[hAxel]

I've got a 2020 M2C with an ECU manufacture date of 11 JUN 2019 and was trying to go with EcuTek for tuning. I don't have any EcuTek tuners nearby so I bought a kit from a remote tuner and had a local shop that usually does bootmod bench unlock my DME for me. They used autotuner for the unlock.

After having my DME bench unlocked, my remote tuner sent me a file to "Unlock ECU" in the EcuTek, this process failed leaving the car inoperable until I clicked "Back To Stock". (see attached screenshot)

My tuner is now telling me that I need to ship my DME off to someone to have them unlock it with bFlash as that's what is supported by EcuTek.

Anyone have experience with EcuTek on a locked(2020) DME want to give me a sanity check? I'd like to try to get this taken care of without having to ship my DME off, but if an unlock from autotuner isn't going to work and I need to ship it off, I will.

[Enabled]

Your bootloader is 5BA6_011_019_002. This is the 03/2019+ locked bootloader.
The ONLY way this can be unlocked for OBD flashing is by bench flash.

[hAxel]

Originally Posted by Enabled

Your bootloader is 5BA6_011_019_002. This is the 03/2019+ locked bootloader.
The ONLY way this can be unlocked for OBD flashing is by bench flash.

Thanks for the reply Enabled. The local shop said they bench unlocked my DME and provided the attached screenshot. Are you saying that the local shop (or someone else) would have to load the file that my EcuTek tuner sent (00005AE8-019-090-044-enc.bin) while on the bench and not just the patch they did in the screenshot?

[Enabled]

Well maybe it was unlocked after the unlock at the shop, but since ECUTek rewrote stock, it's locked again.

At the moment I'm unsure why the ECUTek tool wants to unlock the flash again if it's already been done?
Once unlocked, the ecu will allow 'tampered' data to be loaded.
It seems ECUTek simply failed the flash, and then when it returned to stock, it locked up the bootloader again?

Correct me if I misunderstood now.

[akkando]

@cookiesncream you know about ecutek right?

[hAxel]

Originally Posted by Enabled

Well maybe it was unlocked after the unlock at the shop, but since ECUTek rewrote stock, it's locked again.

At the moment I'm unsure why the ECUTek tool wants to unlock the flash again if it's already been done?
Once unlocked, the ecu will allow 'tampered' data to be loaded.
It seems ECUTek simply failed the flash, and then when it returned to stock, it locked up the bootloader again?

Correct me if I misunderstood now.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the DME is back in a locked state with the "Back To Stock", I'm just trying to figure out what the best next step is for me. I don't want to have the local shop try to bench unlock it again just to end up in the same position, but if I can keep from having to ship my DME across the country and have the car down for an unknown number of days and hope it doesn't get lost in transit, that would be preferred.

As for why EcuTek wants to unlock the flash after it's already been done, I'm not sure, that's part of the reason I started this thread, I'm hoping someone else has had their DME bench unlocked and flashed with EcuTek can chime in on what the process was for them. My tuner sent me the file and told me to use the "Unlock ECU" in the ECU Unlock Tool to load it after I told him I had the DME bench unlocked. I'm trying to determine if this was the wrong process and I just need to have the local shop bench unlock it again and do something different in EcuTek, or if it does indeed have to be unlocked by bFlash.

[hAxel]

I did just find a thread in relation to the Supra (https://www.supramkv.com/threads/dme...86/#post-98536) where a shop is saying that autotuner (and others) does not work for EcuTek, only bFlash works for an unlock for EcuTek. So it sounds like I'm out of luck and will have to ship my DME off (or find someone somewhat nearby that has bFlash). If this is the case, it's definitely quite frustrating to find out that bFlash is the only option now and not prior to investing in the EcuTek ecosystem. If nothing else, I guess this thread can be a warning to those with locked DMEs that are looking at EcuTek.

[Enabled]

It's very unusual that EcuTek requires a specific unlock.
I know the actual programming changes to the bootloader for two different unlock methods on these ecus, and they both work fine to allow loading of any kind of data to it after this.

I find this a mistake on EcuTek's part. If they have a specific bootloader they want to load after any unlock is done, then they absolutely can replace btld via OBD easily thereafter.

[Commanderwiggin]

Gotta use bflash for the unlocks on the new ecu's. Don't know why that's the only option but w/e. Ecutek is worth it in more ways than one so a little extra inconvenience is fine imo.

[ebisu8]

This exact scenario happened to me. I had my DME bench unlocked locally prior to me making the switch from BM3 to ECUTEK. When I got to grabbing all the info off my DME to send to Bend Calibration I found out the hard way.

My CAL ID I had was too new and wasn't in the ECUTEK server so I've been running a beta version along with Bend to get my car tuned. I ended up sending my DME out and got it back pretty quick. bFlash is their certified tool that they will accept, it seems silly but it is what it is.

Once you get it bench unlocked by bFlash it's down hill from there.

I believe if you can get your local tuner to provide the full DME dump or the 4mb BIN file. Then your ECUTEK tuner can send that to ECUTEK for them to add to their list of CAL IDs.

[hAxel]

Originally Posted by ebisu8

This exact scenario happened to me. I had my DME bench unlocked locally prior to me making the switch from BM3 to ECUTEK. When I got to grabbing all the info off my DME to send to Bend Calibration I found out the hard way.

My CAL ID I had was too new and wasn't in the ECUTEK server so I've been running a beta version along with Bend to get my car tuned. I ended up sending my DME out and got it back pretty quick. bFlash is their certified tool that they will accept, it seems silly but it is what it is.

Once you get it bench unlocked by bFlash it's down hill from there.

I believe if you can get your local tuner to provide the full DME dump or the 4mb BIN file. Then your ECUTEK tuner can send that to ECUTEK for them to add to their list of CAL IDs.

Thanks for the confirmation ebisu8. Just curious, when did you go through this? I didn't pay for the local unlock until after I ordered from Bend. When I ordered, they mentioned I needed a bench unlock when I told them I had a 2020, but they didn't mention anything about bFlash being required.

Edit: Also, I asked my tuner for the 4mb BIN file and all they were able to send me was a ~2mb "slave" file that they referred to as the backup. I didn't press them harder to see if they could produce the full file since Ian moved to recommending sending the ECU in.

[ebisu8]

Originally Posted by hAxel

Thanks for the confirmation ebisu8. Just curious, when did you go through this? I didn't pay for the local unlock until after I ordered from Bend. When I ordered, they mentioned I needed a bench unlock when I told them I had a 2020, but they didn't mention anything about bFlash being required.

It all just got sorted out earlier this month. There was a lot of back and forth between Ecutek/Bend and the local shop that I had do the unlock back in April. So I believe Bend will make the intro for you to have it shipped out to a place if you don't have one in mind. I wasn't aware of bFlash either but then again, I was originally down the BM3 path so I wouldn't have known to research which unlock tool was required.

Once it's done by bFlash, everything is good to go.

[hAxel]

Originally Posted by ebisu8

It all just got sorted out earlier this month. There was a lot of back and forth between Ecutek/Bend and the local shop that I had do the unlock back in April. So I believe Bend will make the intro for you to have it shipped out to a place if you don't have one in mind. I wasn't aware of bFlash either but then again, I was originally down the BM3 path so I wouldn't have known to research which unlock tool was required.

Once it's done by bFlash, everything is good to go.

Ah, yeah it sounds like we were going through this at the same time, so that would explain why there was no mention of it. Ian put me in contact with someone to ship it off to, but they've been a bit hit or miss on getting back to me, I followed up with them again today. Hoping to hear back soon so I can get the DME pulled this weekend and send it off.

[cookiesowns]

Not all OBD unlocks are the same. Some people backdate, some people do a custom BTLD patch.

bFlash is the only bench tool that ECUtek fully supports.

I can’t stress this enough, always talk to your tuner first before performing any unlock, especially with ECUtek.

[Enabled]

Originally Posted by cookiesowns

Not all OBD unlocks are the same. Some people backdate, some people do a custom BTLD patch.

bFlash is the only bench tool that ECUtek fully supports.

I can’t stress this enough, always talk to your tuner first before performing any unlock, especially with ECUtek.

For my curiosity, what method does bflash use? I use 2 different types of btld patches, which have the same effect; I don't like downgrading the bootloader/flash

[Envy ///M3]

Im having this same issue but I am going from Ecutek to BM3. I flashed my car back to stock usibg the ECU unlock tool in Ecutek and tried to flash my DME with BM3, but it fails everytime leaving my car inoperable and the fuel pumps keep cycling. So I have to flash back to stock with ecutek again to atleast make the car operable again. My DME has been bench unlocked and I still can not flash BM3. Going to see if I can get Ecutek support to remote in tomorrow to see whats going on as BM3 support already has and have told me Ecutek needs to “fully unlock my DME” in order to flash on BM3

[Envy ///M3]

Originally Posted by Envy ///M3

Im having this same issue but I am going from Ecutek to BM3. I flashed my car back to stock usibg the ECU unlock tool in Ecutek and tried to flash my DME with BM3, but it fails everytime leaving my car inoperable and the fuel pumps keep cycling. So I have to flash back to stock with ecutek again to atleast make the car operable again. My DME has been bench unlocked and I still can not flash BM3. Going to see if I can get Ecutek support to remote in tomorrow to see whats going on as BM3 support already has and have told me Ecutek needs to “fully unlock my DME” in order to flash on BM3

So I figured it out today. My NBT EVO( apple carplay box) is connected via “CAN power” and was blocking BM3 from flashing the car. I disconnected it and my car flashed right away. 4 days battling this, but im glad I finally figured it out. Disconnect ALL “piggybacks”when flashing these cars I guess. Hope this helps someone in the future.

[hAxel]

Originally Posted by Envy ///M3

So I figured it out today. My NBT EVO( apple carplay box) is connected via “CAN power” and was blocking BM3 from flashing the car. I disconnected it and my car flashed right away. 4 days battling this, but im glad I finally figured it out. Disconnect ALL “piggybacks”when flashing these cars I guess. Hope this helps someone in the future.

Nice, glad to hear you got it figured out. Yeah, I've heard of others having issue with other things connected to the bus.


Just to update the thread on my progress. bFlash unlock has solved my issues and have been able to tune with EcuTek.

[Detoxified]

Originally Posted by hAxel

Nice, glad to hear you got it figured out. Yeah, I've heard of others having issue with other things connected to the bus.


Just to update the thread on my progress. bFlash unlock has solved my issues and have been able to tune with EcuTek.

Can you please share who unclocked your ECU? I am trying to find someone with bFlash to unlock mine as well.

[ebisu8]

Originally Posted by Detoxified

Can you please share who unclocked your ECU? I am trying to find someone with bFlash to unlock mine as well.

Who's your tuner? There should be some recommendations. I know there is one in SoCal and AZ that Ben Calibration recommends.

[hAxel]

Originally Posted by Detoxified

Can you please share who unclocked your ECU? I am trying to find someone with bFlash to unlock mine as well.

Hey Marin at Marin Tuned was who unlocked mine. Turn around was super quick, definitely recommend using him. His email is marin (at) marintuned.com

[wieisme]

Originally Posted by Detoxified

Can you please share who unclocked your ECU? I am trying to find someone with bFlash to unlock mine as well.

ACG Automotive has bflash and can ecutek unlock your ECU if you need... they also have an autotuner