BMW Z4 OBD port location

Illustration — use it to know where to look.

Location

LHD: driver's footwell, low down in the left-hand lateral kick trim at the outer end of the dashboard, right beside the bonnet-release handle and well outboard of the steering column. RHD: exact mirror image — driver's footwell, offside kick panel next to the bonnet release, hard against the door sill. Same position on every trim from sDrive18i to sDrive35is, and unchanged by the 2013 facelift. Do not hunt under the steering column: the module you can see once the lower column trim is off is the footwell module, not the socket, and the socket is never in the centre console on this car.

How to access

A small curved black flap moulded into the kick panel covers the socket. Get a fingernail or a thin flat screwdriver into the notch at the flap edge and rotate it outwards, towards the door — it pivots on two tiny plastic pips. Those pips snap off very easily and BMW only supplies the flap as part of the complete kick panel, so lever at the edge of the flap and never against the connector body. The 16-pin connector sits immediately behind, angled down into the footwell, and needs no further dismantling. A fair number of E89s turn up with the flap already broken off or taped shut, in which case the socket is in plain sight.

Illustration — use it to know where to look.

Location

RHD (UK): lower face of the dashboard, directly above the bonnet release lever in the driver's footwell. This comes from one owner's report on a 2006 car, so no other landmark is given. Not confirmed whether the position varies by trim or year.

How to access

Not confirmed for RHD cars. The US LHD owner's manual says the socket sits under a cover marked OBD. Nothing confirms a cover on UK cars or how to open it. Check on the car.