Electronic Parking Brake Failure

M

Mouse

Member
 South Cumbria
Hiya, can any one suggest any help please - unlocked the door this morning, opened the door and an alarm sounded with (PARK) as a warning symbol on the dash. The brake lever wont do anything, put brake on or take it off. It worked perfectly ok last night and never had a problem with it. I use the car most days so it hasnt been stood. The brake isnt on at the moment, i have the 2010 Z4 .

Any help, most appreciated,

Gill
 
I assume you have put the key in and started the engine ok.

I once left the brake off, but in gear.
Later not seeing the red led (which goes out after a while duh!) i realised the brake was off and tried pulling the lever and wouldn't go on.
Until i inserted the key, then it came alive and was able to switch on.

Also rev engine beyond 1500 see if it gets annoyed and tells you to release the park brake.

(I love it when i move off too quick having released the brake and the warning bongs go off, better if it was a voice chastising me, but who's voice? perhaps Mr 'T'' "You fool" )
 
Hi, yes the car starts fine and had to move it to get my other car out to go to work yesterday. I have asked around and a couple of suggestions is that the software needs updating - i will ring BMW when they are open again and see what they say.
 
Although Friday and Monday are bank holidays the service dept in the dealer should be open as normal and usually till 12 or 1 on a Saturday.

I assume you have an extended warranty on the car? If not have you also looked at having an BMW specialist look at the car and read the fault?
 
Hi, Yes i did ring BMW on saturday morning and its booked in for thursday afternoon for a diagnostics and see whats wrong - i will update after that. Thanks for your reply.
 
Hi, Z4 is now sorted, so, pleased thats its back to normal again but a bit miffed at the same time.

Cost was £130, bmw said it failed due to needing the software upgrading. Havnt got the cost from my indy yet, no wonder they couldnt sort it, no fault codes showing. There was no recall missed, and bmw said they need a software upgrade every few years.

A bit miffed at the parking brake having a ''life span'' which I wasnt aware of.



Gill
 
Interesting that software causes it to fail as it needed updated. You would expect that it should work as is.

Do you have your car serviced by the local BMW dealers at all or at an Indy?
 
Hi yes it was Batemans, now Lloyds. I usually take the zeds to my local indy as Batemans are 52 miles round trip away.

I cant believe what they have said either. I would expect the parking brake to work as normal regardless of needing an upgrade as its a safety issue, not fail to work at all. Fortunately it failed when i parked up at home, the drive is flat thank goodness, which had it happend elswhere, i could have rolled in to someone or returned to it rolled in to someone else.

The upgrade of software took just under 3 hours. The manager said the brains of my zed is like an iphone :o :o needs upgrading to work properly - i didnt quite get that :o :o My point was that it shouldnt have caused a malfunction but i was getting nowhere with him.

They obviously had the software to resolve the issue so they must have known about it.
 
Its not like a phone at all.
Theres no updates every other day to mess with stuff in the background.
What would have changed in the software to make it need an upgrade to work?
 
I'd maybe post a little tweet at BMW UK to ask their opinion and maybe reiterate that it's an integral safety feature which can also be used in an emergency.
 
Angie4m said:
I'd maybe post a little tweet at BMW UK to ask their opinion and maybe reiterate that it's an integral safety feature which can also be used in an emergency.
Click to expand...

Yes this is correct, I forgot about this .. its called the dynamic emergency braking mode

this function is intended for emergencies when the driver can no longer slow down the car using the brake pedal. The passenger can also stop the car in this way should, for example the driver suddenly has some sort of health issue where they can no longer control the car
 
Thanks everyone for your replies, much appreciated.

I have already emailed BMW UK when i got back from the garage and asked for an explanation. Wonder what i will get ?
 
Sounds like they solved a problem much like "reformatting windows" makes your laptop faster, rather than curing the underlying problem.

They probably just reset all adaptations/flashed the firmware and hoped for the best.
 
Well, this is the reply which eventually came this afternoon :

Thanks for coming back to me. I’m sorry to hear the electric parking brake on your BMW Z4 failed. I can understand how disappointing this must be for you.

I’ve spoken to Georgia Bradley, service advisor at Lloyd South Lakes about this. She said the software has been updated, there should be no faults with this now. She also said you’ll be contacted within the next two working days to discuss your concerns and resolve this matter.

We do build cars to a high standard – but there are times when things can go wrong. We give a three year warranty which is designed to offer you peace of mind against this. As I’m sure you can appreciate we can’t guarantee the life of any part failing. We rely on our Centre’s for technical advice and support. But I’m sure you’ll understand they can’t foresee any issues that may happen.

We value feedback from our customers and your comments have been logged with us under reference number 1-37098804901.

If there’s anything else I can help you with, please let me know.

Kind regards

Maroua

BMW Group
United Kingdom
Maroua Boukeltoum
Customer Service Executive
Customer Service
Summit ONE
Summit Avenue, Farnborough
Hampshire, GU14 0FB
Tel : +44 (0)370 5050 160
Email : [email protected]
Web: http://www.bmw.co.uk


This gets worse
I had the call from Lloyds and was told blah blah blah as above, then she said but its like a phone or washing machine :? electrical things can go wrong.

A Washing machine :? :? - is this really what BMW staff are trained to say to waffle their way around an issue.

Anyhow, I have gone back to customer services and asked for an indepth explanation of what they have done with the software. I will wait their reply again.
 
Fair enough its had a software update but they mentioned that parts can fail.
What part has failed? The software?
Does that not mean it could fail at any time at all?
Not that software fails on its own.
 
Hi, did you get any resolve on this with BMW and an explanation. I've been out in the car 4 times today. Within 5 mins of parking up at Morrisons and coming back to the car I got the yellow P and parking brake fail.

Fab! I'll go to my mates garage first to use his diagnostics machine and go from there
 
Angie4m said:
Hi, did you get any resolve on this with BMW and an explanation. I've been out in the car 4 times today. Within 5 mins of parking up at Morrisons and coming back to the car I got the yellow P and parking brake fail.

Fab! I'll go to my mates garage first to use his diagnostics machine and go from there
Click to expand...

I used to think that the old fashioned lever with a button on the top was a bit "ox cart" but I'm starting to change my views !
 
ronk said:
Angie4m said:
Hi, did you get any resolve on this with BMW and an explanation. I've been out in the car 4 times today. Within 5 mins of parking up at Morrisons and coming back to the car I got the yellow P and parking brake fail.

Fab! I'll go to my mates garage first to use his diagnostics machine and go from there
Click to expand...

I used to think that the old fashioned lever with a button on the top was a bit "ox cart" but I'm starting to change my views !
Click to expand...

Funny, I'm thinking the same. I've had a handbrake failure in the Range Rover, also electronic (possibly the same in the disco?) but I have been able to rectify that issue as it is still mechanical and usually sticking shoes.

Now it's going to be the inconvenience of getting it to the garage and getting the time to do that, really not possible with 10 hour days and the garage being at least 45 mins on a good day. Luckily I park on a flat surface, so I'll not be taking my car to my parents until it's fixed as their driveway slopes.
 
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