VM Workstation and DIS

Please forgive me. While I'm reading my way through this information I am going to try and cheat by looking for a shortcut. I really don't know a lot about this particular software, but I do know my way around computers. My head is swimming with all the acronyms.

Here's my story:

I'm running VMWare Workstation 7.1 hosting BMW DIS V57 connecting to a 2000 528i. The setup resides on a ThinkPad T520. The code reader is a OPPS reader made in China that talks to the car through the RJ45 network port.

I previously used DIS V57 on a purpose built Linux IBM T30. It worked fine. The machine is now dead. In the virtual machine I cannot connect to my car. I also tried it on a 1999 540 with the same result. I suspect I'm not setting up the virtual machine's network adapters correctly. But I may be dead wrong. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.