Diesel Bosch MSA15 ECU Repairs

Type: Bosch Engine Management
Fits: Audi A6 / 80 / A4 / Volkswagen (VW) Passat
Engines:
Fuel: Diesel
Year:

Note: This ECU may also fit other models.

The note beneath the spec lines says this ECU may also fit other models, and our record for the Bosch MSA15 shows how far that reaches. Across the 22 Bosch numbers in our table, it takes in other Volkswagens such as the Golf and the Sharan, a Seat, and, on two rows, the Renault Scénic.

We repair Bosch MSA15 diesel engine ECUs at component level in our own UK workshop, and each repair carries a 24-month warranty. What follows works outward through the table: the Volkswagen rows first, then the Renault pair, then the rows where the Bosch number is all there is to go on.

Other Volkswagens on record: the Golf and the Sharan

The Golf is the car that turns up most across the rows. It is on record against four Bosch numbers, 0281 001 560, 0281 001 564, 0281 001 649 and 0281 001 650, and the Sharan against one, 0281 001 530.

Engine size narrows this only a little. We hold a 1.9 on record for 0281 001 560 and 0281 001 530, and no size for the other three Golf rows, so a Golf with a 1.9 points towards 0281 001 560 without ruling out the other three.

Our record is built from where each number has been found, so it is a guide to the likely car rather than a closed list of every vehicle a number went into.

Six rows on record by make alone

Six more rows carry a make but no model we hold enough records to name. Four are Volkswagen: 0281 001 450, 0281 001 531, 0281 001 652 and 0281 001 655. One is Audi, 0281 001 578, and one is Seat, 0281 001 604.

Only 0281 001 450 has an engine size on record, a 1.9. For the rest, the make tells you that you are in the right part of the table, and the number on the label picks the row.

Two rows from outside the Volkswagen group

0281 001 809 is on record from the Renault Scénic and the Renault Mégane, with a 1.9 on record, and 0281 010 077 from the Renault Scénic. They are the only two rows on record from a car outside the Volkswagen group.

For a Renault unit, the test is the number on its label: if it reads 0281 001 809 or 0281 010 077, it belongs on this page.

If it reads neither, check our Renault Bosch EDC MSA 15.5 page next, or go to Renault engine ECUs, Scénic or otherwise for the rest of the make.

When no car is on record, the Bosch number does the work

For nine rows we hold too little on record to name a car: 0281 001 followed by 422, 559, 563, 565, 567, 568, 571, 577 or 651. Our table also prints no OEM number on any of its 22 rows, so there is nothing beside the Bosch number to check it against.

That makes the ten digits beginning 0281 the whole identification on this page. Copy them from the label on the unit itself, and check the final three once more before you send them: 0281 001 564 and 0281 001 565 differ only in their last digit, and one is on record from a Golf while the other has no car on record at all.

From arrival to return

Your MSA15 reaches us by post or courier from anywhere in the UK and is repaired in-house by our own engineers. It is booked in and looked over, tested electrically, and then diagnosed against the fault you describe, with component work done under a microscope using temperature-controlled rework equipment.

We tell you what testing found before any chargeable work begins, and nothing proceeds without your go-ahead. The repair is made on your own unit, so the unit that comes back is the one you sent, returned only after it passes final testing and with a 24-month warranty on the work carried out.

Sending your MSA15 to us

Whatever the car, the details we need are the 0281 number exactly as the label prints it, the car and its engine size if you know them, and a line on how the fault shows itself. Send them through the Repair Form, Renault or Volkswagen alike.

If your unit came out of a Volkswagen but its number is not among these 22, the answer may be a Volkswagen engine ECU from another part of the Bosch range.

All 22 Bosch MSA15 numbers we list follow. The OEM column is empty on every row, so match on the Bosch number alone.

Common part numbers associated with this type of unit