Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure on the 2000 Saab 9-5
Only 6 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure gets reported
There are 7 reports of control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure on the 2000 Saab 9-5, 6 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 48,500 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $700–$3,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure, every year of the Saab 9-5
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
While routine driving the ABS, check engine light, brake (indicating emergency brake being engaged) and tcs off will illuminate. The speedometer will go to zero. Upon inspection at the dealer, their words, not mine. Is that "your ABS control module is fried". Once this was diagnosed, we were told that the car is safe to drive, if we do not need ABS or traction control (tcs off). The part is $2800. Now upon doing some research, this is a common problem for the manufacturer of the product, bosch. Supposedly this has occurred quite frequently on saab's , multiple gm and ford vehicles as well as audi's, and vw's. This problem comes and goes. It will come on and then after 10-15 min of driving will extinguish again. *jb
While routine driving the ABS, check engine light, brake (indicating emergency brake being engaged) and tcs off will illuminate. The speedometer will go to zero. Upon inspection at the dealer, their words, not mine. Is that "your ABS control module is fried". Once this was diagnosed, we were told that the car is safe to drive, if we do not need ABS or traction control (tcs off). The part is $2800. Now upon doing some research, this is a common problem for the manufacturer of the product, bosch. Supposedly this has occurred quite frequently on saab's , multiple gm and ford vehicles as well. The most dangerous part of the issue is the car sometimes at usually the worse times it goes into limp home mode. *jb
Sudden multiple display of dash lights indicating failure of the anti lock braking system including disablement of the speedometer and odometer. This failure occurred less than one month after warranty period on car expired. Saab dealer requested $3000 to replace the ABS unit as a start, to find out why ABS system is disabled. Diagnostic checks (two independent shops) indicate no communication with ABS system computer so diagnostic of actual cause of failure impossible. I found out independently from private consumer group: www.saabnet.com , that this is common failure with saab 95s that are several years old and that several independent companies can rebuild the ABS controller for less than $300. I removed the ABS electronic control module and sent it for rebuild. I am awaiting return of part for reinstallation. *nm
Also reported on the 2000 Saab 9-5
Other electrical problem
Catalytic converter failure
Misfire or rough idle
Stalling while driving
No-start or intermittent start failure
ABS module or sensor failure
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 7 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 7 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure happen on the 2000 Saab 9-5?
Across 6 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 50,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure on the 2000 Saab 9-5?
7 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed