ECU cloning?

[MaverichX5E70]

Hey guys, so I'm a fairly new 2011 X5 35d owner and when I was first looking at the vehicle it had a CEL. The dealer I was purchasing from (Non-BMW) dealer said he'd get it taken care of so he made an appointment to have it checked out at our local BMW dealer.

BMW determined it needed a nox sensor. Sensor was replaced and now when the BMW tech is attempting to run the vehicle through it's tests, the vehicle stalls.

The dealer I bought the vehicle from has been good. He's picking up the tab for the nox sensor but he's pissed with BMW because he feels it's likely the bmw tech working on the car did something and fried the ecu.

BMW SA says the ECU has to come from Germany, takes 10 days to get to Canada and costs several thousand dollars.

I know the dealer I bought the X5 from doesn't have a huge margin and has been very good, even offering to let me drive my trade in with a dealer plate until everything is resolved.

When I was researching E70 X5 35ds I contacted Malone tuning for an alphabet delete and tune, and at the time they recommended a spare ecu in case of any necessary tune updates, etc.

Does anyone know if it's possible to clone an ECU? I'm guessing since it was recommended I had a spare, I'm assuming when they suggested that they didn't mean to spend $3K on a spare.. so.. My question is, has anyone had their ECU cloned, and has everything worked ok after?

Thanks for any help or suggestions

[ard]

Take your trade back, return the turd.

Dealer is right to be pissed at the BMW dealer. BUT....YOU dont want to be sitting where you are sitting!

(Why you would buy a used car with a CEL on is astonishing- I believe it is illegal here in the USA for a licensed car dealer to do so.)

I predict you spend $3000 and it isn't the ECU!

Unless PUMA is directing the BMW dealer, someone is wasting $$$. (ie You want BMW techs at the mothership directing this repair, not a local BMW tech who is 'guessing it must be the DDE, if it wont run')

Is this a PUMA case???

[MaverichX5E70]

Originally Posted by ard

Take your trade back, return the turd.

Dealer is right to be pissed at the BMW dealer. BUT....YOU dont want to be sitting where you are sitting!

(Why you would buy a used car with a CEL on is astonishing- I believe it is illegal here in the USA for a licensed car dealer to do so.)

I predict you spend $3000 and it isn't the ECU!

Unless PUMA is directing the BMW dealer, someone is wasting $$$. (ie You want BMW techs at the mothership directing this repair, not a local BMW tech who is 'guessing it must be the DDE, if it wont run')

Is this a PUMA case???

I'm not sure what PUMA is. I'm guessing it's similar to UCDA or OMVIC in Canada (Dealer watchdog associations).

I bought the vehicle after having my local indy look it over and give me a list of what it needed. Selling dealer obliged and fixed the issues and I got what I feel is a decent deal on the vehicle with the options I wanted, including a fair trade in value for my trade.

CEL was intermittent (dealer let me take the car home for a couple days with dealer plate prior to purchase) while I was test driving the vehicle, we both assumed it was a NOX sensor as these failing is supposed to be fairly common with higher mileage vehicles (105,000 miles). . The CEL came on the morning after driving 45 mins home from the dealer. I immediately took pictures of CEL and the error message (incorrect def fluid, count down to no start) and sent to the dealer who then immediately made an appointment at the BMW dealer on his dime to fix the issues.

From my research on the X5 E70 M57 engine they're pretty reliable except for emissions components, hence my plan for a delete and tune.

Turned out the CEL was for a bad NOX sensor, so said BMW dealer. Selling dealer obliged, and then BMW dealer informs us today it needs an ECU at several thousand $$.

Keep in mind, the deal is done, my trade in lien has been paid, X5 is in my name.

I did buy an extended aftermarket warranty for 3 years, however my understanding is in Canada used cars have a 30 day warranty. (Selling dealer also confirmed this when I was looking at the vehicle and by picking up the tab for the NOX sensor).

Ultimately it's up to the selling dealer to fix the issue and he's been very good about it, even offering to let me drive my trade in with dealer plate until issues with the x5 are resolved.

My question is if anyone has cloned an ECU for E70 X5 35d and been successful, because I'd like to try and save the selling dealer some $$.

I would have been fine with a dead NOX sensor until the alphabet delete however the countdown to no start made that a non-issue.

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

[ard]

Google PUMA. Don't guess. You chose not to take the time to understand at your own risk.

This will be super easy, right? Used car dealer will pay whatever it takes, turn off the light- car will be perfect. Then you buy your tune, everything works as planned. If the idiot BMW dealer misses something and your tune is installed- and nobody will help.

Best of luck. You clearly don't need any advice.

Actaully, all you need to know is 'has anyone cloned a DDE and been successful?' Can't help there. I'm out

[MaverichX5E70]

Originally Posted by ard

Google PUMA. Don't guess. You chose not to take the time to understand at your own risk.

This will be super easy, right? Used car dealer will pay whatever it takes, turn off the light- car will be perfect. Then you buy your tune, everything works as planned. If the idiot BMW dealer misses something and your tune is installed- and nobody will help.

Best of luck. You clearly don't need any advice.

Actaully, all you need to know is 'has anyone cloned a DDE and been successful?' Can't help there. I'm out

Google search of PUMA brings me to a clothing/shoe manufacturer.


Thanks for your help anyways!

Anyone else have any information or knowledge on cloning an ECU or the least expensive way to replace an ECU rather than to have to go through BMW?

[N52UNED]

You can very likely clone your ECU to a used ECU. People do it all the time for BMW cars ... so you should be able to do it for the SUV's. You can also send your ECU out for repair as well. A buddy of mine is having his e46's ECU repaired now. There's lots of companies that clone ECU's.

How did you get an extended warranty for a vehicle with a CEL? Did you purchase it through the dealer?

IMO ... this dealer sounds shady, regardless of his willingness to fix the car .... it's still within the 30 day period so he is obligated to by law under your 30 day warranty. He should've never sold the car with a CEL in the first place. Don't let things go too slow on this, as after the 30 days this dealer is no longer obligated to do anything else. Since you purchased the vehicle knowing it had a CEL, regardless of what the dealer said might be the cause for the CEL ... any issues are ultimately on you. It's now your car. I would not rely on being able to use the warranty for the CEL after the 30 days either.

[MaverichX5E70]

Originally Posted by N52UNED

You can very likely clone your ECU to a used ECU. People do it all the time for BMW cars ... so you should be able to do it for the SUV's. You can also send your ECU out for repair as well. A buddy of mine is having his e46's ECU repaired now. There's lots of companies that clone ECU's.

How did you get an extended warranty for a vehicle with a CEL? Did you purchase it through the dealer?

IMO ... this dealer sounds shady, regardless of his willingness to fix the car .... it's still within the 30 day period so he is obligated to by law under your 30 day warranty. He should've never sold the car with a CEL in the first place. Don't let things go too slow on this, as after the 30 days this dealer is no longer obligated to do anything else. Since you purchased the vehicle knowing it had a CEL, regardless of what the dealer said might be the cause for the CEL ... any issues are ultimately on you. It's now your car. I would not rely on being able to use the warranty for the CEL after the 30 days either.

Thanks for your response!

I just got off the phone with 2 chip tuners fairly local to me and the one said cloning the ECU can be hit or miss and he would get back to me, and the other tuning shop said it wouldn't be a problem provided I can bring them the original ECU with the vehicle. They also said they think the BMW dealer may have corrupted something and they are confident they can repair my ECU.

As far as the dealer being shady.. I don't think so. If anything he's pushing to get this fixed asap so he doesn't have to incur any further expenses. (He's out around $4K so far for NOX sensor and diagnostics).

Extended aftermarket warranty was purchased through the selling dealer. No check engine light was present at the time of the sale, only popped up the next morning.

I suspect what happened was the non-BMW mechanic that the dealer uses for brakes, ball joints, etc etc. safety related items simply cleared the code for the NOX sensor fault and when the light reoccurred after I picked the vehicle up the next day the dealer wanted it repaired correctly so then made the appointment with the BMW dealer.

The selling dealer has been good, no complaints here as long as he's willing to pick up the tab until everything is correct with the vehicle which seems to be the case.

Thanks again for your response

[robnitro]

Contact www.chiptuning.ca, they are in Ontario too and a great tuner for our bmw diesels.

[MaverichX5E70]

Originally Posted by robnitro

Contact www.chiptuning.ca, they are in Ontario too and a great tuner for our bmw diesels.

Thanks for the suggestion!

That was one of the tuners that I spoke with today that said they wouldn't have any issue fixing it.

[json]

if the old ECU is corrupted, won't cloning it make the new ECU just as corrupted??