Hello guys i have a 99 528i
I have had the car since december. Everything is great with it except my abs light and traction control light are on.
Also my speedo does not work.
Never had what so ever.
I just replaced the front rotors and also the pad. After i did that now the lights shut off and the speedo works but does it intermittently. I first thought it was a speed sensor but i had my abs reader and i couldnt even read the abs unit.
I have been banging my head agaisnt a wall now for awhile. Is it the module? Gahhh help me please. I have read alot of forums and many people just asked questions and never put a reply on how they fixed the problem.
You can find out everything you want to know about the ABS/DSC systems by reading the above linked thread including diagnosis and repair It is very comprehensive.
I'd have to guess that your ABS module needs to be repaired but you can inspect the sensor wires at the left rear as that is the sensor that sends speed data to your speedo. Frayed wires will cause an intermittent problem with the speedo. A failed sensor at that location will be constant.
For what it's worth, you can definitively determine which, if any, speed sensors are causing the fault by hooking up a code reader that can access the correct bus and that reads live data. I bought the Creator C110 from eBay for $54, including shipping, and it showed all four speed sensors displaying the same speed, eliminating them as the cause of my problem.
+1
I also have the same code reader one of the most important tool your going to need for your e39. I'm not sure if your 99 has the pac-man OBD connection under the hood. If so you're going to need the adapter
Oh i will post the fix dont worry!! I brought my car to a shop. They could not even read the abs module. So they were not able to read any of the sensors. I took the module apart and it looks new or rebuilt. No corrosion what so ever very mint. So im assuming it is not the module like the shop said. And yes i have a pac man under the hood. The funny thing is i had absolutely no speedo and the lights where always on since i bought the car in december. Abs and traction light always stayed on and speddooo never worked. But last weekend i changed my front rotors and pads and now the speedo works for a minute of 2 after driving and then the lights come back on. What do u guys think this could be. Just a coincidence? Its mind boggeling. Im a dam aircraft mechanic but yet i cant figure this out!! Lol
Did they try reading the speed sensors live? I drove my car slowly, down a quiet residential street at about 15mph and was able to see all four sensors reporting the correct speed. That would at least rule out the speed sensors as the cause of the problem and maybe narrow things down a bit.
As I recall, if you wade through all that stuff in the link John Stern provided, you'll find a discussion of whether the dealer's scanner can read static data with enough precision to diagnose speed sensor faults accurately.
Johnstern, post is right on the money. Check your drivers side rear speed sensor. It controls the speedometer. If you do need to replace any of the WSS only use OEM replacement sensors. Aftermarket sensors don't work!!! It they do they have been known to fail very soon after.
I used inpa to test mine but whatever you have is good even the write up using dmm which I never got to work but good for continuity testing for the wires. If you keep the connector end of one of the bad sensors you can use it next time to plug into the sensor. I have a 2000 and actually all the sensors worked it was just the wiring in the rear and the abs unit that I had repaired. But I don't know if they were the original sensors but based on the wire condition and plastic I would guess they must be.
the rear sensor I replaced had the bare wire showing the outside casing had fallen off so then the abs unit sees the short it turns off the sensor. If you restart the vehicle and the wires are not touching it turns the sensor back on. Keep that in mind when you are playing around with the rear driver wss. All wss are not created equal. I had good luck with rear but front seem to be a little more sensitive. Don't know if anyone has figured out why aftermarket are having problems and oem work. Actually about 4 dollars worth of wire and electronics if that much. I looked inside the connector of the aftermarket and the oem do that and let us know what they look like inside the connector might tell you why you want the oem. Also more than likely the plastic portion of the connector that comes from the wire harness might break,
If you wind up replacing the abs unit (which I cut open in a long ago post) use bba. Very happy with their work. I would be surprised if that unit is actually from 1999. These units seem to fail quite a bit.
Thanks for all the help guys! I will definitely get the right scanner off ebay and see whats going on. Last night i lioked at the rear sensors and the wiring looks clean and newish. No cracks or corrosion. But i will read the codes and take if from there.
To a near-curmudgeon like me, the wheels look kind of garish, but overall, the car has a nice clean look.
Good luck with your scanner. If you order off eBay, make sure the scanner is coming from the US, not overseas. Although it's a Chinese scanner, mine came from Washington and arrived three days after I ordered it. The scanners coming from overseas can take weeks.
Alot of people do not like the wheels. I know plp like the bmw rims but this suites my style and they are boss rims. I like them lol. To each there own right?. Ok will do. !
Hah, I didn't know people still used the term "boss," which originated in the 1960's. And you're right, if you like them, my opinion doesn't matter. The ride height looks good, by the way.
Just placed a order on ebay for the c110 scanner. Should be here next week. Once again thank all of you for the help. I will post what the problem is once i find out?
I know this is kinda off topic, but I still think the best value in code readers is the PASoft scanner 1.4 for $30 from xcar360.com. Waiting for shipping is annoying, but I've been able to reprogram modules, read all my codes (airbag, SES, torque converter) and reset all of them (not sure about ABS, I've not had an issue), and program/code a ton of features that would normally require dealer computers.
I have also done a few things the dealer can't, like reprogramming the effective range of the coolant temp gauge, and setting service intervals to 6 months or 1200 liters of fuel used. At this point, I'm investigating its reprogramming abilities for my manual transmission swap, and it looks like it can do everything I need it to with a few simple checkboxes and a laptop.
My only complaints are its limited live data features (no graphs or things like that), but a cheap OBDII scanner could solve that. Honestly, I trust this thing more than I trust a third party mechanic's several thousand dollar scan tool.
Sounds like DSC module. If no communication with DSC. Unless the code reader is crap. Not the first time code readers not communicating with BMW modules. Try another scantool.
Did you check for metal filings on the wheel sensors. Maybe from changing discs some filings got disturbed and the sensors are reading the toning wheel again.
Good luck.
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