brake fluid warning light

[daveboy]

Was driving my 2014 SDrive28i today. I shut it off just outside my garage and everything was fine. Just a few minutes later, I cranked it up and drove it into the garage. When I did, I noticed the warning message appear. I've only had the car six months, and this is the first warning message I've gotten. So, I had to look in the manual to learn how to tell what it was. It is the brake fluid warning light. I guess it is supposed to come on when it detects low brake fluid. The car only has 27k miles on it, and was serviced at the BMW dealership about 5000 miles back. I checked the brake fluid and it is full. I can reset the light with the engine running. But, as soon as I restart, it comes on again. I'm assuming I have a bad sensor. Any other ideas? Is there a way to permanently reset?

 

[B21]

Looks like it’s your brake fluid level sensor…it’s a replacement normally

 

[Nictrix]

With the date showing at the bottom its probably reminding you to have a brake fluid change.

 

[B21]

With the date showing at the bottom its probably reminding you to have a brake fluid change.

Good spot

Much more simple solution …

 

[daveboy]

"With the date showing at the bottom its probably reminding you to have a brake fluid change."

Well, that makes sense now. I thought it was showing me the current date. Again, this car is new to me and I haven't learned all the ins and outs. How can I turn it off?

 

[engine killer]

that warning sign scared me too the first time it came out. :lol:

 

[daveboy]

Short of taking it to the dealer, how can I turn it off?

 

[Pondrew]

This shows you how, I think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk_GKrFp-9I

 

[daveboy]

That's a great video, and once I watched it I thought problem solved. Nope.

 

[daveboy]

I've watched all the videos I can find. When I get to this screen, all the videos tell me to press and hold the BC button. Everyone says that the screen should then show "RESET" and when I press it again, it should reset. Nope. Nothing happens when I hold the BC button. Nothing. I've held it for over a minute, and nothing changes. Please, someone help. This is about to drive me insane.

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

bmw.jpg I've watched all the videos I can find. When I get to this screen, all the videos tell me to press and hold the BC button. Everyone says that the screen should then show "RESET" and when I press it again, it should reset. Nope. Nothing happens when I hold the BC button. Nothing. I've held it for over a minute, and nothing changes. Please, someone help. This is about to drive me insane.

I think you press and hold that little button at the bottom left of the speedometer.
The needle at rest pretty much points to it.

I will have a search for the video, but I recall seeing a video where that button was held in for ten seconds or so to bring up the service reset menu.

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

bmw.jpg I've watched all the videos I can find. When I get to this screen, all the videos tell me to press and hold the BC button. Everyone says that the screen should then show "RESET" and when I press it again, it should reset. Nope. Nothing happens when I hold the BC button. Nothing. I've held it for over a minute, and nothing changes. Please, someone help. This is about to drive me insane.

Here is an excerpt from a bmw E90/92 forum, The e89 uses the same tech:

“ I got it reset.

I couldn't do it with the car off though. The yellow exclamation point would come up, but the menu wouldn't come up.

With the car on, I held the odometer button until the red exclamation point came up (happens AFTER yellow). Then held the BC stalk button on the brake fluid service menu until a little timer appeared (I didn't get a checkbox). When the timer went away it was reset.

Thanks guys”

Hope this helps!

 

[daveboy]

I think you press and hold that little button at the bottom left of the speedometer.
The needle at rest pretty much points to it.

Well, if I press and hold that I go into some "deep" menu that is a bunch of codes. I saw something about that in a video and it is used to test gauges, lights, and who knows what else? But, it doesn't bring up any kind of reset menu.

 

[daveboy]

With the car on, I held the odometer button until the red exclamation point came up (happens AFTER yellow). Then held the BC stalk button on the brake fluid service menu until a little timer appeared (I didn't get a checkbox). When the timer went away it was reset.

Mine doesn't work that way. That reset button (odometer button I guess he is talking about) does not bring up exclamation points or anything of that sort. I use the turn-signal button '1' to get to the screen that you see in the photo. All the videos I see say that when you get to this screen (whether using the "odometer button" or however you get there) you press and hold the BC button and it resets. Nope. I get to this screen, hold the BC button for hours, and nothing resets.

 

[daveboy]

Okay! GOT IT!!!!!! I've tried it at least two dozen times. I was holding that reset button (by the odometer) down for too long. If you do that, it will go into some kind of weird, deep, troubleshooting or maintenance menu that I don't think you should go into unless you know what you're doing. And, apparently I don't!

Thanks for all the help. I've always done minor maintenance on all my cars. This one may be the death of me!

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

Okay! GOT IT!!!!!! I've tried it at least two dozen times. I was holding that reset button (by the odometer) down for too long. If you do that, it will go into some kind of weird, deep, troubleshooting or maintenance menu that I don't think you should go into unless you know what you're doing. And, apparently I don't!

Thanks for all the help. I've always done minor maintenance on all my cars. This one may be the death of me!

Glad you got it sorted.

If it pops up again in the short term, best to have it checked out.

 

[B21]

The key reason why the warning light came on is its time to change the brake fluid..it should be changed every two calendar years

 

[daveboy]

The key reason why the warning light came on is its time to change the brake fluid..it should be changed every two calendar years

Yes. I've owned cars for 48 years and have usually done most of the servicing on them. Have never heard of "changing" brake fluid. But, this is the first BMW I've owned.

 

[clarker63]

Have never heard of "changing" brake fluid

every two years is "normal" from BMWs perspective, although I dont do it on my other cars, its probably a good thing to do if you know how/are able to do it!....

 

[wanderer]

Brake fluid is hygroscopic.
It absorbs water from the air. As the brake fluid’s water content increases over time, its boiling point drops, from around 210 degrees C to around 140C with 3% moisture content.

This leads to the fluid boiling and potentially damaging your brake parts. If it's boiling, it's releasing air into the hydraulic system. And air is bad as it can lead to a loss of hydraulic pressure.

Then you brake and suddenly you find out it's the wrong kind of pedal to the metal.

Screw fix sells brake fluid testers for under £10.
Useful to have.