Can I send my defective DME to a shop somewhere for them to refurbish?

[rogerscgreg]

I had a crank-no-start issue that turned out to be a failing DME. Upon inspection next to a working DME, I found no obvious issues. Is there a place I could send it to be inspected and refurbished? I don’t really want it back, I just want it to be usable for someone else, and selfishly, to know what the issue was.

[Vincenze]

Check Programa's listings on eBay.
$350.

You can find cheap DMEs everywhere.
For some reason, people don't want the 524 and 525, which were the latest versions.

$80 here, I bought from him:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1410834520762781/

[Vincenze]

In Germany, you can buy a brand new Bosch DME for $350. That's what Programa wants.

[82eye]

You can find cheap DMEs everywhere.
For some reason, people don't want the 524 and 525, which were the latest versions.

they are for the ix specifically. they will run a regular i car, think they are harder to chip, which makes them a little less popular. unless you have an ix of course.

[AWDBOB]

they are for the ix specifically. they will run a regular i car, think they are harder to chip, which makes them a little less popular. unless you have an ix of course.

525 is not for the iX, it is the later version of the 173, commonly found in SRS model m20b25 cars and the early m20b25 equipped e34. Single board, just as easy to chip

[TobyB]

I have the 525 dme in the PRO3 car- it's a different chip, but same price/availability.

It DOES have a 128 mph speed limiter in it, which is easily defeated by cutting the
wheelspeed input to the dme.

t

[Vincenze]

525 is not for the iX, it is the later version of the 173, commonly found in SRS model m20b25 cars and the early m20b25 equipped e34. Single board, just as easy to chip

I saw newer production 524 and 525 DMEs from Bosch, they may have hardware fixes, but the 525 should be the latest software release for the M20.

[82eye]

525 is not for the iX, it is the later version of the 173, commonly found in SRS model m20b25 cars and the early m20b25 equipped e34. Single board, just as easy to chip

that's odd. have only ever found 525's in ix's here. never in any other e30 and never a different one in the ix. i've got 525's as spares for the i car.

edit: the quote function is acting weird.

[Vincenze]

that's odd. have only ever found 525's in ix's here. never in any other e30 and never a different one in the ix. i've got 525's as spares for the i car.

edit: the quote function is acting weird.

My 1991 325i came with the 524.
Later cars came with the 525. I believe Bosch made them until 2015.

There should be no electrical differences between the i and iX versions of the M20.

BMW sold these replacement 524 DMEs, which don't have Black labels as they were produced recently - older ones were made in W Germany, not in Spain.

[Vincenze]

Bosch Motronic numbers increase with each new release of software and hardware.
The 173 and 524/525 are Motronic 1.3 for M20. The 525 should be a 1991 software release.

[82eye]

My 1991 325i came with the 524.
Later cars came with the 525. I believe Bosch made them until 2015.

my 88 facelift has the 173. i pulled the 525 from an 89 ix.

[TobyB]

Can you find a date on the 525? I always thought that the 524/525 was later than '89. But I never looked too carefully.

t

[Vincenze]

my 88 facelift has the 173. i pulled the 525 from an 89 ix.

Does it have a matching VIN label?

[82eye]

Does it have a matching VIN label?

that ix is long gone. it was a post facelift car, i've never seen an early ix here, dunno if that makes a difference, i know the cdn market was a little different from the US.

[Vincenze]

that ix is long gone. it was a post facelift car, i've never seen an early ix here, dunno if that makes a difference, i know the cdn market was a little different from the US.

Usually, when a DME is original to a car, it has a label with the matching VIN.
Otherwise, it could be easily replaced.

It seems that the 524/525 (or 526) is the latest DME. Hardware changes should be minimal. But it was produced long after the discontinuation of the E30.