Hi All,

It's been years since I've had to ask the forum for help - thought I'd sen it all but here's a new one that i'm stumped about. I took my '04 R53 to get inspected today for emissions and it failed bc the vin that came up on the obd reader the shop was using was different than the actual vin. The last 7 digits match fine but the first 10 numbers seemed like some sort of default code WBAAA00000XXXXXX (with those last 7 matching fine). I plugged in my own cheap OBDII reader at home and got the same result. I've owned the car since 2009 and never had any ECU work or issues and do pretty much all my own maintenance. Passed smog fine last year. The only noteworthy/recent issue was the battery going bad and needing to be replaced (~1mo and 300 miles ago). I called a local Mini dealership and they were useless trying to convince me that a shop likely replaced/reflashed my ECU. They wanted $700 to diagnose. Anybody have any thoughts/suggestions?

-Matt

 

There are two members NAM that come to mind that might be able to answer or help. Perhaps...
@MrBlah or @adriancl
if no one else chimes in.
Sorry to hear that you're going through this.
Best of luck.

 

Question, do you have the emissions test results from last year? In my state, the emissions test result lists the VIN.

About eight years ago I think, I took my MINI to the dealer to have them update it to the latest software and clear what I thought was a “hard code”, P2096. They had the car two hours, and came back and told me somebody must have replaced my ECU because the VIN it reported did not match that of the car, and that I needed a new ECU. I thought this was nonsense, because they had used my key to identify my car’s VIN when I arrived at the shop, and from what I understand, the Electronic immobilization system verifies the key’s VIN matches the car’s VIN before allowing the car to start. If what they said was true, there would be a VIN mismatch, and how then did I drive the car there, and how did I drive it away?

Nonetheless, when I got home and tried to communicate with ECU, it would not communicate. I let the car sit for more than a year, and the next time I tried to use the reader to talk with it, everything was fine and my VIN matched. The only thing I had done before that was let the battery fully drain, and clean up the grounds.

So, it’s only a hunch, but maybe you could try disconnecting the battery, and cleaning up the ECU ground X167 on the left side of the engine compartment. Follow the wire from the ECU to it, in order to locate it. Just an idea. Let us know how you make out.

 

You have a replacement ECU. I replaced my original pre-facelift EMS2000 ECU with a post-facelift MS5150 for tuning purposes and, like yours, the VINs don't match but I've never run into your issue (I live in TX). Contact member/tuner "adriancl" on this forum and ask if he can help sort it out.

 

This has me curious, do the last seven digits of your post-facelift replacement ECU match the last seven digits of your pre-facelift ECU?

 

No, it does not match.

 

This thread might shed some light on things. It sounds like that’s a generic prefix.

 

That’s a fascinating read! Thanks!

Like the BMW E46 thread you linked, the OP’s strange VIN reading has WBA as the first three of the VIN. WBA are the first three characters of a BMW—not MINI—VIN. Weird. Like the OP, the E46 guy had his last seven VIN characters match. The E46 thread’s suspect VIN had an additional A in the first 10 of the VIN but that could be a typo on the part of our NAM OP, who is missing a VIN digit in the first 10 (and apparently another digit in the last seven represented by Xs)

 

Thanks. This is an interesting puzzle.

My ‘03 has an EMS2000 with a VIN that matches the body.

Edit: I wasn’t familiar with MS5150, but a quick google search suggests it might be another name for an EMS2000. But you deliberately used different terms beyond just pre-facelift and post-facelift, and you must have a good reason for that. Could you please enlighten me a little about the difference and remove some of my ignorance?

 

Just checked this and last years emissions shows the correct full vin. I am pretty sure it’s the original ecu. I suspect that the ecu might have gotten corrupted when I had the battery issue a few months ago, but what’s weird (like the case you describe) is that the car works perfectly fine and I would think if there was a real issue with vin not matching the dme my key wouldn’t work and the car wouldn’t start. I will try hard unplugging the battery and letting it power cycle and report back.

 

I just double checked my scan tool and that was a typo the vin does have an additional "A" just like the dude in this other thread...

 

No luck. Battery unplugged for 30min and my scan tool still showing this "default" VIN.

I am gonna go try a different smog station tomorrow (apparantley it could be an issue with the shop's scan tool?). I doubt it though as my scan tool says the same thing.... ****. Google AI says that I should be able to reflash or reprogram or "virginize" the ECU to factory settings but that requires special programming tools and equipment. Anyone know of a shop in Los Angeles/Socal that might be able to do that? The only hit I got on Google is a company based in PA called The ECU Pro (https://the-ecu-pro.com/). Requires sending my ECU to them... I really don't want to do that. Send me what you got ppl!

 

Did you inspect/ try cleaning the ECU ground? I’d clean all the grounds I could find readily, and add dielectric grease to each once clean. The ECU ground, the ground near the engine mount, the ground in front of the battery where the negative battery terminal cable attaches, are all easy to get at. The communications lines may be sensitive to electronic noise, and I’m sure they need a good ground.

Given that the last seven digits of the VIN are correct, I am skeptical about ECU corruption. But keep in mind, I don’t know anything. I guess it could be that the first ten digits were unreadable so a place holder gets reported.

Also, the other posters who say to contact adriancl gave you good advice as far as I know. I’ve never engaged him, but I know someone who has and he has an excellent reputation. And he's given solid advice here if you search the threads. I’d do that before sending my ecu out.

 

This is speculation of course, because I don’t know anything, but maybe the EWS only looks for a match of the last seven digits.

I checked my records for when the dealer said I had a VIN mismatch. They did not record (on my receipt, anyway) what VIN was reported over the Diagnostic Bus. After driving it home, I let the car sit for more than a year(much more…) because the car would not pass inspection, so it wasn’t street legal. It sat sadly in my driveway. When I finally had time and money to address the issue, I bought a new battery and cleaned up the grounds. When I eventually hooked up INPA, the VIN was correct without having even started the car. I did do some mechanical work to the car, but I never fired up the engine before connecting INPA to the diagnostic port. That’s why I’d start with the grounds, though your issue may be different than mine was.

 

There’s also this:

MINI TSB M120213

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...50304-9999.pdf

Read the bit about the warranty…

 

They are not the same. The post-facelift MS5150 has more mapping capability than the pre-facelift EMS2000 therefore it provides more tuning options.

 

ok thank you.

I believe my search result which suggested they were both EMS2000 was because I had mistyped “EMS2000 vs. MS5159” not “MS5150. AI provides strange results sometimes. But I knew it could not be correct, based on your precise language.

typing “EMS2000 vs MS5150” yields better results. User error on my part.

 

OK now we’re talking! Off to the stealership… I suspect they are gonna say that I reprogrammed it so they are not going to do anything but let’s see

 

Take the two page TSB with you. In it, MINI describes to the dealership how to get paid. Why wouldn’t they do it with MINI payment at the ready?

 

Hi, was there any update on a resolution to this? Exact thing happened to me this morning trying to pass emissions. I haven’t had any ECU work done since the last time I went through emissions except a buddy used to his software tool to clear an airbag light for me after I triggered it by running the car without the overhead passenger airbag light plugged in. This is the only communication the ecu has had since my last emissions. TIA

 

Sorry I missed this, when I setup replacement ecu's I flash the owners vin onto the ecu.

That does not mean the odb reader actually gets that vin, I thoguht it came from the EWS or KOMBI, but never tested to be sure. I can provide replacement ecu's if needed with the vin bench flashed you can PM me for more info