Has anyone used one of those plug-in diagnostic tools that has a limited number of fixed service functions?
The ones for around £40-50 allow you to put the EPB into the service setting, reset service lights and some have the function to register new batteries.
Since most of the MK8 modules are SFD locked I doubt that you can use those tools, at least without paying for a token which is not cheap.
I would look into two options: VCDS or OBD11.
VCDS doesn't have SFD support for now but is planned. The community and documentation are very good. OBD11 is cheaper, as a business model around subscriptions for certain functions and supports SFD.
If you like to work on your car and you say that some workshops charge fifty pounds to code the battery you will hit break even very quickly.
