Adrian Torres

Background

Adrian Torres founded Auto Module Lab in Arlington, Texas to bring nationwide-mail-in automotive electronics expertise that was previously locked behind dealer service departments and a handful of regional specialty shops. His path into the trade started in 2011 with locksmith fieldwork in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro — emergency lockouts, key duplications, ignition rebuilds — and progressively moved into the bench-programming work that became the focus of AML.

The pivot from on-car work to mail-in module specialty happened because the demand pattern made it obvious: independent shops, used-car dealers, and DIY pros across the country were getting quoted $1,500-$3,000 by Mercedes / BMW / Land Rover dealers for jobs that were $150-$550 at the bench. AML was built to make that bench-level capability accessible without a road trip.

Credentials

• ALOA-MAL (Associated Locksmiths of America — Master Automotive Locksmith)
• NASTF VSP (National Automotive Service Task Force — Vehicle Security Professional)
• State of Texas locksmith license (DPS / PSB regulated trade)
• Manufacturer training — BMW (CAS/FEM/BDC), Mercedes (EIS/ELV/FBS3), VW/Audi (MED17/EDC16), Land Rover (KVM/RFA), GM (Passlock)

Specialty areas

The current AML service catalog (24 services across 8+ brands) reflects the failure patterns Adrian has seen most over the past decade-plus of bench work. Two specialties get particular focus because they account for the largest share of customer pain + the largest dealer-vs-bench cost spreads:

• BMW FRM / FRM3 Footwell Module recovery — the single most-bricked BMW module on E-chassis cars. Bench EEPROM recovery preserves the customer's original coding. $175 vs ~$950 dealer.FRM service page →
• Mercedes ELV Emulator — the #1 most-reported Mercedes electrical fault on W204/W212/W166/Sprinter. Emulator bypasses the failure-prone OEM motor permanently. $350 vs $1,800-3,500 dealer.ELV service page →

Tools we work with

The AML bench is equipped with the tools needed for direct EEPROM access on bricked modules (the work the dealer's scan-tool-based workflow can't do): Xhorse VVDI2, Autel IM608 II, CGDI BMW, Abrites AVDI, Yanhua Mini ACDP, Orange5 Pro, Tactrix Openport 2.0, iProg+. We use multiple tools because no single tool covers every job — picking the right tool for the chassis matters as much as the bench technique.See the full tool list →

Why mail-in

The decision to focus on mail-in (vs. running another local on-car shop) is about access. A bench specialist serving one metro reaches a few hundred customers a year. The same specialist serving the whole country via mail-in reaches thousands — and lets owners in markets that don't have a local European-specialty shop get the same bench-level work that DFW customers can get in person. The Arlington workshop handles modules from all 50 states + DC.