[AdamC]

Started the car up yesterday morning to find that I was getting no response from the accelerator. Everything else seemed to be working completely fine and there were no warnings on the dash.

I got the car recovered to a local dealership who messed around with the car for a while then came back and told me it was a complete DME failure.

They have no idea what could have caused this, it just seems to have suddenly let go.

Now I've been quoted the best part of £2k to get it fixed which includes new DME (ECU) unit, labour and all of the required coding.

Anyone else have any experience with DME failures on E9X cars. I've been told by the dealer that no one else would be able to complete this work and I either pay up or my car is basically useless.

[Aragorn30d]

A used ecu and a decent coder/autolocksmith type person will be able to get it all working for a fraction of that quoted price.

[AWSAWS]

Flippin heck!
That's scary OP. I had my Idrive go nuts once and that made me break out in a cold sweat.

I've flashed my DME many times and I'd hate for it to mess up. Flashing wouldn't totally screw it up. You can flash back to stock. Electronics can just fry though can't they.

[KM79]

If you're DME is faulty(very rare),you cannot just fit a 2nd hand one and have it 'coded' in I'm afraid.The vehicle vin is burned into the ecu on first application.They come blank and once programmed that's it ,they're locked.The only 2nd hand solution is a complete CAS,DME and key set of another identical car.The steering lock can be reset however.i find it hard to believe that if the engine still runs but all you're missing is throttle actuation then the DME is gubbed.Any chance you can get the fault codes?I would be quite interested to see what they are.

[Aragorn30d]

Nothings ever "burned in". If it can be written there in the first place, it can be read out and modified, with the right knowledge.

It will be possible to "revirginise" a used ECU with the right tools, or dump the contents of the existing eeprom and write them to the used ECU, assuming the existing one isnt corrupt, turning the new one into a clone of the original one.

For instance a quick google search uncovers this thread:

http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums...-320d-no-start

and even includes a virginised EEPROM for that particular ECU.

Some more searching reveals this:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1035058

[litany]

Second hand ECU could be done on desk. Do You know part number of actuall ECU?

[KM79]

Forget I asked,I'll leave you with the experts then.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by KM79

If you're DME is faulty(very rare),you cannot just fit a 2nd hand one and have it 'coded' in I'm afraid.The vehicle vin is burned into the ecu on first application.They come blank and once programmed that's it ,they're locked.The only 2nd hand solution is a complete CAS,DME and key set of another identical car.The steering lock can be reset however.i find it hard to believe that if the engine still runs but all you're missing is throttle actuation then the DME is gubbed.Any chance you can get the fault codes?I would be quite interested to see what they are.

Kris you can now 'cloane' an ECU, we've done a couple using our remapping an frame kit for ECU's places like BW ChipTune have done it for some time aswell, you can get an ECU same spec of course and do the necessary, this is of course fairly costly, but a damn sight cheaper than the BMW solution but is a now viable option.

Would agree that an ECU failure is fairly rare ,ind you we've got 2 VW's in at the moment with ECU issues and are looking for ECU's now so that they can be cloaned.

The alternative is to get the ECU removed, sent away to ECU Testing with the fault list clearly to hand so that they can see if they can work their magic. If you go on their website go under the various heading they list the various issues re certain ECU's. Downside is the cars off the road for some time unusually a good 7-10 working days plus like all things everything's not 100% guaranteed

The other option again something we've done before is to gain all the required kit for a donor car install as Kris has correctly said this was the best get of of jail card for many until the clowning aspect came into play.

[KM79]

Fair play Steve,not something I'm familiar with.Youre explanation makes more sense to me.Im still dubious about the DME being faulty in the first place,just doesn't sound right.If a faulty DME was suspected,most test plans will tell you to update them first anyway.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by KM79

Fair play Steve,not something I'm familiar with.Youre explanation makes more sense to me.Im still dubious about the DME being faulty in the first place,just doesn't sound right.If a faulty DME was suspected,most test plans will tell you to update them first anyway.

see your point re BMW and the test plan when we've had a car and have gone through the genuine BMW diagnostic test plan it's been so accurate it makes AutoLogic which is regarded as the most regarded alternative look rather exposed. It's that good hence we had to get it and we are glad we did, but it guides you though various stages and where necessary provides you with all the wiring diagrams required to come to a conclusion.

But re ECU issues they do happen but are rare as I said earlier we've hit a Golf V5 and a Seat Leon Turbo with us with issues that in ole wiring and strongly suspected ECU issues, VAG cars are a bloody nightmare compared to BMW's but as you say if it's a total failure it's rare unless failures due to something like water Ingres or something.

[Aragorn30d]

VAG (and possibly others) ME7 has a known issue where shorting the lambda heater wires can kill the throttle control in the ECU.

Wires can get melted on the exhaust and fry the ECU. If your not careful and realise the issue, you'll fry the new one as well!

Something to check if that matches up with your symptoms!

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Aragorn30d

VAG (and possibly others) ME7 has a known issue where shorting the lambda heater wires can kill the throttle control in the ECU.

Wires can get melted on the exhaust and fry the ECU. If your not careful and realise the issue, you'll fry the new one as well!

Something to check if that matches up with your symptoms!

On the V5 you're bang on the throttle body's got a major fault wiring which we've checked via a wiring diagram goes from this direct yo ECU, we've got thst sad to start, run now by creative rewiring, however 2 to 3 times out of 5 the csr won't start straightaway on the key and the diagnosis done all lead back to a potentual RCU issue Hamilton we suspect throttle control. Wire wise we noted someone else had been there previously thus has been sorted but still doesn't ultimately cure the issue once and gif all but at least the car runs now except for the starting on the key first time it seems OK but ultimately after replacing the throttle body next step indicated a re check re wiring and a suspected ECU change.

There bloody hard work VW's hate em

[Aragorn30d]

haha, i come from many years of Audi ownership, so i'm the otherway round, VAG's way makes sense to me and the way BMW does stuff seems mental :P

[AdamC]

It certainly is a real mess!

I will try and get the specific error code from the dealer.
We have come to an agreement on price and they are ordering me in a new DME unit.
I just hope that this is the final fix and the car runs fine after the installation of the new unit.

[surrey 335i]

Sorry to bring up an older thread but having searched this one is the closest to my problem.
2010 Lci 318 has died big problem its stuck on the street in a parking bay.
Came to start this morning would not do anything, keys dont work.
Opened with manual key but wont turn over.
Only things that work are hazard warning and sidelights.
Cant even open boot/tailagate to get to the battery...
AA have just spent an hour with it, he suggests it might be Body Control module failure.

Battery has good charge, 12.4v, he disconnected battery for 20 mins to see if this would re-set everything but when put back on the car is still dead.
The steering is still locked so we cant even tow or push it out of its space.

Anyone help - there is no diagnostics from the ODB port as there is no power there (even with a jump pack connected under the bonnet terminals).

Has anyone had a body control module fail what were the effects?
How can we get the electric steering lock off so it can be towed to a garage?

[2real4u]

Originally Posted by surrey 335i

Sorry to bring up an older thread but having searched this one is the closest to my problem.
2010 Lci 318 has died big problem its stuck on the street in a parking bay.
Came to start this morning would not do anything, keys dont work.
Opened with manual key but wont turn over.
Only things that work are hazard warning and sidelights.
Cant even open boot/tailagate to get to the battery...
AA have just spent an hour with it, he suggests it might be Body Control module failure.

Battery has good charge, 12.4v, he disconnected battery for 20 mins to see if this would re-set everything but when put back on the car is still dead.
The steering is still locked so we cant even tow or push it out of its space.

Anyone help - there is no diagnostics from the ODB port as there is no power there (even with a jump pack connected under the bonnet terminals).

Has anyone had a body control module fail what were the effects?
How can we get the electric steering lock off so it can be towed to a garage?

I had similar issues before, unfortunately is hard to say anything without car. Where are you based?

[wahabishtiaq]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

On the V5 you're bang on the throttle body's got a major fault wiring which we've checked via a wiring diagram goes from this direct yo ECU, we've got thst sad to start, run now by creative rewiring, however 2 to 3 times out of 5 the csr won't start straightaway on the key and the diagnosis done all lead back to a potentual RCU issue Hamilton we suspect throttle control. Wire wise we noted someone else had been there previously thus has been sorted but still doesn't ultimately cure the issue once and gif all but at least the car runs now except for the starting on the key first time it seems OK but ultimately after replacing the throttle body next step indicated a re check re wiring and a suspected ECU change.

There bloody hard work VW's hate em

@Old Grey Steve, sorry for bringing up my issue on such old thread. I have my BMW N43 320i LCI 2009 with 87k miles. It throws same error codes on cold start for all sensors mentioned below, even when i delete them they come back and for a matter of fact it feels like etc errors are not real and there is something not right.

2FD3
2FCE
2A10
30C3
29F3
2EF7
3072
2D29

I am based in hemel hempstead and does have INPA and ISTA+ but can't find solutions even with test plans, my worry is the DME on it way out as the voyage supply to sensors in the early start isn't right or so.

Please share your thoughts any help will be highly appreciated.

Thanks