Ross Tech VCDS HEX-V2 Apparently is Unlimited VINs for B5

[5MT]

I just bought a second-hand Ross Tech HEX-V2 with 2/3 VINs remaining. I was surprised to use it (with latest official VCDS) on my 97 A4 2.8Q 12V for functions that I believed would have required VIN pairing, but did not ever prompt me to agree. When searching for the reason it never required my authorization for VIN assignment, I learned on the RT forum that some older cars 'don't know they're own VIN' and thus all functions are completely free and unlocked.

Maybe this is common knowledge, but I was surprised and thought I'd mention it.

Source: https://forums.ross-tech.com/index.php?threads/8869/

Applicable Quotes:


What about older cars that do not know their VIN?
Simple: They are free. You can do anything and everything on those cars without them counting toward the license limit.

Which cars do and don't know their VIN?
Virtually all model year 2002 and newer do know their VINs -- basically those cars with Immo-3 and up. I believe the only model year 2000 car that had Immo-3 was the Audi A8, but a few others got Immo-3 in model year 2001.


If I'm not mistaken, no B5 had Immo-3, so all should be good. [Edit: I should have said "..no North American Audi B5 had Immo-3.." Even then I'm not really sure. Someone can please clarify which cars do and don't report their VIN to VCDS.
Anyone know if a HEX-V2 with all VINs currently used will also still be fully functional for our cars? I would assume so.
Anyway, this may be old news but I'm glad my cable will retain all of its value by not using up VINs.

[BoostTed]

I'll attach my cable to my 02 s4 next week and see if it takes up a vin.

[5MT]

As you probably know, a VIN is not registered until explicitly confirmed. There are actually quite a few things that can be done with Hex-V2 without registering a VIN, even some that are deliberately ambiguous where VCDS asks 'if you would like to register this VIN' before proceeding, yet don't necessarily require a user to select 'yes' and verify their last 3 digits in order to do the operation. This is true for any model, and I mention it in case someone might sometime be tricked into registering a different model car they don't need to.

In the case of the non-Immo3 cars, however, there should be no method at all to ever register a VIN. An easy way to test this is to look for the VIN in the output of an AutoScan. This scan is not VIN-activating with any car, but on our cars the tell-tell sign that no other action could trigger VIN ID is that the VIN is not reported in the output. In other words, the car cannot report its own VIN. Thus it is free to use for all functions.