worth it. Used almost constantly since Feb. Once in a while I might have to close and restart the app.

I bought this mini bluetooth adapter directly from Hong Kong on ebay about 1.5 years ago and it has worked flawlessly with Torque. It was very inexpensive and I didn't need it in a hurry so I took the gamble. The price was low enough that I was willing to accept the risk. Your mileage may vary.

I bought a cheap-o bluetooth adapter on ebay and have yet to have an issue with it... the mapping is pretty sweet, seeing where you were and how fast you were going is good and bad... comparing the date to the fuelly and seeing where you drove, and how you drove is kinda neat (and seeing your highest MPG to date on a tank you hit your top speed of your car kinda makes you wonder lol)

but running into someone and hearing their having issues and their check engine is on, quickly popping it out, adding a profile and running a scan is pretty neat... quickly troubleshoot what cylinder was misfiring on my brothers mustang in parking lot took about a minute just cause because i actually kept the adapter in the car and had my phone... its nice not having to have my laptop and ODB2 interface...

now for adding some custom gauges to it to keep tabs on all the other nerdy stuff these cars are doing

^^ that's the best part.. "here let me scan it real quick.. I can do it with my phone".. "you can scan my car with your phone??"... "Yep.. check this out"...

I find a LOT of people are simply amazed that a smartphone can be used to see why the check engine light is on.. When I was younger and just getting into diagnosing cars (early 90's), I never even thought I'd be using something like a laptop to communicate with cars let alone a hand held phone.. The technology has advanced quite a bit in just 15 years..

I watched a program once that looked at the sci-fi technology that was depicted back in the 50's-60's including Star Trek and other shows. Many of the things these shows imagined, we are years, if not centuries, from actuality. I can remember one grade school teacher saying when we were adults we would all be driving nuclear powered cars using a 'pellet' the size of a pea that would last the life of the car. Here we are in the 21'st century still running diesel. Go figure...

Anyway, the one thing they pointed out that has actually exceeded all guesses was the mobile phone. Star Trek's communicator has nothing on the smartphone of today. With electronics and miniaturization technology advancing exponentially, the phone has really grown to become the Swiss Army Knife of devices. I remember my TRS-80 pocket computer (still have it) in the early 80's and being pretty amazed at the technology. Today's smartphone is pretty amazing as well. I see this evolving into a bionic device, implanted at birth that will enhance and incorporate the world of technology in every person. Not for me but... even a smartphone requires you sacrifice personal privacy to a large degree. To access the 'network' the 'network' also has access to you.

Ok, sorry for the sidetrack...

I have owned VCDS for years and am very happy with it, but lugging around my laptop is a bit of a hassle. I have found (in my Jetta anyway)the ELM 327 with the v1.5 software in it works great in my MK4 Jetta--because the BT units with the 2.0 software would not work-- but the fuel economy calculator has just been a pain in my butt. I decided there had to be a better way to figure actual fuel mileage since VCDS doesn't excel in that. With my new turbo and larger injectors I figured I likely wouldn't get 52 MPG at any speed anymore, much less 75 MPH, but my current 35 MPG in town average--measured tank-to-tank--wasn't cutting it. I downloaded the free "Fuel Economy" app that works with Torque Pro and couldn't be happier so far. So far, as in in I have only used it less than 20 minutes; the wind was blowing and the rain was nuts and I still got some numbers I find to be believable. I don't know what all the inputs are it does the calculations with, but tomorrow I will run it to and from work and see how close to a 35 MPG calculation it gives me with all my stop and go in town driving. I'll keep you posted.

Update 10/8/2017: Torque Pro still running smoothly, and when I was having the 35 MPG readings the tank-to-tank fills were right at 35 MPG, it appears to be quite accurate for FE. With my newly rebuilt IP and injectors, I am tracking 50 MPG at 73 MPH, but most of my driving is done in-town and I am on the first full tank since the equipment rebuild, so I will wait and see how thirsty she is when the low fuel reminder comes on.