ECU Problem - M52 Swapped E30

[Leon.stt]

Hello guys,

I have an M52B28 swapped E30 sedan, bone stock M52 with stock ECU which was completed about a year and a half ago.
I have been driving it quite frequently after the rebuild and I haven't had any problems until yesterday. I was driving for about an hour and suddenly I smell something was burning in the cabin. I switched off the car immediately and luckily no fire but the car couldnt start. It cranked, but didnt start.

After a thorough investigation, I found that part of ECU was fried (pic attached). I did check other wires, fuses, and relays and found no indication of a short circuit. This is the only part that was burnt.

Can anyone tell me what part is this and what are the causes of this failure? I'm at lost right now and this makes me worry driving the car
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[328 Power 04]

That is the EWS module.
I'm surprised it was swapped in with the engine.
It's easy to make your engine ECU be EWS deleted, so there would not be any need for that burned module.

[Leon.stt]

That is the EWS module.
I'm surprised it was swapped in with the engine.
It's easy to make your engine ECU be EWS deleted, so there would not be any need for that burned module.

EWS is immobiliser, correct? What can cause for it to burn like mine? How do I delete this thing?

[328 Power 04]

EWS is immobiliser, correct? What can cause for it to burn like mine? How do I delete this thing?

Yes, EWS is the immobilizer.
Unsure why it burned, but it's not good. There may be a short in wiring or a relay. Sometimes a component on the EWS board does fail. However I have seen this more with EWS3 not EWS2.


The DME (engine ECU) has to be reprogrammed with the non-EWS control bytes, and then you simply bridge the two starter control wires together at EWS.

You must make sure your M52's DME is the programmable kind. Very early 1995 ones were not reflashable. All the rest were.