First, Yes I have a Gap Tool, In fact I have 3.
I know that there are many people on this forum that have other cars and work on them as well.
I have gone down at least 4 rabbit holes and came up hareless.

I am looking at the Launch 431 X (and its many variants), or an Autel 906 PRO TS (and its variants). The problems is:

1. The Autel does not say that it will code my 2003 and 2004 Mini Coopers or even the new 2018 as that is an EU thing. just not available in the US yet.
2. There seems to be so many knock -off, clone or non-licensed Launch scanners flooding the market, ,and it is hard to figure it out what is real and what is not. In fact If you are not careful you can buy a real licensed Launch scan tool on your favorite marketplace and will be unable to update it as THAT model you bought in the US was not intended for the US. And you have no idea what country it was made for.

What are you guys using on you non Land Rover cars for Bi- Directions scanning and programming?

Thanks In advance for letting rant .

Jeff

 

On my Audi, Porsche and VWs I use Ross Tech VCDS. Works as good as the GAP Tool.

 

I have the launch x431 and it works well. Used it on multiple brands without issue

 

i also have x431. it works good for reading all module codes. but have yet to use it to command anything.

 

For those that are using the X431, did you buy it from an automotive tool store or from a normal retail outlet? I don't want to start a whole rant about counterfeit parts again, but I see the Launch software on several products and none of them seem to be supported by Launch USA, so updates and add-on accessories concern me.

As such if I go with the Launch software, I most likely will get the X-431 torque link and adding the oscilloscope accessory. Twice the price than the Launch Pro, or Thinkcar Kingdon, Xtool or Topdon.
I am investigating the Autel models but it is hard to determine capability difference as they seem to blur them in the advertising.

Thanks for the input, I knew there were people here that worked on other brands of cars at the same level as we do on Land Rovers.

As a side note,my daughter in law lost both keys to her 2017 Discovery Sport. amazingly enough, the local locksmith was able to remove the KVM module and program 2 new keys. When I mentioned the Autel key programmer, he said that some of the diagnostic tool makers are starting to require a locksmith license number in order to activate the Key program function. Not sure if that is true. Maybe he was just trying to keep us coming back for more business. Either way tyhe Gap works for my 2007 LR3 and that in itself is worth the cost of admission.

Again, Thanks for the input.

Jeff

 

I picked mine up from Amazon the licenses worked and the 2 years of free updates worked as advertised as well. I like the autel interface a bit better but that is a preference thing. I have used it to activate modules and do deep dive stuff on the Porsche primarily. It will go just as deep as the gap on the lr3. Can reset functions on D5 as well