First (sad) post - DME Control unit needs replacing

[FluffyOwl]

Hey all,

I joined the Porsche UK club a few weeks ago, having bought a 2007 987 Boxster in April.

Two weeks ago I got a 'Engine fault - visit workshop' error, and the RPM dropped to a maximum of 1000-1500. My local independant Porsche specialist collected it this past Monday and today I received a fab quote for a new DME control unit for just shy of £4k!!!

I have a ton of questions, but I am basically looking for some advice about what I should do next? Having only had the car for just over 6 weeks I am obviously gutted. The guys at the garage say it is not repairable. They also mentioned it may be possible to find a s/h one. My question is - why has it taken nearly 4 days to come to this conclusion, having originally said it may be something less serious after attaching their diagnostic device to the car?

Is it also possible that the guy I bought it from could have had this before and cleared the error manually? Sorry to be so negative, but it's really bad luck to have this happen only 6 weeks after buying the car.

All comments/thoughts gratefully received.

N

 

[irb26]

Hi
First off you want to be certain its the DME otherwise you could be swapping parts which may not fix the fault.
If it is the DME you can obviusly go down the route of buying a new unit from Porsche which will cost a fair few ££££'s.

The early 987 uses a Bosche ME 7.8 DME - these can be picked up secondhand for anything from about £100 up to ridiculous prices.
Secondhand DME's can be reprogrammed to other vehicles providing that that the security info and configuration data is copied accross to match the vehicle as the immobiliser system ties into it.
Dependent on what car the donor vehicle was it may also need to be remapped to match your vehicle - this can also be done fairly easily if you have the correct equipment.
It is very unlikely that a Porsche dealership will be able to do this though as you need some additional systems that they do not use.
There are a few people on this forum (myself included) who may be able to assist in this process if you need some advice or programming done on modules.

Thanks

 

[FluffyOwl]

Thanks for the quick reply, really appreciated. I have some more questions;

How would I know if it is 100% the DME control unit? As I said, the guy plugged his diagnostic device into the car on my driveway, and I would have assumed if it was that serious, that it would report this almost immediately? Why take nearly 4 days to conclude this? Are they just really busy? I haven't actually spoken with the engineer yet, just the person who contacts the customers with the bad news...ha

Who and/or how would I source a suitable donor unit?

Logistically, assuming it is confirmed as a faulty DME, how would I get the work done if the car is not really fit to drive?

N

 

[irb26]

To be honest its difficult to say without knowing what was done and what faults were showing. Depending on what equipment was being used - certain test procedures can be carried out to check functionality. In my experience DME's do go wrong although not that frequently.
I would be inclined to drill down and find out how they drew their conclusions.

It may be that they had a look at the vehicle analysis log (if using piwis) - this is a very long report about the cars health. Or they could have just made an assumption - its difficult to say without knowing more.

£4k does seem rather steep for a replacement DME and programming - even by Porsche standards !!!

ebay or vehicle dismantlers are probably the easiest source of a used dme, just do a search for the relevant part and make sure you use the correct part number - the parts catalogue for 987s is here -

https://www.porsche.com/u...riginalpartscatalogue/

p531 on my computer

if you want to PM me i can give you some details about programming on and off the vehicle.

Thanks

 

[Chappelle]

I have a friend who has used Cartech Electronics for a reconditioned and recoded DME for his 996 911 variant. Cost is a much more reasonable £65 to £185 plus VAT

https://www.cartechelectronics.com/ecu-rental/

 

[FluffyOwl]

Thanks Richard. I had a quick look at the site last night, and I plan to give them a call today to discuss options.

Much appreciated.

 

[FluffyOwl]

When the garage called me they did say the cost of the official Porsche part had increased in price significantly recently.

I'll continue to investigate, and also check ebay for recon units using the part number from the link you supplied.

I am hoping the garage will call me today with some better options. If they are worthy indie Porsche garage I would expect them to have some contacts and options other than official Porsche parts albeit with significantly lower labour costs.

 

[FluffyOwl]

Looking at the official Porsche parts catalogue for my car (P531 as @irb26 says), I get this;

Part Number Description
997 618 603 05 Control unit 1 - dme - D >> - MJ 2006
997 618 601 05 Control unit 1 PR:-660 - dme - D - MJ 2007>>

Which one do I search for?

Thanks again irb26!

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

According to my copy of PET, part number
997.618.603.05 has been superceeded by 997.618.603.07, and is £2785 inc VAT.
997.618.601.05 has been superceeded by 997.618.601.06, and is £1972 inc VAT
If your car is 2007, then I think you need 997.618.601.06. A call to an OPC parts department would confirm the number and price. There is a new one on eBay here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232370418560 by the way.

It sounds to me like your indy hasn't done their homework on pricing a new one. Sure, it will need fitting, coding and programming, but £4000 semms OTT to me. Is the car driveable? If not, you probably don't have many choices, but if it is then I would be tempted to take it elsewhere.

As Richard says, the most economical way would be to get the DME looked at by someone like Cartech or BBA Reman (http://www.bba-reman.com/gb/index.aspx). Failing that, irb26's suggestion is also a good option.

 

[FluffyOwl]

According to my copy of PET, part number
997.618.603.05 has been superceeded by 997.618.603.07, and is £2785 inc VAT.
997.618.601.05 has been superceeded by 997.618.601.06, and is £1972 inc VAT
If your car is 2007, then I think you need 997.618.601.06. A call to an OPC parts department would confirm the number and price. There is a new one on eBay here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232370418560 by the way.

It sounds to me like your indy hasn't done their homework on pricing a new one. Sure, it will need fitting, coding and programming, but £4000 semms OTT to me. Is the car driveable? If not, you probably don't have many choices, but if it is then I would be tempted to take it elsewhere.

As Richard says, the most economical way would be to get the DME looked at by someone like Cartech or BBA Reman (http://www.bba-reman.com/gb/index.aspx). Failing that, irb26's suggestion is also a good option.

That great advice Richard Hamilton. Thanks so much for this.

The quote I received was fairly generic, but listed the DME as £3,058.74 + VAT, £120+VAT for fitting and £80 for the diagnostics. The quote did not specify a part number.

The car is drivable, but limited revs. I'm not sure how far I could trust it. It seems to be limited to around 1500rpm which, given the torque of the car, should be ok to get me up most inclines etc. I live on a fairly steep hill and did panic a little when the warning came on backing out of the driveway, but it went back up the road and onto the driveway....just! So I could consider an alternative specialist. I may take a trip out to the garage today to look the guy in the eyes and challenge them a bit.

Lots to consider today, which should keep me quite busy!

Thanks again to everyone who sent replies. You've all settled my nerves a lot

 

[FluffyOwl]

I called an official Porsche garage to get the exact part number. The recon guys want this before taking on any work or quoting me. The new part now ends in '07' 997 618 601 07, and is indeed around £3600 inv VAT. I don't know if this is due to chip shortage or what.

At least I know exactly which part I am looking for, so I can search for recon unit etc.

Will report back.

 

[FluffyOwl]

Quick update;

BBA Reman said they can't help right now.

Cartech Electronics do have an ECU/DME to exchange, but I am waiting for confirmation from the garage who has the car to provide another number on the broken unit. Then I can (hopefully) get mine sent off to have the data transferred. They offer a 1 year warranty on the unit, plus a 14-day return policy (with a re-stocking fee of just over £100 - a bit steep, but not a dealp-breaker). The total cost of the Cartech service is £499+VAT.

Comparing the cost of sourcing a recon/salvaged unit and getting the data transferred, against the cost of the 'one stop shop' solution form Cartech for no perceivable cost difference, I think i'll try Cartech. It's a no-brainer against the £4k I will be charged for an official Porsche unit.

Nick

 

[911hillclimber]

Best approach IMHO, you have a one-stop process, nice and simple, always the best!
Good luck with it all.

 

[FluffyOwl]

I hope everyone got out over the weekend to enjoy the weather!

Huge thanks to everyone who contributed last week. As you can imagine, having only enjoyed the car for just over 6 weeks, I was very anxious. The ECU/DME is being picked up today and delivered to Cartech tomorrow. Hopefully, all being well, I'll have the car back on the road early next week.

The most disappointing thing for me is the lack of focus from the local Porsche 'specialist'. They collected the car last Monday, heard zip from anyone for three days, and the only person I spoke to after that was the receptionist. My perception of a specialist is a bunch of enthusiasts who get to work on Porsches all day...hmmm..haha.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[911hillclimber]

Yes, not all Indies are equal, just as all OPC's aren't.

I am lucky to have found a good Indie because the OPC was not that sharp unless I spent a lot!
My Indie advises carefully and is very focused indeed.

Zuffenhaus in south Birmingham.

 

[malarcy]

I hope everyone got out over the weekend to enjoy the weather!

Huge thanks to everyone who contributed last week. As you can imagine, having only enjoyed the car for just over 6 weeks, I was very anxious. The ECU/DME is being picked up today and delivered to Cartech tomorrow. Hopefully, all being well, I'll have the car back on the road early next week.

The most disappointing thing for me is the lack of focus from the local Porsche 'specialist'. They collected the car last Monday, heard zip from anyone for three days, and the only person I spoke to after that was the receptionist. My perception of a specialist is a bunch of enthusiasts who get to work on Porsches all day...hmmm..haha.

I'll keep you posted.

as others have noted not all specialists are special in the right way.


there are a couple near to me who I wouldn’t even use to get directions to a real garage but they remain in business and some folks seem happy with the service


I hope their diagnosis of the issue is better than there handling of the engagement and that everything gets resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[FluffyOwl]

I got the car back on the road last Friday. All seems well, and I'm really looking forward to giving her a good clean and blast over to the coast.

The only downside is the car came back with a ton on oily handprints across pretty much the whole of the rear of the car, and also some oily smudges on the drivers mat. The car interior is tan so it really shows. I'm going back to the garage to complain.

Overall I'm just relieved I got my car back in working order and didn't have to pay all that money.

Thanks to everyone on the forum.

 

[911hillclimber]

Marked car!?
Time to find a real marque specialist.
Have a good look at the back pages of the Porsche ost or say roughly where abouts you are and wait for recommendations.
Pleased to read it is functioning again.