Help the newbie doesn't know

[SoDelBMW]

These lights came on in my car today while driving and I'm unsure why. I know it's the DSC and brake but I don't know why they would come on during my drive. Do I have to take it to the dealer or can I turn it off or fix the problem?http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/02/se6a6a6a.jpg


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[ELCID86]

ANy chance you hit and held the button while driving? What were you doing when it happened. Does it reset when you push it again (once)?

[Avetiso]

ANy chance you hit and held the button while driving? What were you doing when it happened. Does it reset when you push it again (once)?
Hitting and holding would make the BRAKE illuminate orange, not red. Something is wrong.

Mason, is your car misaligned?

[SoDelBMW]

ANy chance you hit and held the button while driving? What were you doing when it happened. Does it reset when you push it again (once)?

I was driving down the road normally when the car beeped and they turned on. I tried pressing the DSC button but it won't turn it off.

[gmurphy]

I was driving down the road normally when the car beeped and they turned on. I tried pressing the DSC button but it won't turn it off.

Recycle the ignition when your home


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[SoDelBMW]

Hitting and holding would make the BRAKE illuminate orange, not red. Something is wrong.

Mason, is your car misaligned?

Dario haven't had the car checked since my last oil change and that was like 2 months ago so that might be the problem. Also this is my DD so is it ok to drive the car or do have to get it checked?

[SoDelBMW]

Alright I just went out and recycled the ignition and the DSC light went off immediately then when I let the brake in the brake light went off. Thanks gmuphy but is this going to reoccurring and or cause problems?

[gmurphy]

Alright I just went out and recycled the ignition and the DSC light went off immediately then when I let the brake in the brake light went off. Thanks gmuphy but is this going to reoccurring and or cause problems?

Happened to me once. Never did it again. If it does it again take it somewhere to see if it will show any codes. Are your brakes good? Your welcome. :)


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[Newjack]

Just gonna quote another thread I found elsewhere on this.


According to official docs on E46 BMW braking systems, the on-dash BRAKE light can be red for two different reasons: low brake fluid in the deposit or parking brake being applied. So, you can pull the protective boot on the parking brake lever off and eyeball the switch to see if it is damaged or misadjusted. It is a "closed when engaged" logic and is supposed to close at the second click of the lever. Else, the car thinks it is low on brake fluid. That is monitored by a float that closes a reed switch; here it is a "closed when full" logic, so if anything interrupts the circuit (disconnected, damaged cable, etc.) or prevents the float from moving an 'empty' signal will be sent.

[johnrando]

Good find Rob.

[SoDelBMW]

Thanks for the advice guys. All hail the Mafia!

[brettbimmer]

Mason, I believe that you probably had a wheel speed sensor reading failure, either due to one of the sensors being dirty and not getting a clear signal, or one is beginning to fail (or some other wire connection in this system lost connectivity for a bit). Rob's info. above is good, but being that you happen to have had both DSC & brake lights illuminate while you were driving, I don't believe that it is relevant in your case. I'm going with the traction control shut itself off, at least partially. Standard procedure is for the car to reset itself when you cycle the ignition, so it should reset as you said that it has. If the fault is still present when you restart the car, you would have the same warning lights. If it loses the signal while driving again, you should get the same set of lights. If it lights up again, it would be good to try and figure out what is causing the issue, but you can still drive the car (but traction control will not be active).

Also, there are two modes to disabling all traction control systems:
Hold DSC button for about one second, and the traction control is disabled. This gives you DSC light in the center of the cluster.
Hold DSC button for about three seconds, and it disables both the traction control and the stability control. When totally off, you should see the DSC light and YELLOW brake light as Dario mentioned. View posted in a separate post below.

In case you need a good DIY on wheel speed sensor cleaning: http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=17759

[stephenkirsh]

Also, there are two modes to disabling all traction control systems (detailed in the manual too as I recall):
Hold DSC button for about three seconds, and it is partially disabled. From memory, this gives you DSC button and red brake light (even if handbrake is off/ready to drive).

Not quite. Only the DSC lights off to show the DSC is off. You only get the BRAKE light when the stability control is off after holding it down for 10 seconds.

Easy way for me to remember:
Tier 1: 1 thing off, 1 light on
Tier 2: 2 things off, 2 lights on

[SoDelBMW]

Thanks for the info Brett and Stephan I'll have to look into it tomorrow seeing it's going to be the last decent day on the east coast for a while. I'll definitely get back to you on the final cause if I can find it.

[brettbimmer]

Thanks for the corrections Stephen! I updated my original post to reflect the information. (Can you tell it's been too long since I have been to the track??)

I did a quick GoPro video on this, which can be seen here. Totally off in my car takes 3 seconds, though I hear that there are some variations to time depending on what software is in your car.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOUgMScQeCI