Hi guys,

I have an E60 2006 525i and I love it. But over the past few weeks the cars electronics play up big time.

Basically what happens is that when I start the car, everything is all fine.

After I have ridden the car a certain distance (very variable, but usually within 15 mins) I suddenly get a whole lot of warning messages:
1. Control systems - brake and driving control systems failure. Drive moderately and avoid hard braking.
2. Active Steering inactive - please stop if possible and restart engine
3. Restrain systems - function of airbags, belt tensioners and belt force limiters faulty. Ensure your seat belt is fastened despite the fault.
4. Cruise control fault - cruise control function faulty.

The washer fluid low message isnt anything new.

Pictures of the above are attached.

All the dashboard lights light up.
My speedometer fails to work.
I lose my power steering - very hard to turn.
I lose cruise control ability.
Braking is less responsive.

This fault remains so until I stop the car and turn off the ignition. After about 5mins I am able to turn the car on with no faults and drive properly, however the fault happens again within 15mins.

I took my car to a private BMW mechanics and they did the diagnostic check on it and they came to the conclusion that there was a fault with the DSC module and that the control unit couldn't communicate with the diagnostic. I have been quoted $1890 AUD for the DSC ECU part alone (ordered from Germany) and $2200 in total (including fitting and a few hours of programming).

Has anyone else come across this problem before? No doubt $2200 is quite a hefty price to shelf-out and I want to make sure that there's nothing simple in the first instance.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many have complained about symptoms like this and they were related to the battery or alternator. Even though the car may start and seem to run fine the battery may not be at a capacity that can sustain the electronics and the heavy load on the battery. My neighbor has a 545 and had the exact same types of messages and tried batter first(cheapest) and that worked for only a few days. He then replaced the alternator and solved the problem once the codes were cleared with a ODB scanner.

With regards to the battery, the mechanic said he tested it with the car both off and on for some time and it had good voltage. Don't know about the alternator tho.

hello

i have a e60 530i se . i had the ABS fault.

i would suggest in changing the battery . or charging it. i checked my battery with the AA and they said my battery was good. i would take it a garage to check your abs sensors

are your brake pads ok? as this will cause inconsisents on the braking systems as the front maybe brand new pads on and the rear have virtually none on so the balaance is all wrong.

check the small thing's first instead off paying $2200.

regards
Richard