E30 ECU question

[silversleeper]

How many people have an ECU with the ending numbers 525?

It seems that 173 and 153 is quite common. Am I the only one with the 525?

[Jarvis]

How many people have an ECU with the ending numbers 525?

It seems that 173 and 153 is quite common. Am I the only one with the 525?

I still have a 526 lying around... 525 and 526 are pretty rare. There are 6 different Bosch ECUs for the M20B25 that I know of. 173 is generally considered the "best."

[silversleeper]

I still have a 526 lying around... 525 and 526 are pretty rare. There are 6 different Bosch ECUs for the M20B25 that I know of. 173 is generally considered the "best."

I wonder what makes it better to some people? Is there any history behind it all? I find it funny that my stock chip is copyrighted 1983 when my car is a 1989.

[Jarvis]

I wonder what makes it better to some people? Is there any history behind it all? I find it funny that my stock chip is copyrighted 1983 when my car is a 1989.

The 173 seems to be the least likely to fail/malfunction. I've had no problems with my two 173s, but my 526 was the cause of a random stalling problem.

The exact same ECU in ours cars was used in literally dozens of models from completely different car companies back in the '80s. The only major difference is the removable chip. Bosch much have made a fortune...

[325ise30]

I have a 525 and a spare 526, im happy as long as none of them are a 153 box due to the problems they had.

[NC325iC]

im pretty sure thats what i got with the engine, and its in the car

[silversleeper]

any of you 525 guys have a markD chip?

[fporro]

my oem ecu #153 gave me hell, it idle very rough, then it started jerking and stalling. eventually if failed completly.

bought a # 173 (1.3 motronic) and it's worked without problems for 3 years.
that and the ability to retrive more trouble codes than from the 1.1 motronic 153 makes a done deal.

[Tony]

Yep, I'm running the 525 with a MarkD chip

[silversleeper]

Thanks for all your help guys. I decided to go ahead and get one for my DME, but I have yet to hear back from Mark. Maybe he is busy? I can't wait till I get mine though.

[E30_pilot]

oops...delete...

[Erick]

I still have a 526 lying around... 525 and 526 are pretty rare. There are 6 different Bosch ECUs for the M20B25 that I know of. 173 is generally considered the "best."

Rare? I have 3 ECUs, one 173 from a '90 325i, and 2 525s, one from an '89 325i and another one from an '87 325iS.