Suppose every now and again we need to throw money at these cars!
Long story but to cut very short!....
Handling issues, not excessive cornering but felt car unstable and would at times engage DSC (note DSC system working at this point with no warnings)
Car looked at by MOT garage, check suspension and check/sort alignment if required. Result was no suspension issues but alignment needed done and I duly ended up with an offset steering wheel, same handling issue. With more time on hands, wanted an inspection using a good indy so off I went....
Result from an ex BMW mechanic with lots of Z4 know how, front wishbone mounts were hanging off, literally and needed replaced, they then advised a full geometry check. Picked the car up same day, unable to complete 4 wheel alignment as rear adjusters were stuck solid (few hours trying to free apparently) so they did fronts only and until they could sort the rears which were slightly out, I'd have to live with the offset steering wheel (less now) but the mounts had been replaced and everything else checked and good.
DSC now showing which they stated and would want a proper look using diags, interesting that with the geometry apparently shot and mechanical suspension parts, DSC was working normally and with everything fixed, warning lights (hand brake too). The indy stated it's probably the SAS (Steering Angle Sensor) gone bad (pardon my ignorance at this point for trusting what I'm told).
About a month passed and returned, diags produced a few faults (front load sensor for lights, O2 sensor on Bank 1, SAS error, interior switch for center console light), the dreaded DSC replacement was discussed, quoted and off I went. Decided to get my own diags (DIS,INPA and a few other goodies inc Progman, cable) and ran them over the car myself....
SAS, it only needed calibrated - subsequent reading divulged the need to re calibrate after each alignment, it had never been done (Hunter I think does this) so once calibrated, fault stayed away and not surprisingly, steering wheel now dead center.
DIS is now showing an issue on Brake Sensor 1 and looking at the live data in INPA, Brake circuit 1 is running permanently 195bar (no that isnt right duh), circuit 2 at a steady -0.5 which increases with pedal depress. Read further online and found a few folk having/had this issue and replaced the appropriate Brake Pressure Sensor mounted on the Master Cylinder (1, i think is nearest the engine, or be safe and replace both as not sure a minus reading is that goood either). God forbid it's not the 1% that still have the DSC module issue but 99% of the time, this fixes DSC with perhaps a flush of new fluid.
So I'm wondering if anyone else has come across this of similar with the Pressure Sensor? Also, the instructions on online manuals states pressing down and locking the "clutch"(??) pedal to stop draining of the master cylinder needing a full ABS bleed? I would have thought brake pedal no? E46's seem to suffer from this Pressure Sensor issue and state pressing the brake pedal so that's another question?
Still have a full geometry check, replace O2 and load sensors but after that, we're error free and hopefully DSC issue free too for minimal price! Any thoughts anyone has are greatly appreciated as I'm starting to bang my head with garages and want to sort myself now.
One good thing, managed to program all the things I wanted for basically FOC, slight smile on face! Oh and can run diags like all the time, sweet kit.
Cheers!
P.S. Error is 5E20 ABS-DSC: Pressure sensor 1
Long story but to cut very short!....
Handling issues, not excessive cornering but felt car unstable and would at times engage DSC (note DSC system working at this point with no warnings)
Car looked at by MOT garage, check suspension and check/sort alignment if required. Result was no suspension issues but alignment needed done and I duly ended up with an offset steering wheel, same handling issue. With more time on hands, wanted an inspection using a good indy so off I went....
Result from an ex BMW mechanic with lots of Z4 know how, front wishbone mounts were hanging off, literally and needed replaced, they then advised a full geometry check. Picked the car up same day, unable to complete 4 wheel alignment as rear adjusters were stuck solid (few hours trying to free apparently) so they did fronts only and until they could sort the rears which were slightly out, I'd have to live with the offset steering wheel (less now) but the mounts had been replaced and everything else checked and good.
DSC now showing which they stated and would want a proper look using diags, interesting that with the geometry apparently shot and mechanical suspension parts, DSC was working normally and with everything fixed, warning lights (hand brake too). The indy stated it's probably the SAS (Steering Angle Sensor) gone bad (pardon my ignorance at this point for trusting what I'm told).
About a month passed and returned, diags produced a few faults (front load sensor for lights, O2 sensor on Bank 1, SAS error, interior switch for center console light), the dreaded DSC replacement was discussed, quoted and off I went. Decided to get my own diags (DIS,INPA and a few other goodies inc Progman, cable) and ran them over the car myself....
SAS, it only needed calibrated - subsequent reading divulged the need to re calibrate after each alignment, it had never been done (Hunter I think does this) so once calibrated, fault stayed away and not surprisingly, steering wheel now dead center.
DIS is now showing an issue on Brake Sensor 1 and looking at the live data in INPA, Brake circuit 1 is running permanently 195bar (no that isnt right duh), circuit 2 at a steady -0.5 which increases with pedal depress. Read further online and found a few folk having/had this issue and replaced the appropriate Brake Pressure Sensor mounted on the Master Cylinder (1, i think is nearest the engine, or be safe and replace both as not sure a minus reading is that goood either). God forbid it's not the 1% that still have the DSC module issue but 99% of the time, this fixes DSC with perhaps a flush of new fluid.
So I'm wondering if anyone else has come across this of similar with the Pressure Sensor? Also, the instructions on online manuals states pressing down and locking the "clutch"(??) pedal to stop draining of the master cylinder needing a full ABS bleed? I would have thought brake pedal no? E46's seem to suffer from this Pressure Sensor issue and state pressing the brake pedal so that's another question?
Still have a full geometry check, replace O2 and load sensors but after that, we're error free and hopefully DSC issue free too for minimal price! Any thoughts anyone has are greatly appreciated as I'm starting to bang my head with garages and want to sort myself now.
One good thing, managed to program all the things I wanted for basically FOC, slight smile on face! Oh and can run diags like all the time, sweet kit.
Cheers!
P.S. Error is 5E20 ABS-DSC: Pressure sensor 1