What the heck.. Thermostat? Ignition Coils? Bricked ECU? (Help!)

[Dafttt]

Couple days ago, I finally got a chance to pull my stock ECU file and send it on it's merry way to Evolve. I borrowed a friends old Dell to use windows XP. During the read process, I ended up leaving my keys in my pocket. The computer took over an hour to copy the file, so I walked away for 20+ minutes. This deactivated the ignition switch. Lights went off, but the ECU continued to read. Honestly, everything seemed okay. Near the end, and after it was visibly complete, the computer started to lag, hard. Never froze, but I'm not 100% what I ended up clicking afterwards. The file saved after rebooting to check, but the process had me a bit worried.

Yesterday(and the first time turning it on since read), when I got into my car and hit the ignition, it had a very rough turnover. RPM's bobbed, but nothing drastic. It kicked up normally after that in a matter of seconds. I took my time to let it warm up, proceeded on as everything seemed okay.

Today,... da heck?
Go to turn my car on, and the car could not hold an RPM. Service engine light went on, coupled to a yellow brake light and engine warning symbol light. The car ended up calming down, and all the lights went off except the service engine light. I stupidly decided to rough it to work since (again, it seemed okay) and halfway through it went into limp mode.

I limped the car about a mile to work, engine temps were fine but the power was down drastically. After work, I turned it on cautiously to finally check it out. Everything was okay, no warning lights, so I babied it home.

I might bring it to BMW on Monday, but I'm trying to avoid getting screwed here. I'd rather source the parts online and feed them to my indy shop. But, my initial thought was I messed up something during the ECU read. Or maybe it's the water pump/thermostat that caused the limp mode. I never got the red engine light of death, so I'm not sure. Could it be the coil packs or spark plugs? That would explain the rough idling I suppose.

I'm sure it will be fixed soon, but I wanted to come here and vent because I can't get this off my head. I just hope I didn't mess something up.

Help a newbie figure this out, thanks guys.

Disclosure:
-2009 w/ 47,xxx miles
-DISA manifold and eurobox - only engine mods.
-Serviced 2 weeks ago(oil and transmission fluid change, cleaned K&N filter and cabin filter).

[Blacksport]

It's not the plugs, coils, water pump or thermo....whenever something like this happens, go back to the last thing you did: tried to copy your ECU...something went wrong....car battery, laptop battery, screensaver, etc. You should probably have BMW or a shop that can do coding flash your ECU. You have the DISA manifold, was the ECU flashed for this? Not sure the best order to re-flash the ECU, but's that's definitely your problem.

[Pig Farmer]

Did you have your car on a battery charger when downloading the ECU? Sometime a low battery can play havoc on the car. Two weeks ago I my battery must have been low. When I tried to start the car one morning, she would crank but she wouldn't turn over. Then i got a series of warning lights... the brake warning, ABS warning, Cruise Control warning, Red and Yellow service warnings. The radio and interior lights worked fine. What was really strange was the water pump would start running as soon as i put the key fob in ignition. Then I then tried to jump start the car... It would crank but would not start. My P3 gauge had power but didn't show any codes. I tried plugging in the Cobb to read the codes and it couldn't recognize the ECU. I thought for sure that I would need to tow the car to the dealer. I decided to put the car on a trickle charger overnight. The next morning she fired up without hesitation. No warning lights, no codes, no water pump issues. She's been running fine ever since. Before doing anything else, it may be worthwhile to disconnect the ground from your battery, give the battery a good charge, then reconnect the ground.

[Solo_M_Tech]

He walked away for 20 minutes with the key in his pocket, which turned the ignition off. Which turned the ecu off and messed up the download, and the file on the ecu. Needs a reflash.

[631twentyeighteye]

Consider yourself lucky you don't have a bricked ECU. +1 to reflashing.

[Southjersey128]

+1 reflash

[Dackelone]

When ever you do a ECU flash or dump... you need to turn EVERYTHING off(HVAC, Radio, pull the USB stick out or iPod, etc). It is also highly recommended that you use a battery charger. AND leave the keys in the car.

[Dafttt]

Thanks everyone, putting a thumb on the issue does put me at ease. I used a trickle charger for the read, but it makes sense that leaving the keys out would mimic that failure. Ugh, I had so much on my mind that I forgot the obvious. I'll be using a different computer or shop next time.

I'm bringing it to BMW on Monday, hopefully my wallet won't get too light. I'll update with results.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

When ever you do a ECU flash or dump... you need to turn EVERYTHING off(HVAC, Radio, pull the USB stick out or iPod, etc). It is also highly recommended that you use a battery charger. AND leave the keys in the car.

Yup, exactly this.

Really lucky you didn't brick it.

[Dafttt]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Yup, exactly this.

Really lucky you didn't brick it.

That's what the tech told me.

Car was reflashed and everything's back to normal. Thanks again to everyone for the immediate responses. My mistake cost me the price of a diagnosis, which I suppose in the long run isn't that bad ($189). Live and learn, now if you could excuse me, I'm going to go succumb to withdrawal and drive my car all night.