Which bluetooth OBD for iPhone?

[Brian VT]

First post here. Great site!
I just bought a 2000 PF and will be visiting here frequently and I hope to be able to contribute at some point.
The bluetooth OBD tools seem like a great thing to have. Could you recommend one? (needs to play with iPhones)
I'm leaning towards a basic/cheap one but will defer to your recommendations.

[04pathse]

ELM327 - do a search for it on eBay or Amazon

[fastpakr]

None of the ELM327 type readers I've seen can communicate over Bluetooth with iOS devices. As far as I know, they all use WiFi to set up an Ad-Hoc network instead.

[Brian VT]

Thanks guys.
So I should avoid the Wifi ones? Bluetooth is much better?
The cheapest I found with Bluetooth/iOS is the KW903.
Any opinion of this one or are they all pretty much the same?
I don't mind spending more if it's worth it.

[MisterH]

The reply from Fastpakr was correct: The interfaces based on the ELM 327 work ONLY over Wi-Fi when using an iOS device. I got one of those manufactured by PanLong via Amazon. $17.99 and I spend another $10 to buy OBD Fusion from the App store and it works fine.

[Brian VT]

If the wifi connection not as good as bluetooth?

[fastpakr]

Wifi will work just fine for you.

[Hawairish]

I have one of the vGate iCar wifi adapters and the Dash Command app ($10 I think); both play well together. The adapter is available for wifi or BT and is of the ELM327 chipset. Very low profile, have used in a few vehicles.

FWIW, if you already use bluetooth in your car (for streaming audio, calls, etc), you're probably better off getting the wifi adapter. The reason being that you won't be able to have multiple simultaneous BT connections. In my case, I stream music all the time, so I stream via BT and see live OBD data via wifi when driving. The only limitation I've seen is that because the wifi doesn't have internet access, some iphone apps won't update (like mail)...but I think that's a setting on the phone (Wifi Assist? Haven't tried).

[Brian VT]

...if you already use bluetooth in your car (for streaming audio, calls, etc), you're probably better off getting the wifi adapter.

Good point. Thanks.

[01pathfinder7]

Do any of these do oil pressure reading. Or oil temp.

[sroberts]

Do any of these do oil pressure reading. Or oil temp.

I believe the values that are shown are those provided by your engine control module, which varies based upon the model and year. I have an 01 Pathfinder and I did not see available oil pressure and temp readings using Torque and my ODB reader.

[MisterH]

Do any of these do oil pressure reading. Or oil temp.

I believe the values that are shown are those provided by your engine control module, which varies based upon the model and year. I have an 01 Pathfinder and I did not see available oil pressure and temp readings using Torque and my ODB reader.

Engine oil pressure and temp are not part of any auto Mfr's ECM control set that I know of. ECM's are limited to sensor data that provide input, monitoring and adjustment of fuel, air, ignition and mechanical rotation values.

[sonnyc]

I have the Vgate Icar one with Fusion app and Wifi works great. There's a setting you can add (static IP) so you can still use LTE Data on the phone while the device is connected.

Yeah, you want Wifi if you uses BT in the car.

[NorcalQX4]

Here's the deal with iOS bluetooth. The developers of iOS OBD apps do not pay for the bluetooth license, so most of the apps do not work with iOS bluetooth. Android doesn't care about the license.

I had the same problem--crummy OBD apps for the iPhone using bluetooth. I wanted to be able to monitor my car when on the road which you can only practically do with Android bluetooth unless you spend around $100 for one of the expensive readers. My solution was to buy one of the Amazon fire 5th generation tablets, root it and flash it with cyanogenmod. I got mine brand new for $39.99 on Ebay. Then I can use one of the really good free android OBD apps with bluetooth. After rooting and flashing with a good ROM, you can then download a good OBD app from the Google Play store. There are many good, cheap OBD readers that work fine with android bluetooth. You don't have to pay over about $15.

[Brian VT]

I ordered an ODBII reader on Ebay that said it was for iOS. The one I received said Android.
I was upset at first, because I had planned to use it with my iPhone, but then remembered I had a cheap 10" Android tablet.
I got the Torque Light free app. from the Google store and have been using that on the tablet.
I don't think it would be fun trying to use it on a 5" phone.