SALUDOS AMIGOS E HABLADO DIRECTAMENTE CON EL FABRICANTE DEL SOFTWARE Y ME HA RESPONDIDO ALGUNAS INQUIETUDES PERSONALES SOBRE RHEINGOLD E ICOM, POR ACA SE LAS PASO SOLO QUE ESTA EN INGLES
Hi Willi,
Thank you for contacting Rheingold USA LLC,
1-Our certified software set (ISTAD & ISTAP) are both the ‘original’ BMW software developed as a standalone offline version, check out the table below:
Standalone version (From RheingoldUSA LLC)
Online version
It won’t need any internet access
It needs a very solid high speed internet
It won’t need any subscription.
It needs subscription (around $2500 per year)
It can be mobile which is a big advantage to many dealers / workshops who already bought it.
It cannot be mobile since it needs an internet connection.
It won’t pull the vehicle repair / maintenance history online unless there was an actual work been done using the same certified software, as the software pulls it from the local database*.
It can pull the vehicle repair / maintenance history if found in BMW database.
Support / provide OEM ECU(s) firmware.
Support / provide OEM ECU(s) firmware.
Updates comes as a download link or a BMW FOB USB flash drive when needed ‘not a MUST’.
Updates comes online and they are a ‘Must’.
You can skip updates as much as you want, then you can update to the latest version for one time buy at %20 discount for return customers.
You cannot skip any updates, and if you do, you will have to pay for all the missing updates in order for your software to get to the latest version.
2-The ICOM(s) are custom build for Rheingold USA LLC, they carry an updated custom firmware which guarantee best connection and performance when working with the certified Rheingold Software set.
With that being said, we never lock our certified software or hardware so people can use them with their own third party tools.
3-Maybe ,but we never guarantee the certified software set to work with any third party hardware like the ICOM A2 because there are a lot of ‘clones’ or cheap build floating all over the internet and they never work or stop working after a while.
4-Yes, it’s Global, works on US and Europe models.
5-It comes with iSetup, a smart automated wizard which scans your machine for any missing components like VC++ and .NET framework then install them for you beside installing the software itself, this is considered a big advantage to some customers like a dealership in North Carolina who spent two months trying to get the online version to work, you can watch the iSetup here:
Please send us any other questions you may have, we love to help
PREGUNTA
Hello, I am very pleased with your answer and I appreciate you took the time to contact me. I have one last question before purchasing your product: would your software work with a genuine ICON A2 NEXT (obtained from a BMW dealership)?
I apologize for asking so many questions, I am simply trying to avoid purchasing a product that won't meet my requirements since other 'clones' do not work as advertised.
Thank you,
Willi
RESPUESTA
You are always welcome Willi,
Quick answer to your question:
It may ,but we cannot guarantee the certified software set to work with any third party hardware like the ICOM A2 even if it’s genuine due to firmware mismatch, we don’t know which firmware your ICOM got and cannot support it.
We suggest getting the software set alone first, give it a try, hopefully it will work with your ICOM, if it doesn’t work, get the certified ICOM A.
The certified software package comes with user guides and a troubleshooting guide which really helped a lot of customers.
PREGUNTA
I appreciate your honesty, and I will definitely be buying your product after reading through your answers. I had a final more general question, what are the differences between ICOM A, ICOM A2, and ICOM A2 NEXT? Just in case the software set alone does not work and I had to buy any of the certified ICOM.
Thank you,
Willi
RESPUESTA
The major differences are the cooling technique and firmware stability,
Our certified ICOM A uses heat sink + cooling FAN.
The ICOM A2 and others uses heatsink only.
The idea behind the ICM A2 and later versions is to minimize the cooling FAN fail possibilities, so they made the heat sink bigger and Fan was removed , well guess what? the excessive heat from the larger heatsink
in some versions caused the chip to fail, so it end up as a design error beside chip component quality and higher price.
So, they added a cooling ‘gel’ underneath the chip (believe it or not) and that cause the LAN component to fail after a while.
The firmware for the ICOM A2 and later versions is hit and miss , customers faced hard times to match it to the required Rheingold one and upgrading the firmware bricked a lot of ICOM A2 which is a loss of time and money.
Our certified ICOM A always comes with an optimized tested firmware which is guaranteed to work with the certified Rheingold software set.
Hope this help,
Regards,
Mike Garner
MI4 LTE •• Código. *FKNDCF*
