ECU tree
Hi guys,


I'm coming to you hat in hand here hoping someone might be able to help. I recently bought a 2009 Cooper S from someone nearby and I've absolutely fubarred it. The guy I got it from had really beat on it, but that was built into the price and I knew how to fix most of the problems and thought it would be a fun project. I took it home and got right to work on it.

So far I've fixed:
Turbo oiler and coolant lines with replacement seals (had the whole damn front end off)
Endless electrical gremlins
Replaced the heat shield on the turbo (the guy thought it looked cooler without..)
Subsequently replaced the valve cover gasket and seal (it was cooked from the turbo )
Vacuum pump gasket
Catch can
Cabin noisemaker delete (because why is that a thing?)

I finally got to one of my last fixes which was going to be the stage one fan. I found a post somewhere about a fix for the stage one fan, because the resistor tends to go often, but you could jump from the stage one relay to the stage two relay with the same type of resistor in between. This was a work around to constantly replacing the fan. This worked flawlessly, but I managed to mess it up after. As I was testing this, I managed to ground the dme relay signal (not the line to the fan) to a nearby bolt. The car promptly shut down, and hasn't started since. I've gotten maybe 20 minutes behind the wheel of this car, and now its a door stop!

What I've deduced probly happened was the CAS system thinks I was trying to steal the car? I Honestly do not know. It cranks very strong, but will not turn over.

I've tested:
Every fuse
Every relay (click test & Ohm test)
I got inpa working in german only, but couldnt find the sync CAS to DME function (R56 N14 is impossible to sort out due to some sort of corruption of the english med17_2N files floating around. I tried Bcables, Mikes easy tools, and the mostly German copy. Nothing)

>>>>>MAYBE SOMEONE WHO KNOWS GERMAN CAN REMOTE INTO MY COMPUTER AND TRANSLATE??<<<<

I then tried Ista+ to no avail. For some reason syncing was not an option. I've only tried one version that came pre-loaded on a VM though. I'll have to try another, but it's such a big file!
I'm using a K+DCAN cable to connect to the OBD without any issues.
I'm not getting any faults from the car. All the ECU's are responding except for the ones that were tied to the stereo (It has an aftermarket unit)

The ECUs are mostly ORANGE though. When I run them in ISTA+ they come back with no faults?

Also, there is no communication between the ABS and the SZL ECU, but i don't think that could cause this.

Please, for the love of deity, can someone help me figure out what's wrong with this car? I just want to drive it a little bit..

 

I’ve been having a similar problem. I was driving my 2013 Mini as my everyday commuter, stopped driving it back in March. Just started to drive it a few days ago and all of a sudden the gas gauge doesn’t illuminate, the speedometer doesn’t work at all as well as the lights usually illuminated on the cluster. No lights on the console illuminated or the RPM lights on the tachometer but the car to me drives just fine. Hard to know if the check engine light is on cause no lights Illuminate on the speedometer cluster for me to know. I used a scanner and all codes point back to a faulty ECU.

is it safe to still drive locally? Or I could potentially be doing more damage to the car?

 

Funny story, I just read your post on mini mania in my office before coming downstairs to my living room TV/computer set-up and saw this comment. Direct succession of events. Anyway, you're looking for Ista+ D also referred to as reingold,. You also need a K+Dcan to usb (the one with the switch) or possibly an enet cable (obd to Ethernet) depending on your model. This will allow you to get the view you can see in my picture. It's the same software mini dealerships use for this stuff and after calling a few they pretty much knew as much as I do about ECUs, which was disappointing. Your best bet is the Bcables.com if you have windows 10. I'm running it on a virtual machine. Otherwise you can scour the internet for a copy that works with windows 7. It's all a crap-shoot with Mini's though, because they seem to be somewhat of an afterthought to BMW when it comes to diagnostic tools.

It's probably fine to drive locally for now. I would replace the battery though. Also, this should go without saying, but check all the fuses and relays. You can check the relays with a 9-volt battery. Bridge positions 85 and 86 with the battery, If it clicks it's good.

 

If I replace the battery will that solve the issue with the ECU? My battery has died a few times and I just got a notification that battery power is low. I’m not sure how the ECU could have gone bad when I was driving it just fine, only change is it not being driven and discharge in battery. I’m hoping maybe it just needs to be reprogrammed and not replaced completely. But I’ve read on a bunch of forums that the car won’t start or drive if the ECU is faulty but that’s not The case for my situation. The car drives perfectly fine, just no speedometer reading or gas gauge illumination or console lights. During the day it isn’t an isssue but at night can be. I can see speed on the digital tachometer.

im not sure what the first part of your reply means about software and all that. I figured my best bet would be to just replace the ECU module and hope that’s all it needs. But also was worried about continuing to drive it with a faulty ECU and cause a bigger issue like completely breaking down

 

I would replace the battery and check all the fuses. DO NOT replace the ecu. It needs to be synced with the ews/cas afterwards, and if you can't be bothered to look up the info I gave you, you're not going to be able to do that. Just take it to the dealer

EDIT: Your problem also most likely isn't the ECU. There's like 15 computers in your car. It could be any one of them. The ECU or DME as bmw usually calls it mostly just controls the actual engine, not your dash components.

 

i will look into what you said I just wasn’t understanding exactly.

The engine codes that came back all point to the ECU. I’ve checked all fuses and relays and all are good.

 

What kind of scanner are you using? Does your radio work?

 

Everything works fine. Car starts fine. Drives the same. Stereo and navigation work. Only thing different is no dash illumination or gas gauge illuminated or speedometer isn’t working. It stays at zero even when I’m driving.

I’m using a snap on scanner. Shows like 13 codes on the engine all referring to the ECU



QUOTE=Masonotfound;4545412]What kind of scanner are you using? Does your radio work?[/QUOTE]

 

I replaced the battery. And these are the new codes that popped up. So now from the looks of it I need to replace my ECU?

 

@Masonotfound Mini Coopers Unlike BMWs do not do DME-CAS adjustment. if all relays and fuses are tested good, then the ECU itself is damaged. With ISTA+ you should be able to pull the codes, if not, then your ISTA+ is not setup properly. I have ISTA/D and I can see the fault codes when i hit "display fault memory".

@Mikka Dixon If you have have a sunroof, check the Fusebox for water damage or bad plug connection. the fusebox is behind the passenger kick panel.

 

I can see the DME on ISTA d. It lets me run the fan/pump/ etc through the program. It also comes back as fully functional. A dealership told me it may need to be flashed to “wake it up”. Is this a possibility in your experience? Interior fuse box is fine. I have tested every fuse and relay in the car. Twice. I’m getting power to the boots and I’m pretty sure fuel to the rail. I’m waiting on an oscilloscope to graph the firing line and I also ordered a fuel pressure kit to double check in getting fuel.

 

it is hard to say without reading the actual fault codes.

reprogramming it might help update the software but does not guarantee it working IF there is an internal fault.

Try swapping the relays next to the ECU Specially the small black one with one of from the top row (top row is for the wipers and the bottom one is for the ECU)

 

 

To elaborate, there’s an aftermarket head unit. On a second look, I’m not sure what’s up with the most gateway. I’m not sure if I’m still getting that code. Do you know what that is?

 

I think the gateway is for the radio head unit which also connects to the bluetooth module. you have 67 fault codes though! I would clear them and rescan the car to see what pops up again. These could be a result of the short caused earlier.

 

Ok, I’ll try that. Is it possible that, if there aren’t any applicable codes, this could be a jbe issue? Thank you very much for responding by the way. It’s a relief to have some help. I’ve already tried switching those relays btw, I forgot to mention

 

Not a problem my friend. Minis can be tricky but one step at a time.

 

well everything seems to be all good now. I took the speedometer cluster out and unplugged and then plugged it back in and it works fine. Maybe when my battery died the speedometer cluster needed to be reset.

 

[/QUOTE]



stumbled upon this video and thought it might help you.

 

Any resolution? I realize it was a year back but having read your post and the original workaround thread, I'm crazy curious. Also hoping you found a solution and was able to enjoy the car.