E30 M3 ECU Question

[PrinceE30]

I've got a friend who's brother's E30 M3 has dropped its ECU. He needs a replacement. He's under the impression that the European M3 has a different sized engine and needs a different ECU than the US versions. I've stated to him the difference in the M3 EVO, COECETTO, etc. and stated that unless he has a special edition E30 M3 or has done some crazy engine work, a standard replacement ECU will work with all E30 M3s. Before I message him back telling him he's wrong, I just want to confirm that even if he did have a Euro spec E30 M3, the ECUs in the European and US E30 M3s have the same wiring harness (loom) that connect and either would work.

Here's another question that might clear things up...can I determine if the car is US or Euro spec by its VIN?

Thanks all!

[SchnellerVert]

17 digit vin NA Spec 16 digit and on cowl is rest of the world.

M3 had two displacement's 2.3l and 2.5l. I know of 1 federalized 2.5l in NY area from www.s14.net there are many other 2.5L cars here in the us that have had engine swaps or made into a 2.5L.

[PrinceE30]

Yeah, I asked one of the s14.net forum mods and got a similar response. I just wanted to make sure EU spec and NA spec S14s have the same ECU unit. In retrospect, http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do would have been a good place to look too.

As a side note, isn't there a 2.4L as well?

[SchnellerVert]

No, unless someone did a custom sized but that is not an oem variant.

[FredK]

Isn't there a non-cat version in Europe? I'd assume there'd be no bung between the two runners on the exhaust headers, and no wiring provision for the oxygen sensor. Anyway, it seems the ECUs themselves are the same, but the chip inside and some of the wiring may differ.

http://www.s14.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19038

http://www.s14.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7068