ECU location
 

this may easily be the stupidest question ever asked on this forum, but I could not find my ECU today! my other vehicles, you can literally see the ecu w/o removing any trim, but here I dropped the cover thing that is under the streering wheel, and there was this big weird aluminum-like thing back there, and the ECU was nowhere to be seen. :wtf
could anyone please tell mt where I can find the ecu?
once again I apoligise for the stupid question, but even my "bentley" e36 manual did not mention the location of the ecu.

It's not under the dashboard, it's in the engine bay- inside the passenger side firewall, directly behind the battery connection post. What people refer to as the "ECU" is actually called the ECM, which is the heart of the DME (Digital Motor Electronics). In the Bentley, refer to sections 130-26 and 130-27: "Engine control module (ECM), accessing." There's a picture of it in 130-27, figure #42.

Funny- I don't call it ECM either; in my mind, ECM stands for Electronic Countermeasures (a military term) :lol

not a stupid question, just like dudesky said, open the hood, see where the posativ ebattery terminal post is, and its right infront of it on the firewall behind the plastic casing, the reason it is covered is because of water protection

wow thanx guys! that really helped me out. this is my third vehicle, and so far every vehicle ive owned, the ecu was in a different spot!
(my chevy tracker had it under the dash on driver's side, and my isuzu trooper had it under the seat.