Electronic Parking Brake Failure
- Thread starter Mouse
- Start date
Add another one to the list, 2011 2.3i, came back from a 25 mile drive, parked the car on the drive and no problem. Went back to the car an hour later and as I opened the door I got the Bong, yellow P lit up on the dash.
Only had the car since October, bought from a Bmw dealer with a year warranty so hopefully they will get it sorted tomorrow :thumbsdown:
Only had the car since October, bought from a Bmw dealer with a year warranty so hopefully they will get it sorted tomorrow :thumbsdown:
Bmw technician came out and plugged in his computer, it needs a software update. He made sure that the handbrake was off and off it's gone to the dealers. I asked if I could wait but they said it can take up to 8 hours for software updates :thumbsdown: anyway I now have a courtesy car for a couple of day's 
North West Surrey
cmp999 said:flybobbie said:
Got it back today, they have had it 2 day's, no charge as the car is still under warranty. They just said that it needed a system update, I now have a handbrake again lets hope that it lasts
Good result OP.
But it rather puts me off the idea of an E89 (or any newer BMW) to be honest - you really wouldn't want to be paying for this sort of stuff once the car is out of warranty! :x
I needed a new electric water pump and thermostat on my first Z4C - cost fitted was just over £800, but as the car was worth about £10K it was well worth doing.
But 05 onwards some E9*s have the same N52 engine, and you can buy one for about £3,500 - that sort of bill is nearly 25% of the value of the car!
And to be fair, what does an electronic handbrake do that a mechanical one doesn't do (well apart from fail)? :lol: If the electronic one still relies on a cable I really can't see the point - other than to generate revenue for dealerships and rape the wallets of buyers.
My comment about a cable was to reflect the ignorance of the person on the other end of the phone at the dealership.
The electric brake is very good in my experience. More room around the gear lever, holds for few seconds on slopes after every brake application, no slack adjusting required, part of traction control which probably where the software problems occur.
The electric brake is very good in my experience. More room around the gear lever, holds for few seconds on slopes after every brake application, no slack adjusting required, part of traction control which probably where the software problems occur.
I wonder . Rumour has it that the zed 5 ( if it is to be called) is going to have a canvas roof. Word is that the E89 folding metal roof had been unreliable ( so far I've been lucky) and costing BMW dearly with warranty claims , maybe fabric less comprehensive in moving mechanicals?
Not wanting to resurrect a hugely old topic, but mine did this today.
Drove to work this morning, no problems, Came back out to the car at 4pm to go home and got the bong. The brake did release ok, but now the switch does nothing and it won't re-engage (better than being stuck on I guess).
I guess I'll need to call the dealer and take it in. I do have the extended warranty although I forget the excess I picked. I wonder about the battery thing as occasionally I get a "low battery" dong a few seconds after switching the engine off (if I don't then get out and lock it up) although it's not done that recently.
Mind you, I'm using the car less these days now there's a train I can get to work.
Drove to work this morning, no problems, Came back out to the car at 4pm to go home and got the bong. The brake did release ok, but now the switch does nothing and it won't re-engage (better than being stuck on I guess).
I guess I'll need to call the dealer and take it in. I do have the extended warranty although I forget the excess I picked. I wonder about the battery thing as occasionally I get a "low battery" dong a few seconds after switching the engine off (if I don't then get out and lock it up) although it's not done that recently.
Mind you, I'm using the car less these days now there's a train I can get to work.
geordie_zed
Member
jmb said:
How bizarre - I just had the same problem too!
Had the car back at the dealer I got it from (Volkswagen in Newcastle) to fix up a few bits from when I bought it a few weeks back - went to pick it up and opened the door to a warning bong and no EPB! They'd driven it from the workshop to the carpark with no issue.
They put it on the diags and it said brake electronic power imbalance or something ... as they had put a warranty on the car they needed to sort it so they gave me a Tiguan to get home and took it over to BMW garage who further diagnosed it with the same result and said that the battery was low so they gave it a super charge and that got rid of the problem ...
Very impressed with the level of service from the dealer! And hopefully the problem is fixed - will see this weekend when I get a chance to get out ...
geordie_zed
Member
geordie_zed said:
got in Saturday morning to take the bairn to football and all fine - then first stop and bong bong bong ... orange (P) on the dash ...Have dropped it back at the dealer again for more diagnostics this week while I'm at work ...
Anyone know if this could simply be the battery is near the end of it's useable life ?