BMW Dash Error Messages (what they mean)

Tiesto

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Would anyone be able to tell me what these 2 lights mean?
Im intending on undertaking a long journey today.. But not sure if I should after these lights which came on the dash yesterday evening..

Thanks

darragh o meara

Top left is brake warning light, it can come one for the following reasons:

Handbrake is applied
Brake Fluid is low
Brake pads need replacing
There's probably one or two other situations that will bring it on but a dangerous one in my opinion. I wouldn't be attempting any journey with it on.

The other light is something to do with the abs/ traction control reasons this might be on

Traction control switched off ( there should be a switch with ESP in it, I'd press that first and see does it go off)
Problem with abs braking system ( speed sensor or maybe more )

Again I would have it checked out before attempting any long journeys

Owen

The brake one is a fault indicator - it doesn't come on with the handbrake on. The other one is a traction/wheel speed issue and again, it's a fault descriptor, turning the traction control off won't remedy it.

There's something in my mind that says if both come on, it's the rear left wheel speed sensor at fault, but I'm not sure why. Someone'll know here soon enough, but IIRC it's not a big fix.

Big Nelly

Have the second light in the middle on the 1 series. Do you have the stop/start function on the car? on the 1 series it means a fault with stop/start

Tiesto

yeah i have the stop/start button..

nightmare.. thinking im gonna have to take the train so..
I hate the train!
Dont think I should chance it with the break error..

robbie99

The middle triangular warning light is for the Dynamic Stability Control DSC and Dynamic Traction Control DTC.

Your dash looks like an E90 3 series and according to the manual, when the brake warning light (yellow), the DSC and DTC warning light, and the Run Flat warning light are on together, it means that DSC and DTC driving stability control systems have failed, including the run flat monitoring system.

The run flat monitoring system runs off the same sensors as the DSC and DTC.

I think this means that DSC and DTC aren't working anymore and if you carry on driving you'll soon see the run flat indicator come as well.

So basically your traction control isn't working anymore, also the stability control where if the car senses it is going to go in a spin then it will brake on one side of the car harder than the other to try to recover.

The ABS has its own dedicated warning light and should still work. I think you can carry on driving safely but other than the ABS, yours is now dumb when it comes to the fancy driving aids.

dharn

robbie 99 is correct dsc module is gone will cost you 600 + to get it fixed but bmw do a goodwill payment on the part which costs 200 depending on your service history must be full bmw service history, it will also cost you 80 euro to have it scanned on bmw diagnostic first, i have just gone through this repair

Tiesto

ok thanks for the info..
not what I wanted to hear but
Will head down to the BMW garage tomorrow (with my cheque book)

dharn

let us know how you get on

JustACitizen

I have just got this exact problem now on my E90 3 series BMW. (In the days leading up to it, the ABS warning light had flashed on once or twice too but its not on now - now its exactly as shown in the original pic above).

Tiesto: can you update to say how you got on with this?

Thanks.

rebel.ranter

Owen wrote: »

There's something in my mind that says if both come on, it's the rear left wheel speed sensor at fault, but I'm not sure why. Someone'll know here soon enough, but IIRC it's not a big fix.

You're pretty much spot on that they use the same sensor. The other thing it could be is a faulty ABS unit :eek: I think there is a few failures of these units in the e90. Get the fault codes read out to be sure though before you start spending money on sensors.

Onwardandupwar

If its a e90 it's the pressure switch on the abs pump I think there 260e retail. Used to be a awfull lot dearer. But we have changed plenty of them as late. If its a e46 the rear wheel speed sensor as stated before could be the problem r as we have seen on a few occasions the abs needs to be recoded to the ike(cluster). But I think it's a e90 so it's gona be the unit. Fairly hand change to

pa990

if you keep the ASC button pressed for 5 sec, both of these lights come on..

did you accidentally press the ASC button?

Tiesto

i had to get a part replaced.. Cant remember was it related to the stability control or traction control or both
including labour, it costs roughly 300 euro.
i cant remember exactly how much..

JustACitizen

Thanks for the responses.

pa990: It doesnt seem to be related pressing the DSC button (I have DSC not ASC). I'm fairly sure I didnt press it accidentally. Anyway I tried all permutations of switching it on, off, on for >5 secs, etc but no joy.

Previously I had got the same warning lights as in the picture above plus the exclamation mark in the circle was also shown in the lower window. This morning I now temporarily get other warning lights: the lower window also shows the triangle briefly and then the runflat symbol (U with exclamation mark) but it eventually settles down to the original situation. All lights are amber (once I release the handbrake of course) so that means its drivable.

I've now noticed that if I look at the "Malfunctions in the driving stability control systems" section of the manual instead of the general "indicator and warning lights" section, it seems to describe this situation clearer (although I'm not getting the ABS light so...maybe not abs pump pressure switch?).

Anyway, time for diagnostics at the garage....

carleigh

Looks like the DSC warning light, my mother had that light up and got the diagnostics done, €700 to get it fixed last week. Ouch.

Gumbo

I got the DSC done on our E90 late last year.
BMW gave us good will on the part and Joe Duffy done the diagnostic for free and only charged us labout of €200.

It used to be a 2k fix but BMW have narrowed down the problem to a little switch which they only replace now instead of the whole unit.

JustACitizen

Well, I got the diagnostic test & the result is unexpected: it seems the alternator is overcharging (slightly) and this is making the system give incorrect warnings (think it corrupts the memory of the diagnosing system).

So, for 60 euros I got the diagnostic check & the warnings reset (and a by-the-way adjustment of steering sensor) in Murphy & Gunn. Others were asking 85 euros for the check.

Downside is: if the warning lights reappear, the recommendation is to replace the alternator which is about 800 euros. In that case, if I didnt replace the alternator, nothing functional would fail (as far as I understand) - just that the warning lights would be garbage (dodgy, I know) and that the alternator is possibly going to give out sooner rather than later.

So: so far so good I suppose.....

bbsrs

JustACitizen wrote: »

Well, I got the diagnostic test & the result is unexpected: it seems the alternator is overcharging (slightly) and this is making the system give incorrect warnings (think it corrupts the memory of the diagnosing system).

So, for 60 euros I got the diagnostic check & the warnings reset (and a by-the-way adjustment of steering sensor) in Murphy & Gunn. Others were asking 85 euros for the check.

Downside is: if the warning lights reappear, the recommendation is to replace the alternator which is about 800 euros. In that case, if I didnt replace the alternator, nothing functional would fail (as far as I understand) - just that the warning lights would be garbage (dodgy, I know) and that the alternator is possibly going to give out sooner rather than later.

So: so far so good I suppose.....

€800 euro for an altenator , wow ,you can buy a half decent car for that these days