2nd Gen R56 Cooper S Sad Day

Hello,

First off i would just like to say that my one year with my mini has had its up, but its definitely been out weighed by its downs. such a great car but with such great faults.

Lemme just bring you guys up to speed. In June of 2014, the infamous timing chain tensioner decided to call it quits on me. spilling all the oil, and splashing it all over the engine bay. obviously i was furious since i only had the car since september of 2013. Now, i got the timing chain tensioner and the timing chain all replaced, and i only got it back last week. I know it took 4 months to do but i gave it to my buddy and told him to take his time, it was the heat of summer so i just rode my motorcycle instead. about 800$ and 4 months later, the timing chain is repaired and car is running again. HOWEVER, in the midst of oil splashing everywhere, the burning hot oil made its way to my ECU, causing even more problems, the check engine is implying faulty HPFP readings and accelerator problems. Basically, weve tried everything to repair the old ecu and came to the conclusion a new one is required. my buddy being very old school and not very aware on the internet and what not, called up mini to get a new ECU. they were quoting us close to 2000$ for a new ECU and a reprogram.

Now for my question, after some extensive online searching, i found some used ECUs that have been refurbished and apparently are ready to install (no need to program). first of all, does that make sense to any one you? second of all, they require a ECU ID to ship out the right one, how do i find this ID? I managed to locate the ECU, with difficulty pulling it out, i decided to mark down some numbers already visible on the ECU and see if i can cross-connect them to the ID. what i found was DME 7610107 corresponds to ECU ID 1214 7 630 107 and ECU ID 1214 7 610 107. Can anyone confirm this? If not explain where exactly i can find the ID.

Now my cheapness is wondering if i can just go to a scrap yard, find an ECU with the matching ID, and just plug and play. Is this an option?

Sadly, after the ECU is repaired, Cleo, my mini, will be put up for sale. thats the sad part of this all.

Any help would be useful guys, im really in a jam, summer is over and i need a car to drive, i cant keep borrowing my moms car and its too cold for the bike.

Thanks in advance
mike

 

so if the website selling the ECU is asking for my VIN, chances are they are going to program it to that VIN?

 

I haven't checked the codes myself but apparently there is one code identifying the HPFP is faulty (which i know is under warranty) and another indicating that the acceleration pedal isnt giving a proper signal. basically what happens, the car starts rough, then if i press the gas, i cant pass 3000rpms. acceleration is very slow, and even if i floor it there is no response by the throttle. i should probably just bring it to mini and get their opinion