tnixa

I replaced my front brake pads and sensor today but when I reset the service indicator I reset the rear one by accident and now the "Brake" dash light is on and I'm getting service messages to change the rear brake pads and the remaining mileage for the rear pads is -15,000 miles. I don't recall what the remaining mileage was for the rear pads before I reset it but I know it was not red in the idrive (not requiring service).

I did some searching but I have not found anyone with a fix for this problem other than having the dealer reset it. Does anyone know of an alternative solution?

yelcab2

There is a you tube video on how to reset service indicators using the dash buttons. Search for that. Other than that, you ... don't really rely on the service indicators to inspect the brakes, do you?

tnixa

I know how to reset the service indicators. The problem is that I reset the indicator for the rear brake pads by accident. Seems if you reset it for the brake pads without having replaced the wear sensor then the reset will give you -15,000 miles and complain about needing service. I reset the service indicator for the front brakes also and that one is working fine (reads 25,000 miles) but that was expected as I replaced the pads and sensor.

I read that someone disconnected the sensor and bypassed the sensor with a paper clip and was able to then reset the service indicator back to normal but I haven't tried that yet.

My buddy has one of those diagnostic scan tools. Does anyone know if this would work to fix the -15,000 mile problem for the rear brake pads?

yelcab2

A new sensor is just a wire. So, it would make sense to use a paperclip to fake it out. I would try that.

tnixa

Update: I took my old worn out sensor from the front and spliced the wires together (paperclip would have worked also) and hooked it up as the rear sensor and then I did the service reset for the rear and it went from -15,000 to 31,000. I then hooked the existing rear sensor back up and all was well. After driving it around a little the idrive is now reporting 10,000 for the rear brake pads which seems about right. So kind of a lot of messing around but I'm happy I was able to get things back to normal without having to go to the dealer.