BMWAF
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What follows is my (rather exhaustive) experience of getting the Femto unlock done directly through Femto, from the East Coast of Australia in February 2025.
I should probably suggest you grab a coffee at this point if you plan to read the whole post, or alternatively maybe skip to the section you’re most interested in to avoid most of my petty rambling.
Some Background
After around 18 months of proclaiming I would never do it, I ended up buying a Mode Auto Concepts (Mode) catted DP based largely on their false promises of no CELs and prices that were just too good. Despite Mode's “guarantees,” the Mode DP regularly triggered a CEL and as it so happened, my annoyance at coding them out peaked during the Black Friday sales.. and so it was that I ended up buying an MHD super license at 15% off.
This perfect storm is essentially what took me down the Femto path.
While Mode lists the “retail” price for a Femto unlock at $4285AUD, they actually offer this service at the always discounted price of $2999.99AUD. Now considering they are fully aware their DPs throw CELs (and as of today their site still lists their DPs with a “NO CEL Guarantee”) I wouldn’t trust them to sit the right way on a toilet seat, let alone ship my DME to the other side of the world and back!
I also reached out to a few local BMW workshops and they all quoted me between $3000AUD and $3,500AUD for the Femto service. After doing some more reading on the intarwebs, I figured I’d just roll the dice and send my DME to Femto myself.
I’m glad I did.
And just as a quick spoiler, other than the stress of ripping out your car’s brain and sending it on a 32,000km nordic holiday, the process was actually quite painless.
Removing the DME
After removing my JB+ I took the car for a short drive to re-acclimatize the DME to stock performance levels, followed by placing the car on a trickle charger to charge up the battery.
A few days later I disconnected the trickle charger, unlocked the car and waited for about half an hour for the electronics to shut down relatively gracefully. Before disconnecting the battery, I ensuring the car was unlocked and the bonnet was open. I was also careful to place a microfibre cloth on the boot latch to avoid accidentally locking myself out of the boot - I actually had nightmares about this scenario! After removing the DME cover, I carefully extracted the DME.
As I removed each of the DME’s six plugs, I placed a corresponding dot on it in chalk pen. While the plugs themselves each seem to have unique pin layouts, it took little effort to label them and provided some peace of mind.
The DME itself is held down via two small clips on the wheel side which need to be held open while the DME slides up. The whole process of removing the DME was easy enough, although I did remove my engine cover to give myself marginally more room to maneuver the disconnected plugs.
The Actual Femto Process
The process starts by jumping onto http://orders.femtoevo.com and creating an account. Once logged in I carefully read through the FAQ and after some umming and ahhing, pulled the trigger on the €600 “ECU Unlock Toyota Supra" and selected “For MHD+.”
During this process, the Femto system asks for a VIN which the site uses to extrapolate your engine type and exact car model. My VIN resulted in my car being listed as “J29 SPX 40i - RL - COU - NotSet” and an engine type of “DME8FF_R 285 kW 3.0L.” Cool.
I also elected to pay back shipping costs by invoice for no other reason than this seemed to be the generally recommended option.
Once I had completed these first steps, a pop up told me that processing would take 48 hours due to "increased demand." Not more than 10 minutes later however, my order was processed. My charges had gone from €600 to €800, which now included return shipping which for the record, was about twice what it cost me to send the DME to Femto! ?
Detailed shipping instructions were located on the order tracking page and explicit payment details were listed on the PDF invoice. According to the website, you don’t have to use DHL for shipping, but using anything else is strongly discouraged so you pretty much have to use DHL.
As instructed, I paid via SWIFT international transfer which surprisingly, my Australian bank was able to do without my incurring any fees. After making payment I uploaded a screenshot of both the payment and the zero fees claim to the Femto system. Despite the instructions mentioning to do so, I didn't really see a place to list my order number on the payment, but this didn't seem to pose any problems or even cause any delay. The whole Femto system is really quite good and allows you to track exactly where you are at in the ordering process, including adding payment screenshots, invoices and tracking numbers.
Once the payment cleared 24 hours later, I headed down to Pack and Send (my local DHL Express agent), and packed the DME into a 34 x 32 x 9cm sized DHL box. I wrapped the DME in a thin layer of bubble wrap and then wrapped it in a soft foam sheet till it was snug. Note that no matter which DHL agent you are using, your package needs to be unsealed when you ship it, so the contents can be verified and then sealed.
Also, before packing my DME, I setup a spare Chipolo airtag, and with double sided tape, affixed it between the vanes. I also sticky taped a piece of paper containing my name, address, VIN and order number to the DME.. for no other reason than it seemed like a sensible thing to do.
At Pack and Send, the package was sent as per Femto’s specific instructions: Via DHL; €40 maximum insured value; marked as a “temporary export” and officially identified as a “used control unit for testing.”
I tracked the unit with Apple’s Find My app and it looks like whatever voodoo Femto does, it only takes them around half an hour! No sooner had my parcel arrived, than it was in DHL’s hands again and on its way back! Not a bad way to earn €600!
Costs
Shipping (to Femto): $187AUD
Shipping (from Femto by Femto): $328AUD (€200)
Femto service: $985AUD (€600)
Total Cost: $1,500AUD (about $960USD for any US folk reading)
Note that this doesn’t include the tuning software which needs to be purchased separately from BM3/MHD.
Time Frame
The whole process took ten days, from placing the order through to return delivery.
Placed Femto Order: 11/02/2025
Shipped to Femto: 12/02/2025
Paid Femto: 12/02/2025
Payment Cleared: 13/2/2025
Arrived at Femto: 17/2/2025
Sent back from Femto: 17/2/2025
Arrived back home 21/2/2025
The Wash Up and Gotchyas
While the process was actually super simple, I have to admit that it was a little stressful making sure I got everything exactly right.
Even after reading and watching videos on how to do it - and being super careful to get it right - I managed to plug the DME in incorrectly. Yes, the car refused to start. Yes, I pretty much shit myself. After a moment of rethinking my life choices, I took a breath and reseated the clips, after which the car started and all was right with the world.
And yes, knowing your DME needs to travel approximate 32,000km in today's volatile world isn’t much fun. Despite this, those annoyingly specific requirements Femto sets are likely the reason why the process works as well as it does - at least as well as it worked for me.
Also a quick note on the initial MHD flash: Ignore any mention of the initial flash taking 20 minutes. As MHD+ is installed by Femto, the first "full flash" (with MHD at least) took about 20 seconds, not 20 minutes! As an aside, MHD support is a little on the gruff side and the MHD user guide is pretty much useless, with outdated information that is more likely to lead you astray than actually guide you.
In summary, by completing an online form and driving down to Pack and Send, I saved between $1,500 to $2,000AUD (up to around $1,280USD)! Granted, I had no real insurance if something went wrong but I’m not convinced Mode (as a clear example), would do much if my DME got lost or otherwise damaged in transit. Afterall, Femto won't let them insure it via DHL, so I guess you have to trust third parties have additional insurance of their own and are honest in how they deal with customers: As far as I'm concerned, that's just letting someone else roll the dice for you!
Unless you are flat out incompetent at following simple instructions or lazy to the point of being able to throw money away, I honestly can’t see why you would pay someone else to undertake this process for you. And don’t get me started on the bullshit hand delivery service offered in the US!
Questions?
If you have a question about my experience, feel free to ask in this thread and I'll do my best to answer.
I should probably suggest you grab a coffee at this point if you plan to read the whole post, or alternatively maybe skip to the section you’re most interested in to avoid most of my petty rambling.
Some Background
After around 18 months of proclaiming I would never do it, I ended up buying a Mode Auto Concepts (Mode) catted DP based largely on their false promises of no CELs and prices that were just too good. Despite Mode's “guarantees,” the Mode DP regularly triggered a CEL and as it so happened, my annoyance at coding them out peaked during the Black Friday sales.. and so it was that I ended up buying an MHD super license at 15% off.
This perfect storm is essentially what took me down the Femto path.
While Mode lists the “retail” price for a Femto unlock at $4285AUD, they actually offer this service at the always discounted price of $2999.99AUD. Now considering they are fully aware their DPs throw CELs (and as of today their site still lists their DPs with a “NO CEL Guarantee”) I wouldn’t trust them to sit the right way on a toilet seat, let alone ship my DME to the other side of the world and back!
I also reached out to a few local BMW workshops and they all quoted me between $3000AUD and $3,500AUD for the Femto service. After doing some more reading on the intarwebs, I figured I’d just roll the dice and send my DME to Femto myself.
I’m glad I did.
And just as a quick spoiler, other than the stress of ripping out your car’s brain and sending it on a 32,000km nordic holiday, the process was actually quite painless.
Removing the DME
After removing my JB+ I took the car for a short drive to re-acclimatize the DME to stock performance levels, followed by placing the car on a trickle charger to charge up the battery.
A few days later I disconnected the trickle charger, unlocked the car and waited for about half an hour for the electronics to shut down relatively gracefully. Before disconnecting the battery, I ensuring the car was unlocked and the bonnet was open. I was also careful to place a microfibre cloth on the boot latch to avoid accidentally locking myself out of the boot - I actually had nightmares about this scenario! After removing the DME cover, I carefully extracted the DME.
As I removed each of the DME’s six plugs, I placed a corresponding dot on it in chalk pen. While the plugs themselves each seem to have unique pin layouts, it took little effort to label them and provided some peace of mind.
The DME itself is held down via two small clips on the wheel side which need to be held open while the DME slides up. The whole process of removing the DME was easy enough, although I did remove my engine cover to give myself marginally more room to maneuver the disconnected plugs.
The Actual Femto Process
The process starts by jumping onto http://orders.femtoevo.com and creating an account. Once logged in I carefully read through the FAQ and after some umming and ahhing, pulled the trigger on the €600 “ECU Unlock Toyota Supra" and selected “For MHD+.”
During this process, the Femto system asks for a VIN which the site uses to extrapolate your engine type and exact car model. My VIN resulted in my car being listed as “J29 SPX 40i - RL - COU - NotSet” and an engine type of “DME8FF_R 285 kW 3.0L.” Cool.
I also elected to pay back shipping costs by invoice for no other reason than this seemed to be the generally recommended option.
Once I had completed these first steps, a pop up told me that processing would take 48 hours due to "increased demand." Not more than 10 minutes later however, my order was processed. My charges had gone from €600 to €800, which now included return shipping which for the record, was about twice what it cost me to send the DME to Femto! ?
Detailed shipping instructions were located on the order tracking page and explicit payment details were listed on the PDF invoice. According to the website, you don’t have to use DHL for shipping, but using anything else is strongly discouraged so you pretty much have to use DHL.
As instructed, I paid via SWIFT international transfer which surprisingly, my Australian bank was able to do without my incurring any fees. After making payment I uploaded a screenshot of both the payment and the zero fees claim to the Femto system. Despite the instructions mentioning to do so, I didn't really see a place to list my order number on the payment, but this didn't seem to pose any problems or even cause any delay. The whole Femto system is really quite good and allows you to track exactly where you are at in the ordering process, including adding payment screenshots, invoices and tracking numbers.
Once the payment cleared 24 hours later, I headed down to Pack and Send (my local DHL Express agent), and packed the DME into a 34 x 32 x 9cm sized DHL box. I wrapped the DME in a thin layer of bubble wrap and then wrapped it in a soft foam sheet till it was snug. Note that no matter which DHL agent you are using, your package needs to be unsealed when you ship it, so the contents can be verified and then sealed.
Also, before packing my DME, I setup a spare Chipolo airtag, and with double sided tape, affixed it between the vanes. I also sticky taped a piece of paper containing my name, address, VIN and order number to the DME.. for no other reason than it seemed like a sensible thing to do.
At Pack and Send, the package was sent as per Femto’s specific instructions: Via DHL; €40 maximum insured value; marked as a “temporary export” and officially identified as a “used control unit for testing.”
I tracked the unit with Apple’s Find My app and it looks like whatever voodoo Femto does, it only takes them around half an hour! No sooner had my parcel arrived, than it was in DHL’s hands again and on its way back! Not a bad way to earn €600!
Costs
Shipping (to Femto): $187AUD
Shipping (from Femto by Femto): $328AUD (€200)
Femto service: $985AUD (€600)
Total Cost: $1,500AUD (about $960USD for any US folk reading)
Note that this doesn’t include the tuning software which needs to be purchased separately from BM3/MHD.
Time Frame
The whole process took ten days, from placing the order through to return delivery.
Placed Femto Order: 11/02/2025
Shipped to Femto: 12/02/2025
Paid Femto: 12/02/2025
Payment Cleared: 13/2/2025
Arrived at Femto: 17/2/2025
Sent back from Femto: 17/2/2025
Arrived back home 21/2/2025
The Wash Up and Gotchyas
While the process was actually super simple, I have to admit that it was a little stressful making sure I got everything exactly right.
Even after reading and watching videos on how to do it - and being super careful to get it right - I managed to plug the DME in incorrectly. Yes, the car refused to start. Yes, I pretty much shit myself. After a moment of rethinking my life choices, I took a breath and reseated the clips, after which the car started and all was right with the world.
And yes, knowing your DME needs to travel approximate 32,000km in today's volatile world isn’t much fun. Despite this, those annoyingly specific requirements Femto sets are likely the reason why the process works as well as it does - at least as well as it worked for me.
Also a quick note on the initial MHD flash: Ignore any mention of the initial flash taking 20 minutes. As MHD+ is installed by Femto, the first "full flash" (with MHD at least) took about 20 seconds, not 20 minutes! As an aside, MHD support is a little on the gruff side and the MHD user guide is pretty much useless, with outdated information that is more likely to lead you astray than actually guide you.
In summary, by completing an online form and driving down to Pack and Send, I saved between $1,500 to $2,000AUD (up to around $1,280USD)! Granted, I had no real insurance if something went wrong but I’m not convinced Mode (as a clear example), would do much if my DME got lost or otherwise damaged in transit. Afterall, Femto won't let them insure it via DHL, so I guess you have to trust third parties have additional insurance of their own and are honest in how they deal with customers: As far as I'm concerned, that's just letting someone else roll the dice for you!
Unless you are flat out incompetent at following simple instructions or lazy to the point of being able to throw money away, I honestly can’t see why you would pay someone else to undertake this process for you. And don’t get me started on the bullshit hand delivery service offered in the US!
Questions?
If you have a question about my experience, feel free to ask in this thread and I'll do my best to answer.
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