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As part of my post on repairing a PDK (link), I'm thinking about buying a Chinese PIWIS 2 knock-off to help unravel some mysteries. Porsche has behaved so unethically IMO (withholding PDK repair info, almost no replacement parts) that I have few moral qualms about buying what is very likely pirated software. Not to mention that China is Porsche's number one market worldwide, and Porsche knew the rule of law was non-existent when they decided to do business there. The PIWIS instruction manual I downloaded from the Chinese website appears to be a copy of an actual Porsche document.
The hardware and software is about $500 as found at this link here, I'll use my own computer:
Anyone have any experience with any of these of know an Indy who uses them? Unlike the Durametric this should provide PDK commanding and calibration options. The Chinese website says you get free software updates for a year then have to pay for updates after that. Are updates required for the unit to keep working after a year? I'm going to email the seller but any insight would be appreciated.
my humble 2 cents if not done already bro, insure you disable the "antivirus and firewall on windows OS for proper communication between PIWIS and PDK system hence the said 2 apps are known to block live communications as they interpret the same as threat to windows OS at times regardless if Chinese PIWIS knock-off or Porsche originals
Nice, definetly worth it considering the Durametric Pro retails for more. I bet you can get really deep into coding & adaptations.
What about updates? How was it dealing the company representatives?
I just got porsche tester 2 from (link removed) last week. ,I've successfully used a PIWIS clone before to do the fill and calibration procedures on my Cayman.
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So boovy did you forget to quote my comment? Thought the writing style looked familiar. Everything other than the first sentence I wrote six months ago. Hopefully first time poster boovy isn't just shilling for the link he posted. Please fix it using the edit function.
UPDATE: Okay I gave "boovy" 24 hours to fix his plagiarism of my comment but unsurprisingly nothing happened. Folks might want to keep that in mind when considering a PIWIS clone vendor.
Nice, definetly worth it considering the Durametric Pro retails for more. I bet you can get really deep into coding & adaptations.
What about updates? How was it dealing the company representatives?
From my experience it's like buying anything else from China (Alibaba, Aliexpress, etc.). You get pretty much what the website says but you need to do your own research as the vendor is either clueless or pretending to be clueless. Before I bought I sent the vendor several questions and they did reply but the answers were unresponsive at best. Basically just a copy and paste of what the website already said and didn't add any useful information. Perhaps there was a language barrier but my impression was the the vendor didn't know the product very well.
As to updates this is old Windows XP software that is obsoleted by the PIWIS3. Don't expect any updates or maintenance. Understand what you are getting, this is a copy of Porsche's tool (hardware and software) from several years back. It's unauthorized and with that comes inherent limitations, it's not a consumer-friendly product. The value is the services that used to be dealership only you can now do. Also, it gives you troubleshooting, maintenance, and coding capability beyond anything else on the market. Just don't expect much of a user manual or customer support, you'll need to figure out how to do this stuff on your own.
Well, not exactly on your own - We have the Forum, PV997 and everyone else to draw knowledge from - Thanks Everyone!
Very true, we've got a great group here. The guys over at Planet 9 (jjrichar in particular) have also done a great job documenting this stuff. I just noticed there's a post from last year digging into the Engineering development mode (all menus are in German unfortunately) that looks like it could unlock more coding capability. Worth a look and maybe some experimenting in simulation mode. Not quite brave enough to try this on my car yet.
Visiting from the 992 forums. Is there a "module" that will enable full LED-Matrix anti-dazzle headlight functionality for the US spec'd vehicles that have it tuned off? The hardware upgrade is a $2000 upgrade, with full functionality "de-tuned". I've been spoiled with it enabled on my BMW, and coding in BMWs is more available. I would spend the money if I can turn it on.
Visiting from the 992 forums. Is there a "module" that will enable full LED-Matrix anti-dazzle headlight functionality for the US spec'd vehicles that have it tuned off? The hardware upgrade is a $2000 upgrade, with full functionality "de-tuned". I've been spoiled with it enabled on my BMW, and coding in BMWs is more available. I would spend the money if I can turn it on.
It's not anything I've come across but don't know for sure. One thing is that the PIWIS2 we've been discussing only supports up to 2018 models according to the PIWIS suppliers. Later models need the PIWIS3 which no one here has tested as far as I know. There are PIWIS3 clones available but they are ~2x the cost of the PIWIS2 and not a lot of info is available that I've found.
OK so please bear with me as I've been reading and learning about these through a few threads here and elsewhere. I have a few pretty basic questions for those familiar with these 'not quite official' PIWIS packages.
I'd consider buying a PIWIS 2 package including laptop, cables, software assuming it could do the following things, but I need help to ensure this is a realistic expectation:
1. Diagnosis and coding for 997.1 and 997.2 generation cars (I own both)
2. Ability to DME scan and pull/reset codes for all Porsche models up through 2017
3. Service life that ensures a few years of use (as I don't understand the online/offline capabilities and shelf life of these units)
As I'm personally in a position where I need access to PIWIS for my own car, I'm several hundred dollars invested already (so to speak). I need/want to turn off an airbag code thrown on my 997.1 GT2 from replacing my comfort seats with carbon buckets that Durametric Pro cannot do, and also need to troubleshoot general connectivity that might be related to the forcible extraction of my PCM v. 2.0 at the hands of a previous owner (it doesn't throw hard codes, but there is something wrong that is flagged by other devices like a Cobb AP).
If I invest in a PIWIS 2 clone I'd like to be able to also help friends with DME scans and general troubleshooting beyond my basic needs, so I just want to make sure this is a reasonable use case and expectation for the tool. I don't have any issues buying the laptop that runs it directly so I don't have to mess around with VMs either, but I don't really see anyone doing that on this thread. Thanks so much for any help and guidance!
The PIWIS 2 scanner was discontinued a few years ago and the last update was 18.1. There have been no updates for a few years so they could give you unlimited updates.
At this point I wouldnt invest in a PIWIS 2 when a PIWIS 3 clone using 100% Porsche hardware and software ( not chinese clone parts) can be had for about $3K And it will check cars up to current models and years.
Hey Steve - just saw your post and hopefully these comments are helpful. You can get a PIWIS 2 clone shipped for around $425 (including cables) and use the software from the Planet 9 link and run it on any modern computer with Oracle's Virtual Box software (free download). This is far and away the most cost-effective and hassle-free solution. You don't need to worry about keeping Windows XP running, security issues, or the software expiring. The software is a clunky but that's because it's over ten-years old, not intended for a mass audience, and designed for a now primitive OS. There are a few bugs we've found (i.e. menus disappearing) but there are workarounds to keep them from happening.
As to your points #1 and #2, the PIWIS 2 clone can absolutely do both as far as I can tell. I have not used mine on a 2013 or newer, so I can't confirm that but maybe someone else can (it's advertised as working through 2018). Regarding #3, there is no "shelf life" as the software is configured so it won't expire. There are no updates because updates don't exist as the software was obsoleted by Porsche. My only concern would be reliability of the clone unit itself as there were some early reports of overheating. Several members have bought clones over the last six months and there have been no reports of failures that I've seen. Mine works great without any issues, but I use it once in a while not daily in a shop.
As to buying a PIWIS 3 (MB 911's comment) I'm not sure I understand this. Are authentic PIWIS 3's available for $3K?? I've never seen one at that price and I didn't think they were offered to the public. Even if they were, there's no reason to spend that kind of money for weekend tinkering when a $425 PIWIS2 clone will do the exact same thing (my car is a 997.2 TT). If I ran a shop that may be a different story but I suspect the cost of an authentic PIWIS3 is much higher than $3k.
MB 911 - Can you point us to where you saw the PIWIS 3 for sale? It would be helpful to better understand the available options.
I have PIWIS 2 running successfully in vbox. And thank you to those of you who made that possible.
I have a durametric enthusiast cable that I confirmed as working in durametric. I do not (yet) have a PIWIS clone cable.
Just for fun, I tried to use the PIWIS 2 software with the durametric cable. I couldn’t get it to work. Not surprised.
what is the interplay between the PIWIS software and the PIWIS cable hardware that precludes the use of any other OBDII cable or the durametric cable specifically? Proprietary chip in the PIWIS cable that the PIWIS software communicates with?
07-22-2020, 02:17 PM
