BMW DSC/ABS Unit - Don't Replace ..... Repair !!!

[GusWilliams]

Hi All

I think this has been covered in various forums - but it's worth covering again as it saves a LOT of money.

The DSC/ABS unit in our BMW 130i has failed (you get various lights up on the dash), so I took it to BMW to get them to verify and of course they quoted me for a new unit which they could fit the next day - at a cost of £2,300 .........

Before I took it in however, I did my homework on this and discovered it is quite a common problem in the 1, 3 and Z series from 2004 onwards.

Several/many have had the unit fail for a second time later in the cars life (one guy had it fail 3 times !!!!).

I also discovered a few places offering rebuild of the unit at a fraction of the cost. One of them "ECU Testing" in Derby, also offer a lifetime guarantee of the unit with their rebuild !

So I got a local BMW specialist indy to take the unit out and send it off to them (you can do this yourself fairly easily - I didn't as it would need to be recoded anyway - plus bleeding the brakes etc.) - and to refit it when returned.

Total cost was just £415 - the ECU rebuild was £245, £30 posting and the rest about for removal/re-fitting/brakes/coding.

So saving just shy of £2000 - and you get a lifetime guarantee.

The only consideration being you have to have the car off the road for a week (which may be problematic for some I know).

As said - thought it would be worth sharing.......

Mark

[E-bmw]

Had the same (as many have) with my e39 & for those & the e46 at least (maybe others) there are places that sell genuine Bosch units for less than 1/2 the price of BM.

£325 instead of £1100 in my case.

[Silverbullet767]

Recommended from me too, had my unit repaired about 3 months ago. Huge cost saving and a decent turnaround time. Bonus ball was my neighbour removed the unit and refit/bled brakes for £50 on my driveway!