sdwolff said:What's the possiblity that your "system" is causing faults and/or failures in the electrical system?
Keep in mind that the dealer might be doing "warranty" work on your car, at the dealer level, but when you file lemon law, BMWNA will get drawn into the situation. When they see your audio equipment they could have a leg to stand on that the car is modified and hence no warranty/lemon law will apply.
Just my toughts. :dunno:
Ackster said:
This is my feeling on the computer: In a one month period since picking up the car new from the dealership, I have had two separate electrical issues that aren't full failures. By this I mean that the system "fails" but only intermittently. Sometimes if I shut the car down and start it back up, the issue mysteriously cures itself - only to crop up sometime in the near future. I have not had any issues with the throttle control module that was replace about three weeks ago. This ABS thing is really starting to bug me. Why only after I wash the wheels does the light go on (only to reset itself when the car has completely dried)?
It is happening when I wash down the entire car. . . but, if the car dries completely and the ABS returns to normal and it rains later in that week, I have no problems. I think its just from soaking the wheels. . .:dunno: I have actually thought about doing the "test each wheel by hosing it off and drying it" technique to see which is actually the culprit.The HACK said:
Just the wheels? Does it go fritz when you wash the entire car or just when you rinse down the wheels?
If it goes fritz when you wash the entire car, then I have a good feeling I may know what's going on. If it's just the wheels it doesn't make sens at all...The only possiblity I can think of is an exposed wire SOMEWHERE near the wheel well. How that wire got exposed, I don't know...These ABS sensors NORMALLY come insulated pretty well. If it's fritzing out when you wash the whole car, it maybe that some how, some way your rain gutter in the engine compartment has been damaged and it's leaking water into your DSC controller in the passenger side.
This is by far the worst thing that can happen...Sounds like if your DSC is going to go all out of whack whenever it rains, just when you need DSC the most.
I'll bet you $5 and a can of whoopass that SOMEHOW BMW will find a way to blame the failure on the aftermarket audio system or it's install. Good luck fighting the good fight.
A little afterthought...Have you try rinsing down individual wheels to find out which wheel sensor is tripping the fault in DSC? If your dealership isn't competent enough to figure that out, maybe you can help them along a bit?
:dunno:Ackster said:
It is happening when I wash down the entire car. . . but, if the car dries completely and the ABS returns to normal and it rains later in that week, I have no problems. I think its just from soaking the wheels. . .:dunno: I have actually thought about doing the "test each wheel by hosing it off and drying it" technique to see which is actually the culprit.
I hope your wrong about BMWNA. Since I have the record of problems and visits prior to the audio install, this will make a strong case against BMW not myself.
Hack, as always, thanks for your helpful insights. I am going to try the "soaking each wheel independently" method tomorrow and see if I can isolate the problem to a specific wheel.The HACK said:
:dunno:
I would try the "check wheel by soaking" method first. If that does NOT trigger the ABS to fail, then it's got to be the drainage underneath your hood that is damaged. It's possible that when it's raining not enough water accumulates inside the housing for the DSC thus nothing gets shorted out/triggered, but when you wash your car, the flow of water is more constent and a larger volume over a shorter amount of period, and the drainage can't drain fast enough, due to whatever damage that's occurred.
I hope you do get this resolved with BMWNA...However from what I read on these boards, and from common sense I would suggest you keep all your paperwork and prepare for a TOUGH fight because your car is heavily modified. And if you can ISOLATE where the problem is coming from and find out exactly what is causing the problem, it may be in YOUR best interest.
I would also suggest going to a third party, a mechanic you can TRUST and have them take a look at the car. At least you'll get an honest third party opinion regarding the problem and more ammo to fight BMWNA with. My friend who had a clunk on his rear suspension thought it was the UUC Swaybar that we installed that is causing it, his dealership was blaming the UUC Swaybar, but when he took it to a good BMW mechanic they immediately discovered that it was a torn lower control arm bushing, NOT the UUC Swaybar. He got the dealership to change that part out.
Remember, the monkeys at the dealerships aren't usually the best and the brightest. They diagnose your problem BY THE BOOK. What seems like a defective DSC control unit may be something else, like a problem with drainage under the hood.
Again, good luck.