[camil212]

After an oil change service. the service advisor writes the car needs this scan service. is this 153 + tax service worth it? what exactly do you get in this service? he tells me some kind of update

[Meeni]

Updates are usually extra on top, get the list of the proposed updates, if you get many, it may be a good deal (very good actually, some dealers charge per the hour the process last rather than the time it consumes a technician, and these updates can be looong).

This is a steep price for a scan only. Usually goes for 80 before tax. It may even be cheaper than that at the local german specialty shop. Note that the code readers used at auto chains like autozone etc read only some of the error codes and miss a number of bmw specific errors. However, most provide the reading service for free, and it can capture many prominent issues already.

As an alternative, you can also install INPA on a computer, it is a bit involved especially if you are not good with computers, but it costs the price of an ebay cable (around $25).

Or you can buy the bmwhat app for iphone/ipad or android, and a cable from ebay, for half the proposed price, and then you can read codes yourself forever. This app is very easy to use.