E90 330i ECU Failure (2005, N52)
Discussion
Hi All,
Earlier in the week my E90 would cut out intermittently. The 'DSC failure' message along with lots of others appeared on iDrive screen.
I check the ECU box and it contained a little bit of water. I dried it all out, and the car started fine, but after going for a short run it cut out and would not start again.
AA mechanic indicated it as a fuel pump issue. Garage checked this and said there was indeed an issue with fuel pump, but when they changed it the car would still not start. Their diagnostic checked revealed that the ECU had failed.
They have said a new ECU from BMW is £1000+VAT, plus a couple of hundred pounds labor and reprogramming charge.
What options do I have to get a working ECU at the cheapest possible price? Is refurbishing my own an option?
Earlier in the week my E90 would cut out intermittently. The 'DSC failure' message along with lots of others appeared on iDrive screen.
I check the ECU box and it contained a little bit of water. I dried it all out, and the car started fine, but after going for a short run it cut out and would not start again.
AA mechanic indicated it as a fuel pump issue. Garage checked this and said there was indeed an issue with fuel pump, but when they changed it the car would still not start. Their diagnostic checked revealed that the ECU had failed.
They have said a new ECU from BMW is £1000+VAT, plus a couple of hundred pounds labor and reprogramming charge.
What options do I have to get a working ECU at the cheapest possible price? Is refurbishing my own an option?
Removed the unit today an the bottom was exposed to water and has white corrosion. Does this indicate the ECU has been exposed to water for quite a while? Pic is below.
At present my options seem to be:
1) Get my unit tested and refurbed by ECUtesting
2) If it cannot be refurbed, then by a new ECU from BMW at £1000+VAT and pay a few hundred pounds more for reprogramming (I want to avoid this option).
I have been told by BMWman not to get a second hand or cloned unit as this just causes more problems and cost in the long term.
At present my options seem to be:
1) Get my unit tested and refurbed by ECUtesting
2) If it cannot be refurbed, then by a new ECU from BMW at £1000+VAT and pay a few hundred pounds more for reprogramming (I want to avoid this option).
I have been told by BMWman not to get a second hand or cloned unit as this just causes more problems and cost in the long term.
See if you can get comms with it via diagnostic kit , ECU's getting submerged in water is a common complaint with these I actually have one at my shop at the moment an 07 320D with this very fault 
DME/ECU has a nice tide mark around it and on removal and laid on blue paper towel water seeping out 
in my experience they dont recover the circuit board tracks are so fine the water ingress attacks the copper tracks and no doubt shorts out delicate components in the process also , the last one I see could not be repaired and a new ECU had to be fitted and coded to the EWS/immobiliser module etc not really a DIY thing
DME/ECU has a nice tide mark around it and on removal and laid on blue paper towel water seeping out in my experience they dont recover the circuit board tracks are so fine the water ingress attacks the copper tracks and no doubt shorts out delicate components in the process also , the last one I see could not be repaired and a new ECU had to be fitted and coded to the EWS/immobiliser module etc not really a DIY thing Edited by Sardonicus on Saturday 15th December 23:43
An update...
I ended up sending my ECU to be cloned onto another MSV70 unit with data transferred from CAS/key by a company in London. When my garage plugged the ECU up, the car started, and they cleared all the previous fault codes.
The car generally runs fine, though it now has the following codes appearing on the dash:
CC-ID 50 (tyre monitoring failure; NOTE: I do not have runflats)
CC-ID 42 (Brake and Driving control failure)
CC-ID 354 Start assist inactive
Before the water damaged ECU stopped working, I had none of these faults. The ABS and traction control are not operational, and neither is the hill assist.
The guy who cloned the ECU said these codes are not an ECU problem and could either be one of the following:
1) Wheel sensor issue occurring co-incidentally at the same time and therefore should be changed
or
2) Fault codes need to be cleared in each respective module rather than just the ECU.
I am a layman when it comes to all of this, so would appreciate any help and advice on what to do to get to the bottom of this.
I ended up sending my ECU to be cloned onto another MSV70 unit with data transferred from CAS/key by a company in London. When my garage plugged the ECU up, the car started, and they cleared all the previous fault codes.
The car generally runs fine, though it now has the following codes appearing on the dash:
CC-ID 50 (tyre monitoring failure; NOTE: I do not have runflats)
CC-ID 42 (Brake and Driving control failure)
CC-ID 354 Start assist inactive
Before the water damaged ECU stopped working, I had none of these faults. The ABS and traction control are not operational, and neither is the hill assist.
The guy who cloned the ECU said these codes are not an ECU problem and could either be one of the following:
1) Wheel sensor issue occurring co-incidentally at the same time and therefore should be changed
or
2) Fault codes need to be cleared in each respective module rather than just the ECU.
I am a layman when it comes to all of this, so would appreciate any help and advice on what to do to get to the bottom of this.
Sardonicus said:
Sounds like the DME/ECU needs to be coded to your vehicle (certainly IME anyway) so maybe the clone of your old unit did not go as planned after all 
I was told that if the original key and Cas module are used during the clone I shouldnt have any problems. What is the best course of action from this point forward?
PS: not sure what IME refers to?
JimClark49 said:
I was told that if the original key and Cas module are used during the clone I shouldnt have any problems.
What is the best course of action from this point forward?
PS: not sure what IME refers to?
IME = In My Experience What is the best course of action from this point forward?
PS: not sure what IME refers to?
speak to the company that did the work explaining your beef failing that find someone who can code the modules to this ECU/DME be it professional via scanner etc or keen Beemer nut with INPA etc etcGassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff