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      02-28-2011, 05:53 AM   #1
Prodigy_1978
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ABS, Brake and DSC warning lights come on and then off

Hi all,

a few days ago I was driving in heavy rain. There were a few puddles of water on the roads and I may have caught a few at 30MPH. The day after while driving (with no rain) I had 3 yellow lights which were the ABS, Traction control, Air low and a red brake light!!!

However just before the lights come on I felt the ABS kicking in, or vibration through he brakes as low speeds while stopping, 10MPH or so.

I stopped the car turned the engine off waited a few seconds and re-started the engine, this time the Red Brake warning light was now Yellow. I left it for a few hours, went to test it again and they were all off??? I THOUGHT. Until I drove the car and could still feel what can only be described as vibration on the brake pedals or the ABS kicking in. then the lights were back on???

Could it be....

1. Faulty wheel sensor? Would a diagnostic indicate this?
2. Faulty ABS module...Please god NO!
3. Warped Brake discs?

I have recent;y had my inspection 2 service done at BMW and the only warning they could give me was my Brake pads were slightly low, however they are good for another 3000mile. I have only drove 300 since.

So far the lights have yet to come on (This morning when I drove to work, 15minute journey), but the brakes still feel iffy. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I have tried to clean the sensors, but could not find a Allen key to fit the front bolts, and can not find the black box to disconnect the rears? they seem to vanish into he body of the car????

Cheers in advance guys.

2004 BMW Z4, 2.5, 108K

Last edited by Prodigy_1978; 02-28-2011 at 08:09 AM..
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      02-28-2011, 08:49 AM   #2
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sorry I can't be too much of a help but I know this has been discussed here before. Do a search around and you should be able to find the last person this happened to
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      02-28-2011, 11:44 AM   #3
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Sounds like you somehow got your battery power interrupted. The symptom you've describe is the same as if you had your battery power cable removed and re-installed.
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      03-05-2011, 11:42 AM   #4
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Well had the car scanned and a faulty left rear sensor popped up. Bought a BMW abs sensor, fitted it and still the same???? Could I have a faulty sensor or do you have to replace in pairs?
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      03-06-2011, 05:36 PM   #5
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Managed to clean the other rear wheel sensor.... All good. Although part of me thinks I could of got away with just cleaning the sensor! Ah well.
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      03-06-2011, 06:22 PM   #6
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Maybe low brake fluid?
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      03-07-2011, 08:16 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dubbedown View Post
Maybe low brake fluid?
^^+1... Or the switch/float in the fluid reservoir are faulty.
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      04-06-2011, 10:29 AM   #8
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I thought the fault was cures. But now I have 2 yellow lights on my dash, the traction control light and the Handbrake light on. I have checked the brake fluid and all seems fine. Could it be another faulty sensor? My brake pads are fine, however the discs could do with a change in the next 2k?? what the **** has happened now?
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      04-12-2011, 10:31 AM   #9
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Well My local mechanic managed to call in his Auto elec guy. I have just rang and received some bad news. Apparently the DSC module has failed......... I do not know the code he has pulled off but all I know is this is the worst prognosis I could of received

Would it be worth a BMW main dealer scan. I have heard that possibly 4 wheel alignment could fix the problem (is it a steering issue) or perhaps a steering angle sensor.

The 2 lights are intermittent, and I then receive a beep if that helps??? any ideas would be great. Absolutely gutted!

Last edited by Prodigy_1978; 04-13-2011 at 03:58 AM..
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      04-12-2011, 11:29 AM   #10
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Does it usually take about 20 minutes for the lights to appear? I had a very similar set of issues when I first bought mine. Even at the dealer, when they would start the car and check codes, everything would be fine. 20 minutes into the ride home, however, that same combination of lights would appear, as well as the car going into "limp mode". It turned out to be the Steering Angle Sensor. No codes at all.
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      04-12-2011, 11:42 AM   #11
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Have you ruled out low brake fluid as per my previous post?
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      04-12-2011, 01:43 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prodigy_1978 View Post
Well My local mechanic managed to call in his Auto elec guy. I have just rang and received some bad news. Apparently the DSC module has failed......... I do not know the code he has pulled off but all I know is this is the worst prognosis I could of received

Would it be worth a BMW main dealer scan. I have heard that possibly 4 wheel alignment could fix the problem (it is is a steering issue) or perhaps a steering angle sensor.

The 2 lights are intermittent, and I then receive a beep if that helps??? any ideas would be great. Absolutely gutted!
strangely i have just changed my battery and all was well but the i got the normal 3 lamps detailed on here.

i will get mine to an indy and see whats up. when this happened before 9disconnected a wheel sensor when having a sort out and caused a brake warning lights to illuminate.

WHen this happened before i was advised than once a fault was logged, it had to be clear using the diagnostic thingy. the lamps will not just go out whilst a fault is still registered.

BTW, the rear sensor connection box is under the wheel arch lower cover that attaches to the sill of the car.

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      04-12-2011, 07:35 PM   #13
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DSC lights need to be cleared with the GT1 or like device. The DSC sensors are the blue ended ones and the brake sensors are the black ones. Before you disconnect the DSC sensors, remove the neg terminal of the battery. Clean check the sensors and then reconnect the battery. Once the light is lit you will need to have it cleared. To get to the junction box on the rear, I find that if you take the 2 bolts off that hold the flap in front of the wheel, the box can be opened easily.
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      04-12-2011, 09:09 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prodigy_1978 View Post
Hi all,

a few days ago I was driving in heavy rain. There were a few puddles of water on the roads and I may have caught a few at 30MPH. The day after while driving (with no rain) I had 3 yellow lights which were the ABS, Traction control, Air low and a red brake light!!!

However just before the lights come on I felt the ABS kicking in, or vibration through he brakes as low speeds while stopping, 10MPH or so.

I stopped the car turned the engine off waited a few seconds and re-started the engine, this time the Red Brake warning light was now Yellow. I left it for a few hours, went to test it again and they were all off??? I THOUGHT. Until I drove the car and could still feel what can only be described as vibration on the brake pedals or the ABS kicking in. then the lights were back on???

Could it be....

1. Faulty wheel sensor? Would a diagnostic indicate this?
2. Faulty ABS module...Please god NO!
3. Warped Brake discs?

I have recent;y had my inspection 2 service done at BMW and the only warning they could give me was my Brake pads were slightly low, however they are good for another 3000mile. I have only drove 300 since.

So far the lights have yet to come on (This morning when I drove to work, 15minute journey), but the brakes still feel iffy. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I have tried to clean the sensors, but could not find a Allen key to fit the front bolts, and can not find the black box to disconnect the rears? they seem to vanish into he body of the car????

Cheers in advance guys.

2004 BMW Z4, 2.5, 108K
I had these same issues on my 330i under the same initiating condition. Rain and BIG puddles. Turned out that a couple of the wheel sensors were flooded/shorted where they connect up with the wiring harness Those little boxes in your drivers front and passenger rear wheelwells. Open them and disconnect the wheel sensors. When I did water literally poured out. Paper towels to soak up the water and a spray of wd40 to displace what was left. I also pulled the wheel sensors off the hubs, cleaned them and the area they go into and rebolted. Next day problem lights cleared on their own in about 30 minutes of driving.
Hope thats all this is - Good luck
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      04-13-2011, 04:10 AM   #15
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Cheers guys. I have checked the brake fluid and all is well, the level read full. Strange how the problem was once fixed when I bought a BMW ABS sensor for my rear left and cleaned the rear right. Drove the car for 3 weeks no problem. Then all of a sudden on a fairly warm day.....band 2 lights pop up DSC and (!) both in amber along with brake squeal. I then thought perhaps the rear left sensor is now broken. So I bought a new OEM rear sensor and fitted the sensor but no luck. What is strange is the fact that some times after may 10 - 20 minutes of driving they have disappeared but they will re appear. This leas me to believe that the ABS DSC unit is not completely broken. I am considering a BWM main dealer diagnostic and requesting the error code readings. I am not receiving and feedback through the brakes and all speedo etc are all working fine.
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      09-24-2013, 04:39 PM   #16
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No the brake reservoir was fine.
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      12-04-2013, 08:45 PM   #17
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I had the ABS/Brake amber light after extended driving at the track but it will clear after I power cycle the engine. If I continue , ABS will not function and brake will lock up.
I took the car to dealer and there was no stored code but they detect steering angle sensor as vicj stated. No fix.

May be the ABS module is flaky ?
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=473489
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      12-04-2013, 09:30 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by S2000 View Post
I had the ABS/Brake amber light after extended driving at the track but it will clear after I power cycle the engine. If I continue , ABS will not function and brake will lock up.
I took the car to dealer and there was no stored code but they detect steering angle sensor as vicj stated. No fix.

May be the ABS module is flaky ?
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=473489
Steering angle sensor needs to be reset after making alignment setting changes. If the car has been aligned several times w/o doing this, the SAS gets further and further out of whack. And that confuses the DSC, which may be causing your ABS/Brake lights.

What exactly do you mean "they dectect steering angle sensor"? Yes, they should be able to read it, but, is is "bad", or is it out of range, does it need to be calibrated, or? If your alignment guy (or you) haven't reset the SAS, I'd try that first and then move on from there.
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      12-05-2013, 01:04 AM   #19
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Along with dirty sensors which you have cleaned, a bad battery will cause those faults because of low voltage issues You have said you cleaned the rear sensors, but I suggest that you also clean the front sensors as well as well as the connections to the wheel sensors. I would also clean the connections to the two brake pressure sensors in the engine compartment. Eliminating bad connections and dirty sensors helps eliminate some causes, aiding fault diagnosis. I'm betting on the battery being the ultimate cause. If the battery is old....replace it. Dirty wheel sensors, bad pressure pressure sensors and weak battery are known causes. I would also disconnect the battery prior to doing this so you don't trigger any faults. If you have the INPA software/diagnostic cable you will be able to see most of this in real time. INPA also allows you to clear fault codes.
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      12-05-2013, 02:23 AM   #20
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^Yep. Bad battery/low or high voltage can cause a host of electronic gremlins, including DSC/ABS faults.

Take a look here, similar issues are discussed.

Last edited by Finnegan; 12-05-2013 at 01:11 PM..
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