E46 330ci 2005 - Faulty ECU?
Discussion
Hi all after some advice,
Recent owner of the above car, bought with CEL on, car drives brilliantly although previous owner has had CEL
on for quite a while as was never able to get it sorted.
Brings up code for a faulty lambada, clear able but comes back on on car restart.
Have had it in with a very knowledgeable garage recommended on here, Guy has tested everything, including new
sensors, voltages, etc. he cant seem to get rid of the code.
He is running out of ideas, believes the ECU itself to be faulty?
PO had a a remap done, the light was on before that, and I'm seeing why it has been on for so long.
Garage has said he could try 'reset' the ECU which would wipe the remap, but isn't confident it would clear it.
Not sure what would solve this bar doing a whole ECU/EWS swap, which would wipe the remap but not overly fussed about that, or a small piece of black tape but not really into that!
Any ideas or recommendations of 'ecu experts' in and around North London.
Thanks in advance,
Sam
Recent owner of the above car, bought with CEL on, car drives brilliantly although previous owner has had CEL
on for quite a while as was never able to get it sorted.
Brings up code for a faulty lambada, clear able but comes back on on car restart.
Have had it in with a very knowledgeable garage recommended on here, Guy has tested everything, including new
sensors, voltages, etc. he cant seem to get rid of the code.
He is running out of ideas, believes the ECU itself to be faulty?
PO had a a remap done, the light was on before that, and I'm seeing why it has been on for so long.
Garage has said he could try 'reset' the ECU which would wipe the remap, but isn't confident it would clear it.
Not sure what would solve this bar doing a whole ECU/EWS swap, which would wipe the remap but not overly fussed about that, or a small piece of black tape but not really into that!
Any ideas or recommendations of 'ecu experts' in and around North London.
Thanks in advance,
Sam
What's the exact fault with the lambda sensor? My 325Ti has a downstream lambda sensor heating element code, but that doesn't throw an EML.
I've always found BMWs to be extremely snobby and sensitive to sensors - most cheap eBay sensors I've bought haven't worked and I've ended up having to pay up for a genuine sensor - are the sensors you've fitted genuine?
I've managed to swap ECUs on my E36 before while diagnosing a similar issue to yours, but I'm not sure how easy it would be on an E46. The ECU needs to be "aligned" with the immobilizer unit (EWS), which is tied to the key. Best case you can just buy a used ECU and align it as I did, but worst case it might be a used ECU, EWS, and a full set of keys and locks!
Its possible to reflash your ECU at home (using a piece of BMW software called WinKFP and a OBD cable) to a different stock BMW flash. In this case you can look to flash the EU 2 (South Africa spec) map that would eliminate the lambda checking, and eliminate the error light (People in the US do this when deleting their cats with "ebay euro headers"). The MOT man might not be so impressed if he knew, but with the cats still present, emissions shouldn't be an issue.
I've always found BMWs to be extremely snobby and sensitive to sensors - most cheap eBay sensors I've bought haven't worked and I've ended up having to pay up for a genuine sensor - are the sensors you've fitted genuine?
I've managed to swap ECUs on my E36 before while diagnosing a similar issue to yours, but I'm not sure how easy it would be on an E46. The ECU needs to be "aligned" with the immobilizer unit (EWS), which is tied to the key. Best case you can just buy a used ECU and align it as I did, but worst case it might be a used ECU, EWS, and a full set of keys and locks!
Its possible to reflash your ECU at home (using a piece of BMW software called WinKFP and a OBD cable) to a different stock BMW flash. In this case you can look to flash the EU 2 (South Africa spec) map that would eliminate the lambda checking, and eliminate the error light (People in the US do this when deleting their cats with "ebay euro headers"). The MOT man might not be so impressed if he knew, but with the cats still present, emissions shouldn't be an issue.
Well update is we found some damaged wiring from the ecu to the plug. I have got a new part of the loom and crimped it well on. I got a readily for a few minutes then it dropped out to 'no activity detected bank 1 sensor 1.
This is really doing my head in, I will go for replacing the sensor now but not getting my hopes up?
This is really doing my head in, I will go for replacing the sensor now but not getting my hopes up?
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