Might be buying a 318ti with potentially a bad ECU...

[emilime75]

...it's a 98, manual, looks clean in the photos, but I haven't gone to look at it yet.

Seller claims it ran fine before the ECU got wet, which, from reading, looks to be a common problem with E36s.

What's involved in replacing an ECU on this year/model? Is it as straight forward as pulling old/installing new? Any EWS/key/cluster stuff to worry about? I've never had an E36, I own an E92(2010) 335i and this would be my winter ride.

Thanks.

[flyfishvt]

Straight swap. Unplug the old one plug in the new one. Then you have to align the EWS. There are mulitiple options for that

[emilime75]

Appreciate that. Been searching the web for DIY solutions to the DME/EWS alignment...haven't found a straight forward answer yet. Can this be done with INPA? Some say yes, some no. Also seeing mentions of an EWS delete. Can this be done on a 98 with a dead DME?

[flyfishvt]

Yes to both. Read the ISN off the DME using INPA write it down. Go into the EWS module and change the ISN to match the DME. Once that's complete turn the car off and wait at least 20 seconds. The car should start. Occasionally it won't start the first time.

You can also send the DME to one of several companies and have them delete the EWS from the DME

[328 Power 04]

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...0-vagcom-cable


By far the easiest way.

Yes INPA does it too.
If you want less trouble, get a dme from a car with the same transmission. Or else you'll have a few other steps.

[spyderg0d]

I'd just buy an ews delete dme for the car online for a couple hundred and call it an end of work and mesaing around.

[ed323i]

+1 on what 328 Power 04 wrote..
I have a complete INPA installation and couldn't get it to work.. Then with the simple ewssync.exe program linked above it worked immediately. It almost seemed too easy :-) .

So, if you're lucky, all you need is another DME (same part number and transmission to be sure), and a laptop with Windows, the USB-OBD2 adapter cable and the ewssync program. And you'll be driving in half an hour.. (I once bought a car like that years ago, a E36 318i without EWS; I bought it for 500 euro, then installed the other DME, and I was gone in 15 minutes :-) ).

Good luck, and let us know if/how it worked out!