I was just wondering if anyone knew about what percentage of ecbm's failed on the early c5's. I own a 1999 coupe and love the car, but am considering selling it while everything is still working properly. What are the odds of my ecbm failing? Thanks for any info!

 

There is no way to tell you a percentage because there literally is no way to predict the factors that cause issues. They can creep up on cars with 5,000 miles or people with over 120,000 miles have never had issues. Warranty repairs is what initially killed off a lot of replacement parts and eventually people just started paying for the parts until they were depleted entirely.

I think it needs to be reiterated as to what occurs with EBCM issues because a lot of people are getting scared for really no reason.

The car will not be un-driveable. Depending on the options of your car, at the absolute worst you'll lose a combination of ABS, traction control, and possibly active handling or ride select features if your car is equipped with either or both. Your engine's functions are controlled by the PCM which honestly has a much higher chance of having issues being behind the passenger fender; dirt and debris accumulation can cause drivability issues.

There is only a very minor chance that you would suffer an issue with the EBCM that prevents operating the car.

Another thing to consider is a forum member has work out swapping later 1998 - 2000 setups to the later style (1997 and early 1998 swaps would be a bit difficult due to the location of the ABS module). It's detailed in a Tech sticky;

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...m-success.html

It'll be some time in the future but I guarantee you eventually vendors will offer a swap kit. It'll be a pricey kit at likely between $500-$1,000, but eventually a product will be offered to help pre-2001 owners.

I have had EBCM issues for the past three years and I get in and drive my car as normal.

I don't think it's wise to really sell your car at this point based on something that could happen. You're going to have to try and sell a '99 model car in a very large field of C5s on the market. Unless your car has sub-25,000 miles or something similar that really pulls in a buyer then you don't have a good incentive to sell in the current buyer-tailored C5 market.

 

I asked this same question to 2 different knowledgeable C5 guys (one of them owns a C5 parts company and the other a Corvette repair shop). They were both very familiar with the "issue".

One said he believed, based on experience, a 10-15% failure rate.

The other said, based on experience, a 15-20% failure rate.

They both know more than I'll ever know about these cars, so I trust their opinions. I also think their opinions are even more believeable because the number estimates were so close to each other, and I asked them at different times, places, etc. and neither one knows the other to the best of my knowledge.

So I'd say if you put together the ranges they provided...it's a 10-20% failure rate. While not "statistically impossible" for it to break, it seems like you have an 80-90% chance it won't happen, so the numbers are on your side.

I've read about this topic on here, and it seems only a few dozen members on here have had it break. Considering how many of these cars were made and how few have broken, why get rid of it once you own it? Why not just shop for a working unit and store it until it (may) happen? Seems a unit is a better value than trade-in loss (I own a 2000 myself and considered trade in at one point with a working unit on mine--dealer offered me $7,000 less than market value--I said screw that--I could buy multiple EBCMs for that price!!!--if that is the reason for considering to trade it in).

If you're worried about it, start shopping for an EBCM to have available.

 

By the way...one other very important fact to consider.

These EBCMs effect 1999-2000 units only. They are now 18 and 17 years old cars, respectfully. Value of these cars has dropped over time...for better or worse.

Value dropping = more individual units being sent to salvage yard

More units in salvage yard = more EBCM units available

More EBCM units available = decrease in price

With the way economics works, for the past 7-8 years, few units were "totaled" due to wrecks, high mileage, etc. as the value was still higher. This meant very few EBCMs available since the time GM didn't have supply (2008 or so). Which drove the prices higher, and higher, and higher...to now being extremely high.

The value on these has dropped to the point where it doesn't take too much to total out a car worth $15,000-$20,000. This will dramatically increase the supply over the next 3-5+ years as salvage yards don't want to sit on multiple EBCMs they can't sell because people refuse to drop multi thousands of dollars into a single part. It will result, eventually (3-5 years is my guess) where used supply will increase and demand will decrease to the point where price drops dramatically from where prices are now. In other words, this is the absolute height of the demand/supply curve...so prices are at their absolute highest levels right now. I think it will go more in favor of 1999-2000 C5 owners over the coming years.