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Active Front Steering malfunction messsage

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Old 12-19-2009, 10:32 AM
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Hello,

My name is Arjan and I live in the Netherlands. I drive a 2005 E61 535D and I really love this car. Today as I was driving in a parking garage, just before I turned the car in a parking area, I got an message stating that there is a malfunction with the Active Front Steering, possibly caused by other steering behavior (sorry for my bad translation). At the same time the direction-light system also stopped working correctly. After I have finished a turn the lights do not stop flashing. I have to shut them down manually. I went to the BMW dealer but the could not help me today. I have to make an appointment for this.......I was really furious when they told me this.

I hope that someone on this forum knows why AFS malfunctioned or how I can resolve this problem or at least tell me what could be the problem. Maybe someone has experienced the same problem and can tell me how they fixed it.

This week I replaced my tires (summer) with new ones (winter). The summer tires are run flat types. The winter tires are not....could this be the problem / cause??

Thank you

Arjan
Old 12-19-2009, 10:50 AM
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add fluid to the steering fluid tank....its probally empty or very low.

make sure you get the proper fluid for your car..
Old 12-19-2009, 10:55 AM
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I agree that the fluid is probably just a little bit low...
Old 12-19-2009, 11:08 AM
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Agree with the fluid level. My car does the same when weather transition into winter (cold). The service advisor checks the fluid level, and it is at level, but he adds just a little over. Error goes away.

However, you mentioned your turn signal malfunctioned at the same time. It could be a sign that your vehicle is experiencing electrical problems or Micro Power Module problems.
Old 12-19-2009, 01:37 PM
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Maybe battery running low, i got this message when the car needed a new battery.
Old 12-19-2009, 01:43 PM
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@bigscore, @Rudy @vkhong thank you for your quick reply,

I will take a look at the fluid level tomorrow (it is almost midnight here now). I really hope this is the problem.

@vkhong. Thank you for gving me the correct term "turn signal". I just could not find the right term for it!!. Somehow at the same moment my turn signal did not turn itself off anymore. I have to stop is manually by flipping the turn signal handle again. Last week it started freezing here. Last night it was -10 C. It's not that cold, but maybe too cold for BMW ;-)

Arjan
Old 12-19-2009, 01:46 PM
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@scarce35 The battery was replaced 6 months ago. It should be fine. I do not have any start problems. With my previous BMW (E39) I had to replace the battery because it would not start anymore when it was cold.
It is worth to check it though!

Arjan
Old 12-19-2009, 02:05 PM
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Originally Posted by AHSB' post='1076612' date='Dec 19 2009, 02:32 PM
Hello,

My name is Arjan and I live in the Netherlands. I drive a 2005 E61 535D and I really love this car. Today as I was driving in a parking garage, just before I turned the car in a parking area, I got an message stating that there is a malfunction with the Active Front Steering, possibly caused by other steering behavior (sorry for my bad translation). At the same time the direction-light system also stopped working correctly. After I have finished a turn the lights do not stop flashing. I have to shut them down manually. I went to the BMW dealer but the could not help me today. I have to make an appointment for this.......I was really furious when they told me this.

I hope that someone on this forum knows why AFS malfunctioned or how I can resolve this problem or at least tell me what could be the problem. Maybe someone has experienced the same problem and can tell me how they fixed it.

This week I replaced my tires (summer) with new ones (winter). The summer tires are run flat types. The winter tires are not....could this be the problem / cause??



Thank you

Arjan
Adding Fluid fixed my problem. I only got the mal function when the car was started cold. after it warmed up the warning went away if I restarted the car. the Dealer siad the fluid tends to evaporate. They added new fluid while the car was in thier driveway and I was out in 5 minutes.

-Jglos
Old 12-20-2009, 10:44 PM
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Got in the car this morning and the problem was still there. I reinitialized the Active Steering and then, after restarting the car, the problem was still there. When I drove off the problem disappeared and everything worked again, including the turn signal.

thanks for all your replies..

Arjan
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