IXI Flasher: tuning your own car at home

The IXI Flasher is different from our other home tools in one way that matters
before you order it: it needs a Windows laptop, not a phone. There
is no app. The tool is a plug in device driven by software on the PC over a USB
lead, and the laptop has to be next to the car with the tool plugged into
both.

If you have not got a Windows laptop you can get to the car, tell us and we
will put you on the Powergate or the Touch Tune instead. There is no point finding
that out on the day. All three are on our
home tuning
tools page.

Tick each step off as you go. The page remembers where you got to.

Before you plug anything in

Voltage causes almost every problem we get called about. Most cars are
perfectly fine, but the job runs with the engine off, so the battery is on its own
for the whole write. Two minutes of preparation takes the risk out of it.

• Start the car and let it run for five minutes first. That puts
  some charge back before you begin. If the car has been stood a while, is slow to
  start, or is on an older battery, put a charger on it instead.
• Switch off everything auxiliary. Headlights, heating and air
  conditioning, interior lights, heated seats, heated screens, radio, phone
  chargers. Then ignition on, engine off, and nothing else drawing current.
• Give yourself three quarters of an hour. Park somewhere you
  are happy to leave the car standing. Most of that time is waiting, but it is not
  something to squeeze in between other jobs.

One more for this tool: plug it straight into the laptop. Not through a USB
hub, not through a docking station.

Stage one: setting up, indoors

1. Download and install the IXI software on the laptop before you
   go anywhere near the car. Windows 10 64 bit or newer.
2. Plug the tool into the laptop over USB. It registers itself the first time.
   Create the account it asks for and confirm the email.
3. Nothing else to set. The units we send are already tied to us, so you will not
   be asked to pick a tuner and you never have to send us a code. Your read arrives
   with us automatically.

Stage two: reading your car

1. Charger on the car. Laptop and tool ready, tool plugged into the diagnostic
   socket.
2. Find your vehicle in the list in the software. It does not identify the
   car for you. Work through make, model and engine carefully and check it
   against your V5 rather than guessing.
3. Follow the steps on screen. The software tells you when to switch the ignition
   on and when to leave it alone. Follow its prompts rather than anticipating them,
   because the sequence changes from one control unit to the next.
4. Let the read finish. It creates a session, and the session comes through to
   us.

Reading does not change anything on the car, so this is not the risky half.

Stage three: writing the file

We put the tuned file back into the same session and you write it over the
diagnostic socket.

1. Charger on, tool connected to the car and the laptop, software open.
2. Select the file we have sent and start the write. Ignition as prompted.
3. Let it finish. When the software says it is done, switch the ignition off and
   unplug.

Depending on how we set the file up you may get a single write, or a window of
a few hours in which you can write as many times as you like. We tell you which
when we send it.

Going back to standard

There is a restore button in the software that puts the original manufacturer
software back on. Connect as you did for the read, pick the vehicle, and use it.

Two things worth knowing. The original comes from the tool maker’s database
rather than being a copy taken off your own car, so it is the correct factory
software for your vehicle rather than a literal snapshot of what was on it. And
writing it uses a file credit in the same way a tune does, which we charge
for, so ask us before you do it rather than after.

The cable trap

Some Renault, Dacia, Nissan and Mitsubishi models have a security gateway
sitting between the diagnostic socket and the control unit. On those cars the tool
cannot get through on its own and needs a bypass cable. If your car is one of
them, we send the cable with the tool. If you have bought a tool elsewhere and it
will not connect on one of those, that is usually why.

If it stops part way through

Stop and read this before you do anything

Do not unplug the tool. Do not switch the ignition off. Leave
the car exactly as it is, leave the charger connected, and call us on
01622 321500.

A write that has stopped is usually recoverable while everything is still
connected. The same write becomes a much bigger job once the tool has been pulled
out and the ignition cycled. We would far rather take the call.

Do not contact the tool manufacturer. They only deal with the workshop, not the
end user, so going direct will cost you a day. We are your support.

There is no automatic recovery on this tool. That is precisely why the rule
about not unplugging matters more here than anywhere else.

BMW F and G series: the car has to be set up first

If you have an F or G series BMW, the car will refuse to go into programming
mode unless it is set up exactly right, and the tool will look like it has failed
when it has not.

• A proper charger on the battery. BMW want a genuine 50 amps
  available for this, not a small maintainer.
• Key inside the car.
• Hazard lights on.
• Driver’s seat belt fastened.
• All doors closed. If you need to be out of the car, latch the driver’s door
  catch closed with a screwdriver rather than leaving the door open.
• Gearbox in Park, or Neutral on a manual.

Then follow the tool’s instructions as normal. Miss any one of these and the
write will not start.

Have not got a tool yet?

Everything above assumes one of ours is already in your hand. If you are
starting from scratch, tell us the car and what you are after and we will say
honestly whether it can be done on your drive or whether it needs to come to us,
and which of the three tools suits it.

Get a home tuning price
Ask us about your car