Very late back to the show, but yes i can confirm that my BIOS is not modded.
The update package (Downloaded directly from ASUS’s homepage) contained the BIOS and the ME that i needed. I used a cheap CH341 programmer from AliExpress to read/flash the chips
I did not transfer any of the unique data like S/N, UUID and MAC, i figured since it’s an old board i wouldn’t need it anyways 
Board is still running strong on the same BIOS.
Hope you were able to solve your issue.