27/07/2026
⚠️ Sometimes things don’t go to plan… but it’s how you deal with the situation that really matters.
This 2023 Fiat Ducato came into SLT HQ for tuning and is fitted with a Bosch MD1CS069 ECU, which requires an unlock before any tuning can take place.
There are two ways we can do this:
✅ Send the ECU away for unlocking with a typical turnaround of 3–5 days.
✅ Unlock it in-house using Magic Motorsport Flex. This process involves opening the ECU, removing a resistor, carrying out the glitch unlock procedure, then refitting the resistor before reading and writing the ECU in bench mode. When successful, it means the customer can have their vehicle back the very same day.
Unfortunately, this one didn’t go to plan.
We removed the ECU, opened it, removed the resistor, completed the glitch process successfully, read the full backup successfully, and the unlock procedure also completed successfully. After refitting the resistor, we connected in bench mode to carry out the read… but instead of detecting an unlocked ECU, Flex reported it as locked.
After further checks, the ECU became completely unresponsive.
Why did it happen?
The honest answer is… we don’t know.
Every step followed the correct procedure, and everything indicated a successful unlock. Sometimes, despite doing everything correctly, electronic components can simply fail. It’s one of the risks that comes with working on modern engine control units using OBD, Bench, Boot, or the latest glitch unlocking techniques.
The important part is what happened next.
This all happened on Friday morning. By today (Monday 27th), the customer’s vehicle was back on the road with a replacement ECU, fully unlocked, programmed, and tuned.
💙 Most importantly, this was completed at no extra cost to the customer.
We stand by our work, and if something unexpected happens, we don’t leave our customers stuck. We take responsibility, find a solution, and get them back on the road as quickly as possible.
That’s the level of service we believe every customer deserves. 😎
