Question about 2002 VW Passat ECU

Hello guys, I figured you will be able to help me with this issue. I have a friend in another part of the world in need of an ECU for a 2002 VW Passat 1.8T. The car was originally a UK car.

Two questions:

1) Are the US and UK ECUs interchangeable?

2) If they are not, what else do I need to buy in addition to the ECU?

By the way, the picture he sent has the following inscriptions:

8D0 906 018 R

Benzin ME7.5

Bosch 0 261 206 317

265A6485 1159 0134

BPG MOTRONIC 00-07-06

Any insight will be greatly appreciated.

Bump

In reply to hotchocolate: Since no one else is offering any information I will attempt to throw my hat in the ring from my own experience. I had a 2001 Jetta 1.8t that snagged an 02 sensor and shorted the ECU, after months of swapping everything I figured out it was the ECU and began researching how to swap them. I believe that the biggest issue with them is the Anti-Theft programs. Although I made sure that the codes matched before swapping them it seem to be the general consensus that it was the Anti-Theft program that provided the biggest hurdle because they were programmed into the ecu, ignition and key. However, i'm not too sure about if the UK got different ECU codes or Anti-Theft programs. I would suggest searching around www.vwvortex.com there is a ton of information and if you can't find what you are looking for there is a good chance that someone will be able to help you.

Thanks CRP, I found out after some googling that it is a 1.8 non turbo. Also found out what you mentioned; the ecu is tied to the car and to compound matters I dont think we got the 1.8 non-turbo. I did find out that they have some unlocked ecus in the UK I don't know what all that means.

As a side note, he also needs what is called a comfort module (controls power windows etc) did any of our versions come with these? It seems to be some CAN module. I am not very good with electronic/electric stuff.

hotchocolate wrote: Hello guys, I figured you will be able to help me with this issue. I have a friend in another part of the world in need of an ECU for a 2002 VW Passat 1.8T. The car was originally a UK car. Two questions: 1) Are the US and UK ECUs interchangeable? 2) If they are not, what else do I need to buy in addition to the ECU? By the way, the picture he sent has the following inscriptions: 8D0 906 018 R

You would have to flash the ECU with an Immobilizer defeat file so the Immobilizer doesn't look for the correct key.

The 8D0 number is the "ECU ID" that you would need to give to an ECU tuner to see if they have an appropriate Defeat file.

In reply to DukeOfUndersteer:

Duke hit it right on the head, I couldn't remember what the anti theft program was called but he is correct. Once in a while you can find a flashed ECU that already has the Immo delete file. Also I don't think the the 1.8 non turbo and the 1.8 turbo ECU's are interchangeable because of the fuel mapping on them.

CantonRacingProducts wrote: Also I don't think the the 1.8 non turbo and the 1.8 turbo ECU's are interchangeable because of the fuel mapping on them.

This is also correct. The joining ECU would also need to be from a 1.8t.

Thanks guys. This was most helpful. Knew I could count on you.