Amber DSC light illuminating again......

[stehanson]

Had the Z for nearly a year now and when I got it the seller had warned me the DSC light was coming on intermittently - he had had it into a garage who had either looked at the connector in the engine bay or replaced it as it was loose (cannot remember which but guess it was the former) anyway it was ok for a while before coming back in the summer on and off but frequently enough to know it was not right, I was able to manually reset it most of the time, or the car did it for me.
It did seem to do it more when hitting bumps in road making me wonder if there is a loose connection, but has lately started triggering on braking (hard and soft)

Come winter (cooler weather) it didn't show once in over 5 months, but in spring a few weeks ago it came back - strange and probably coincidence rather than anything to do with temps!

Anyway, it is now on most of the time and with the MOT not too far off it needs sorting out (DSC is now part of test and if warning light comes on its a fail)

I'm assuming it needs an indy to read the code first of all (i'm guessing it will give a clue to the cause)
How much does this normally cost? I believe there are a few indys local to me (Ormskirk, Lancs) and one is in Southport (Linwar motors) one Bootle (field lane garage) has anyone had dealings with them or others around the area? .... and which would you go for?
Cheers Ste

 

[dave_alp]

Might be one of the sensors on the master cylinder, I think there are two (back left under the bonnet). It popped on mine and was about £250 main dealer to fix. HTH.


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[omar]

^ What he said. Mine was pretty similar - intermittent fault gradually became permanent. Turned out that I actually had 2 faulty pressure sensors. They are c. £90 each from the stealers plus about an hour's labour. Very easy to fit, but the brakes need to be bled afterwards.

 

[Clearancediver]

Known causes.... Weak battery, brake pressure sensors as mentioned, and dirty wheel sensors and/or dirty connections to pressure sensors and wheel sensors. Clean wheel sensors and wheel/pressure connections first before buying/installing parts. If your battery is week it can cause faults due to low voltage.....

BmTechnic has a one click software install that includes the cable to connect to your diagnostics port. One program that is installed is INPA which reads data "live"... You can see if your wheel sensor(s) are connected and reading.... Same with pressure sensors.... Brake on/off with foot pressure to see readings or determine which pressure sensor is faulty. The program will also clear faults.

As he's in the UK your delivery time is very very short..... and he provides technical install assistance if you have problems installing.... Which is rare. The install program "just works"....

I would also check your tire pressures... Correct and then reinitialize the tire pressure monitoring... The RPA system is tied in with the DCS monitoring of the car.

 

[stehanson]

Thanks for the replies guys, I will have a look at the connection in the bonnet, i'm not too sure about the wheel sensors and cleaning (i'm not technically minded car wise)

 

[Clearancediver]

If you don't have the means to clear fault indicators.... Disconnect your badttery first before cleaning connections. The wheel sensors are easy to clean as they are held in with an Allen bolt and brake cleaner sprayed on the sensor cleans them right up. You need to remove your tires to do it though.

 

[stehanson]

Just an update so my thread is not left without a closing post:-

Booked the car into Darren Wood BMW (Indi in Stockport, Manchester) and after waiting a few weeks for my slot to come up (they seem mad busy constantly) they connected it upto the diagnostics fault reader and thankfully the car had logged a fault, pressure sensor fail, they duly got one from the local main stealer and connected it up - fault gone and all clear in last few days since going up there!

Part approx £90, £35 diagnostics fee, no labour charge for fitting part, plus the dreaded VAT = £150 so not bad all in all and a great company!! shame they are a 45min drive away but deffo worth it from what I saw!!