Hello all... I have been putting this off for a while... Almost a year, just because I wanted to make certain that my review was as accurate as possible. So, he I go...

Like most of you with an early B5 1.8t with an ICM you have ran into the dreaded misfire in cylinder 1, 2, 3, or 4, dead controller and always keep an extra one along with a coil pack somewhere in your beloved B5. I know I did... I did the HUCO upgrade and even went as far as replacing all packs. It was just not a resolution, rather a bandaid.

So I looked into an ICM DELETE upgrade. I juggled the options, replace the whole harness with a newer 3 wire (a little less expensive, more time consuming, cleaner if done properly and more chance of messing up) or the plug and play harness (easy install, more connections to worry about and not as clean as replacing the harness).

As I work a bazillions hours a week and it really is not much more expensive, I opted for the plug and play harnesses. There are many options for the harness manufacturers, but I narrowed it down to 2. 034 motorsports and Intergrated engineering. Just looking at photos it was easy to see the Intergrated engineering seemed a bit higher in quality and cleaner, plus I really liked the red connectors as red and black is my theme.

I ordered the set with matching IE adapters and genuine VW/Audi 2.0 red cap coils from NGPracing.com. Totaling a little under $600 for everything to my door. The staff was very helpful and knowledgable and assured me I made the right choice and they offer both manufacturers so it was unbiased.

I received the kit in 2 days and literally u boxing the kit and installing the kit it took less than 30 minutes, SERIOUSLY... I was in the drivers seat and experiencing the smoothest idle my sweet B5 has ever purred. The dash and headlights were even a bit brighter, no joke.

The first drive way ridiculously impressive, much more get up and go, no sputter, bog or flat spots at all. That was on stock plugs. First destination was to Advanced to buy a set of platinums for a 2012 2.0 and gap them to .040... That took about 30 minutes to do. Long story short WTF??? Why did I wait so long for this. It was a brand new car!

All that being said, do I recomend this upgrade? NO! I REQUIRE IT!!! This should and is the most important and gratifying upgrade you can do to any early 1.8t.

My only precaution is to make certain all connections are securely fastened, I did have one spade not fully seat and back out and cause a silly all to familiar misfire.

I hope this review is helpful in your do I or don't I dilemma...

When I get some time I will upload some pickd

 

Ouch $600USD? My ICM Delete costed $160CAD.