The first thinkpad I corebooted (skulls) was a Thinkpad T440p. I just read a lot about it on forums & watched tons of tutorials. You’ll start to understand that it really isn’t anything that difficult & it’s mostly the same process between most thinkpads.
The other thinkpad I bricked was an X230 but I’m 99% sure my CH341a was to blame(especially after using it with my T440p).
All in all, the hardest part with flashing my T440p was just the disassembly. With an X230, you can easily access the chips instead of having to completely remove the motherboard.
If the only thing you want is really to disable Intel ME, then you should use 1vyrain to get the advanced BIOS which then allows you to disable it. Best tutorial I found is this one: How to use IVPREP and 1VYRAIN and Disable Intel ME on a Lenovo x230