The terrible three yellow lights

DanielS

Member
 Amstelveen, the Netherlands
So I bought the car with the three dreaded lights, break, DSC, ABS.

When I used PA Soft to scan the car for Errors it gave me the following error codes:
1.: 5E24/A0 - Pressure sensor 1/2 not plausible
2.: 5D8C/A0 - Sensor Cluster Timeout Can
3.: 5E21/E0 - Pressure Sensor 2 electrical faulty
4.: 5D8F/E0 - Sensor Cluster Error internal
5.: 5E38/E0 - Yaw rate sensor electrical faulty

My first thoughts where to replace sensor 2 (the one furthest from the Brake master cylinder ) with one I picked of of Ebay with the same partnumber. The idea was, That would eliminate numbers 1 and 3. So I received the parts, replaced the sensor and now i have new errors.

1.: 5D99/A0 - Sensor Cluster CAN error
2.: 5E20/A0 - Pressure Sensor 1 electrical faulty
3.: 5E21/E0 - Pressure Sensor 2 electrical faulty
4.: 5D8F/E0 - Sensor Cluster Error internal
5.: 5E38/E0 - Yaw rate sensor electrical faulty

Did I screw up, should I have changed the other sensor? or am I starting in the wrong place to get this sorted? any pointers would be much appreciated.
 
It sounds to me like a faulty sensor or faulty wiring could be causing one of the data busses to be corrupted. I tackled a similar issue on my zed that was due to poor connections in one of the crimped connectors.

You might be able to narrow things down by unplugging one or two of the affected sensors in turn and seeing if you get plausible data from the remaining ones, using INPA or similar to view the live data.
 
I used a Creator 310+ to read my codes when I had an amber handbrake light and traction control light show up, it also inhibited the DSC switch from working. Code reader came back with Brake pressure No 2 sensor inplausability. Looked at it in live data and it seemed to be performing just the same as the No1 sensor. I did use a replacement from ebay circa £12 with BMW part number. Put that in then cleared the code with the Creator 310+ which put the lights out and restored the DSC button back to operation. Since you only changed one sensor could it be that the other one is now mismatched in its range with the new one and decided its faulty? I would put another new one in and see if that clears that fault code. Check the wiring at the yaw rate sensor is clean and tight, think that is either in the centre console between the seats but check on that.
 
colb said:
I used a Creator 310+ to read my codes when I had an amber handbrake light and traction control light show up, it also inhibited the DSC switch from working. Code reader came back with Brake pressure No 2 sensor inplausability. Looked at it in live data and it seemed to be performing just the same as the No1 sensor. I did use a replacement from ebay circa £12 with BMW part number. Put that in then cleared the code with the Creator 310+ which put the lights out and restored the DSC button back to operation. Since you only changed one sensor could it be that the other one is now mismatched in its range with the new one and decided its faulty? I would put another new one in and see if that clears that fault code. Check the wiring at the yaw rate sensor is clean and tight, think that is either in the centre console between the seats but check on that.
I've read you saying this in several helpful posts now.
I for one am making a note that if it happens to me, I'm going to change both regardless. :thumbsup:
 
Tonight I will change the other sensor with a new one. Also refill the brake fluid as it's probably going to be to low after the change. Then I will hookup INPA and find a manual on how to measure live data on these sensors.

The yaw rate sensor is not something I look forward to replacing. The stealership wants like € 500,- plus for just the part. If I get a second hand unit does it need coding?
 
Yaw-Rate-off-the-charts.jpg

So I hooked up INPA as suggested, Still working things out with INPA, but the YAW Rate is just off the charts. What does this mean, broken sensor or can I recalibrate?
 
DanielS said:
Yaw-Rate-off-the-charts.jpg

So I hooked up INPA as suggested, Still working things out with INPA, but the YAW Rate is just off the charts. What does this mean, broken sensor or can I recalibrate?

I would suggest locating the sensor and checking its connection to start with.
I believe it lives under the passenger seat (or is that the lateral acceleration sensor? I forget!) so water ingress could easily affect it.
 
It was damp and there was water in the plastic bag... :cry:

Guess I can clean out the car with the vacuum but this sucks.... or destination F*ckt
 
Bingo, looks like someone has been in there before you!
You could try drying it out really well and hope for the best. I am not sure if a replacement would require coding; I doubt it would but might be worth doing some digging online before committing to a second hand replacament.
 
Interesting article here: https://uk.autologic.com/news/bmw-z4-abs-sensor-lateral-acceleration-sensor-diagnosis-how-to-test-and-diagnose

According to this information, the heavily corroded terminal in your image is actually the sensor power. Worth investigating that and trying to clean it up. Maybe get a meter onto that pin to check for voltage.

Edit:
And remember to put a bit of silicon grease on that connector when you reassemble it. That should prevent water ingress and corrosion in the future.
 
After some digging in TIS, the part number is called the Speed sensor. Also the part number (34526764018) via RealOem.com gives me the speed sensor. Now if I understand some of the youtube video's the speed sensor also supplies information about DSC / ABS / Yaw - Acceleration.

Testing the Wires does seem like a good idea, yet I can't find any wire or metal piece small enough to fit in the tiny hole. So I am just going for a second hand unit. I will not try and fix this unit, it has rust on it and the corrosion just seems excessive. Better to get a second hand unit then hours of fiddling around with a maybe broken sensor.

As for coding, I understand a second hand unit should work, yet you MUST recalibrate it with INPA if I understand the internet correctly. But there is no VIN information stored in the device itself.

Now for the partnumber, when I search online, I can see plenty of people offering part number 34526764018 yet mine does have a -03 after the part number. Do I need to take this into consideration when looking for a part number, or just the 34526764018?
 
I guess the main question is, where has the water come from and is that fixed?
Worth a good search before you put it all back together.
Although a plastic bag seems a good idea, if moisture gets in then it can't get out again, and it's addressing the symptom, not the fault.
 
I checked all the rubber hoses last light and they seem fine. I am not to worried about rain as the car will be covered when we are not using her and in the winter she is going in a dry storage unit where I can also air out the carpets.
 
So today was a great day, got home from work and the second hand unit arrived during that day. So after some minor engine work. (Discovered the air intake boot had a massive hole in it, so replaced it with a new unit) I plugged the 2nd hand DSC unit in the car... poof!! No more lights on the dashboard!! ABS, Brakes, everything just fine!!

Fired INPA back up, checked for errors and for now, no errors showing relating to the unit. Now I need to take the car out for a quick drive and give it a go to see if the brakes all function as expected, but I don't see why not. Just really happy the issue is resolved.

There is just the issue of drying out the carpet. I have a screwdriver holding the carpet up as much as possible, but it's still damp. So I am not confident on just screwing everything back in. The weather here also has not been very help full, as the car is sitting in the drive way. I am going to put a fan in there for the night just on circulation, no heat. Hopefuly this wil help...

Also the possibility of it happening again got me thinking on how to protect the module. I was thinking of vacuum packing the module and bracket then just cut out the opening for the screws and put a tad of glue so the seal remains. But open for suggestions....
 
That's great news. :thumbsup:

Hopefully you can get the carpet dried out, and protecting the module sounds like a good plan. Could you possibly vacuum pack it then glue something to the vacuum pack that you can attach to the bracket?
 
So I just did the most stupid thing. It's now 23:15 in the Netherlands, my wife just came home from a dinner and I wanted to give the car a go to see if the ABS DSC all worked. So I just drove out of the street and after the first round about... BOOM lights on... f*ck!!

Then I realised after I turned around and parked the car I did not attach the unit it was just sitting there on the floor... off coarse it's going to roll around and throw a fit... :headbang:

So tomorrow I will vacuumpack the unit. Cut out the pieces i need for the connector and bolt tad glue and then install in all back the way it was supposed to be....
 
So today was a good day... well sort off.

So first the day started with vacuum sealing the sensor, I then attached the sensor back in the bracket and hooked things up in the car. After this, took the car for a spin and all was good! :driving:

The rest of the day I spent working on the suspension and the engine, I will discuss this in my other topic.

Now after a playing around with the car all day and took it out for a drive to test the suspension and all and after a drive, I got home and the DSC light was on again... so I got INPA out again, and bugger me... 2 errors

5E24 Druck Sensor 1/2 unplausibel
5E21 Druck Sensor 2 elektrisch defekt

As tomorrow (sunday) I am going to Germany to get the roof fixed, I need to get this sorted. My first thoughts are to replace sensor 2 again with the original sensor that was in the car.
The other thing I read was about that the DSC module under the carpet can't really take a lot of heat. So it's now in a plastic vacuumed bag, and can't get rid of the heat. So I am going to remove the chair (again) and undo all the handy work and connect everything back up the way BMW designed it.

Suggestions are offcoarse more than welcome.
 
And the saga continues!

I started the day with replacing the new sensor I bought with the one I had originally removed. This for a base line. Then with DIS instead of INPA, I read the errors and removed them. After this I did a calibration via DIS (I think) with the hope this would work. After turning off the car, the lights were out and all was well. I left the passenger seat in and on my way to Germany to get the roof done. (I will write a review about this later)

Went from my place to a ATM and then onwards, after about 40km of driving on the highway... poof lights come back on. It was about 23 degrees C outside but comfortable, not boiling hot.

After reading some forums I am going to use a contact spray on both the DSC Pressure sensors and their connectors, but I doubt this will fix it.

Now I would love to hear your recommendations. I have 2 brand new sensors and I want to get this sorted? :|
 
So I have been looking into this issue and I just can't figure it out.

Now after reading on the German forum they have the same issue on the E46 and some other cars. they mention that the cable length of sensor 1 and sensor 2 are the same and that sometimes that wires are exchanged.
More in the link below.
https://www.motor-talk.de/forum/how...ennt-gelb-fehler-5e20-5e21-5e24-t6689037.html
Is this also possible on the E85?

The one thing I am not sure off is the coding of the DSC unit. If I look at the German post they code using NCSExpert. Has anyone ever done this on the Z4?
 
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