458 Front End Lift Retrofit

I successfully retrofitted the OEM Front End Lift system to my 2010 458 Italia and it functions perfectly. The physical installation was straightforward.

WIRING: The factory wiring harness has all the connections for all the car options so the new Lifter Pump/ECU harness plugged directly into the factory harness as there was a nearby plug that was capped off. The lifter console button plugged directly into an empty plug under the console. The main lifter power line bolted directly to a empty slot on top of the battery and the access hole through the engine compartment wall was there.

HYDRAULIC LINES: There were open mounting slots for the pre-bent lifter hydraulic hard lines in the tunnel brackets that also hold the hydraulic brake lines as well as existing mounting tabs for the other needed line clamps.

LIFTER PUMP and ECU: All of the screw mounting holes for the lift pump and ECU were already established inside the right rear wheel well. I did determine that there are two generation lifter pumps and ECU's (pre/post assembly #'s 117282). Even though I have an early assembly # car I chose to use the later year 458 pump so you will need the corresponding ECU and harness.

VEHICLE CODING/PROGRAMMING: I was unable to locate a non dealer that could perform the needed coding so I purchased a Giovanni Accinni Galileo device (small shop Ferrari diagnostic tool) from My Supercar Experts. Its an easy process to add the Lifer ECU so the car recognizes the change. To save money my device only covers the F430 and 458 variants. If you want more capabilities to cover additional Ferrari models or other vehicles the price ratchets up. I was also able to program a new key that I had ordered from Ferrari and it has the capability to add in other non factory options, does NVO board proxy alignments, runs the front end lifter and brake bleed cycles as well as the normal diagnostic functions to read and clear codes. Also, prior to purchasing the device I contacted a Ferrari dealer and spoke to the service manager about doing the coding and he wasn't sure if Ferrari would do the coding since they didn't install it but could contact them to see if they were willing to provide the needed coding which he estimated to be around $3k. He stated that they typically order the entire kit from Ferrari and it comes with a programming code. At that point I decided to purchase the device and code it myself.

PARTS COST: I have created a Ferrari part list (45 parts) that I can share if anyone is interested and also a link for the device purchase. I'm unsure what a dealership charges for the retrofit but I can tell you that the individual parts cost if purchased through Eurospares would run approx. $11.5k plus the device cost. I spent significantly less on parts as I was able to find a part recycler that breaks 458's and found a low mileage 458 Pump, ECU and Front shock assemblies that looked almost new. All the other parts I bought new through Eurospares.

Happy to answer any technical questions if you are interested in doing a retrofit.