Now in house

BMW ECU unlock for 2020+ locked DMEs in Orlando

From roughly mid-2020, BMW started shipping its Bosch engine computers locked. A DME built after that point will not accept a tune over the OBD port, so MHD, bootmod3 and every other flasher stops at the first step and tells you a bench unlock is required. We now do that unlock in house in Orlando, so the computer never leaves the building and the car is not sitting while a DME is shipped across the country and back.

Why your 2020+ BMW will not take a tune

BMW tightened the security on its Bosch MG1 petrol DMEs and MD1 diesel units around June 2020. Earlier units could be unlocked from the OBD port with software alone. Later units close that door, and the only way back in is to work on the computer itself, on the bench.

The date that matters is the production date of the DME, not the build date of the car. A car built in late 2020 can carry an earlier DME, and a car built before mid-2020 can carry a later one if the computer was replaced. We read the unit before anything else so you know which situation you are in.

A unit that was unlocked once can be locked again. Dealer software updates and some over-the-air updates have relocked MG1 and MD1 computers, which is why a car that flashed fine last year can refuse today.

Which cars this affects

Six cylinder

B58 in the M340i, M440i, X3 M40i, X5 40i, Z4 M40i and Toyota GR Supra

M cars

S58 in the G80 M3, G82 M4, G87 M2 and X3 M / X4 M

Four cylinder and V8

B46 and B48 four cylinders, S63 and N63 V8s in the M5, M8 and X5 M

Support for the newest units changes as the platforms catch up. Send us the year, model and VIN and we will confirm before you book.

How the unlock works here

We start by reading the DME to confirm its production date and software, and to check that your tuning platform supports it. If it does not need a bench unlock, we tell you, and you have saved the work.

On a locked unit the DME comes out of the car and is unlocked on the bench. It goes back in, and from then on it reads and writes over the OBD port like an early car. Your tuner of choice takes it from there, or we flash it for you.

Unlocking on its own changes nothing about how the car drives. It restores access. The tune is a separate decision, made after the unit is open.

Keeping it unlocked

Turn off automatic software updates in iDrive once the car is unlocked. Over-the-air updates are the most common way an unlocked DME gets locked again.

Tell the dealer before any software work. A dealer flash can relock the computer, and some will also overwrite a tune. If it does relock, the unlock has to be done again.

What we do

• •DME read and production date check before any work
• •In-house bench unlock of locked Bosch MG1 DMEs, no mail-in
• •DME removal and reinstallation
• •Flash and tune after the unlock, or hand-off to your own tuner
• •Diagnosis of a car that has stopped accepting a tune after a dealer or OTA update

Questions we get asked