F is for FEMTO - An Australian Experience

[ChrisIsIced]

My experience about 3 weeks ago shipping from northeastern US is that the whole process was done in six days. I shipped my ecu out on tuesday afternoon, they received it thursday morning, friday afternoon the ecu was back in my car with mhd+ ots map. I was honestly surprised with how quick and seamless it was. I was nervous on the customs forms as the dhl clerk had limited options in some fields which did not exactly match the femto instructions.

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[Bilharzia]

Well I am gonna throw in my experience. Mine definitely differs than yours since they come to Dubai every year to do some unlocks sometimes twice. Booked an appointment with the garage since they reached out to local shops to setup and start unlocking DME's. So me and a friend went up to the shop and parked the cars. Had 2 mechanics take out the DME's. Took it to the Russian dude sitting inside. All I was asked was are you going MHD or BM3. Mentioned that we wanted BM3 platform. All it took was approximately 10-15 minutes. DME was put back in the car and congratulations your ECU is unlocked. The unlock it self is a process that only takes a few minutes. So just throwing it out there for anyone wondering.

That is a great story but so unlikely. Why would they set up a mobile lab and only use it in Dubai. Without advertising or taking it to America. It’s not much more to fly to Dubai than DHL to Helsinki.

 

[BMWAF]

That is a great story but so unlikely. Why would they set up a mobile lab and only use it in Dubai. Without advertising or taking it to America. It’s not much more to fly to Dubai than DHL to Helsinki.

?

I'd hate to break it to you but the United States is not the center of the universe; Not even the center of the world.. and the way it is currently going about business, it's moving further away from this aspiration goal.

 

[Bilharzia]

?

I'd hate to break it to you but the United States is not the center of the universe; Not even the center of the world.. and the way it is currently going about business, it's moving further away from this aspiration goal.

I'm in Australia. Please let me know how to book my FEMTO upgrade in Dubai. I've been planning to go to Ferrari World.

 

[Schady1990]

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.

Just to clarify, when you went to your local DHL express agent, did they have all the boxes and wrapping required to package the ECU on the spot?

 

[miku_mkv]

Invest in a small pelican case for peace of mind. They're like $100 compared to whatever a new ECU will cost

 

[BMWAF]

Just to clarify, when you went to your local DHL express agent, did they have all the boxes and wrapping required to package the ECU on the spot?

Yes. The price I have cited included the box and packing, although I provided the internal foam wrapping/bubble wrap because I just so happened to have some lying around.

Invest in a small pelican case for peace of mind. They're like $100 compared to whatever a new ECU will cost

Not a terrible idea but I think those DME's are pretty robust. A decent box with some packing to keep it in snug should be fine.

I'm in Australia. Please let me know how to book my FEMTO upgrade in Dubai. I've been planning to go to Ferrari World.

From what I understand it was a pop-up event, which both makes sense and isn't something I inherently know anything about. Maybe reach out to someone living in Dubai @D3ad_Hand or perhaps FEMTO themselves. ?‍

 

[D3ad_Hand]

That is a great story but so unlikely. Why would they set up a mobile lab and only use it in Dubai. Without advertising or taking it to America. It’s not much more to fly to Dubai than DHL to Helsinki.

tbh idk why, but still that's what happened soooooooo. It's up to you if you want to believe this factious tale to be fact or fiction. They are coming again in 2 weeks btw.

 

[maniac]

I'm in Australia. Please let me know how to book my FEMTO upgrade in Dubai. I've been planning to go to Ferrari World.

there are a few guys who can send this to finland in oz on your behalf with them taking the risk of damage or loss ( not you). The turnaround is less than two weeks.

 

[BMWAF]

there are a few guys who can send this to finland in oz on your behalf with them taking the risk of damage or loss ( not you). The turnaround is less than two weeks.

...for a 100% mark-up! ?

 

[maniac]

...for a 100% mark-up! ?

some of us prefer the stress free way i guess and are happy to pay for it!

 

[BMWAF]

some of us prefer the stress free way i guess and are happy to pay for it!

Yeah. I totally understand that. I just think the prices Australian shops are charging is ridiculous. If it was 20-30% more, I wouldn't grumble, but paying $1500-2000 for what is ostensibly an uninsured re-shipping service is just unreasonable.

And don't forget, these re-shippers have to follow the same rules individuals do: Unless they have business insurance that covers it, a lost DME is going to be a very big problem for not just you but also whoever you have contracted to send it. Could they even source one? Have it coded to your car? And in what kind of time frame?

I just don't think it's a value proposition but each to their own!

 

[razorlab]

Yeah. I totally understand that. I just think the prices Australian shops are charging is ridiculous. If it was 20-30% more, I wouldn't grumble, but paying $1500-2000 for what is ostensibly an uninsured re-shipping service is just unreasonable.

And don't forget, these re-shippers have to follow the same rules individuals do: Unless they have business insurance that covers it, a lost DME is going to be a very big problem for not just you but also whoever you have contracted to send it. Could they even source one? Have it coded to your car? And in what kind of time frame?

I just don't think it's a value proposition but each to their own!

Agreed. It's 100% false confidence when paying someone else. Exact same thing could happen.

 

[Rensuhlo]

Has anyone else noticed the usual hand delivery Femto posters have gone silent? Maybe the jig is up and individuals are seeing the scam.

 

[iambak]

This is exactly what I was looking for. I kept seeing these ridiculously high prices everywhere, which made me think that was the standard cost for the unlock itself. That really discouraged me from going ahead with the femto unlock.

By the way, I'm curious - is there any particular reason you chose MHD over BM3?

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