Stuboski

Hi Gang,
Per the title, I've been dealing with this for a month or so now. It started out intermittently, now the lights are on all the time. Initially, it would come and go, then it got to were the lights would come on with good certainty after I drove the car for a mile or even less. It was associated with a lurch and/or reduced power or I could feel the ABS kicking in. My buddy hooked the car up to his code reader, and the one code we pulled up was for the left front ABS sensor. I went ahead and replaced the sensor, and as soon as I did, the lights went from being intermittent to staying on all of the time. I still have the left front ABS sensor code with a brand new sensor. I have also tried resetting the steering wheel position indicator (the turning the wheel from lock to lock trick) to no avail. Here are the codes we are currently pulling up, and what I've found them to mean by Googling each code:

2F0D - Radiator blind, input signal
55C3 - AWD limp home control activated
55C6 - Wheel speed sensor
5E24 - ABS pump pressure not plausible
A3C3 - TPMS error (I'm sure one of my TPMS sensors went dead as I'm running my winter tires which are several years old now)

My buddy cleared out the codes again this afternoon, and now my turn signals no longer self cancel. So, at this point I'm leaning towards the steering wheel position sensor. However, it still doesn't explain the wheel speed sensor code, or does it? We are also thinking of pulling the transfer case pump and just looking a the gears on that, which apparently can break. Has anybody else ever dealt with this specific group of codes, and if so, what fixed it?

Cheers,
Stu

t76turbo

Hi Stu
I just joined the forum today. I'm somewhat new to e6x and thought of adding my .02

my wifes e61 was having 4x4/abs/dsc issues. Her's turned out to be transfer case motor. It also had tell tale sign by
clunking noise on startup coming from transfer case area.
It also had transfer case codes, can't recall codes right now.

On my, new to me E61, I currently have all lights on right now. My scan tool won't communicate with VTG module (transfer case module) so here I think it
could be the module, perhaps water intrusion. Will be pulling module tomorrow.
Could also be steering sensor disk being dirty. Its located on steering shaft behind steering wheel. PITA to get to apparently (youtube video) but can be cleaned instead of needing to be replaced. easier than dropping/tilting exhaust, and pulling all splash shields. Should throw steering angle sensor code, yours is not.

There is also procedure to reset steering angle sensor. This is done with scan tool, and should also be done when doing wheel alignment or steering rack service. Differs and not same procedure as turning steering lock to lock.

In my previous quest I came across few threads mentioning some problems with ABS pump. You have a code there and that's where I think you
should focus on. Can't remember the forum, just google it and include "forum" in your search title.

...and naturally, hows your battery?

Erwin

Stuboski

Hi Erwin,

Thank you for prompting me to revisit this post I started. I do finally have the car back on the road, and all of my lights are gone (well, except for a TPMS malfunction). Here's what went down.

My left front axle rusted behind the tone ring for the wheel speed sensor, which pushed the ring out and destroyed the sensor. So I ended up getting a new axle as, according to the shop I took the car to (who treats me great and I absolutely trust), the labor to remove and replace the tone ring would have equaled just replacing the whole axle and CV joint. So with a new BMW wheel speed sensor (again, they insisted that BMW's are very particular when it comes to these sensors, and I need to go with an original BMW unit), this took care of that issue.

Then they did find water intrusion in the back of the car, which I knew about and have been trying to stay on top of by keeping the rear sunroof drains open. The water got into the RDC module, so that was the other piece of that puzzle. They replaced my RDC module with a used unit they had in their shop. I figured I may as well go with a used module, because unless I want to remove my sunroof and weld in a steel panel, it may get wet again. I did not call them yet to let them know my TPMS light came back on, so perhaps that module is not good, either. But, for the time being, it's not bringing up the other lights.

Now, my steering angle position sensor. I had removed and cleaned it per the Youtube videos. It did have some residue ("plastic sweat") on it that came off on my q-tip, but it was no where near as dirty as the one they cleaned in the video. I suspect that car lives in a very hot and humid climate (like Florida) where the temperatures inside parked cars are broiling for a good part of the year. That operation was successful, except for I apparently did not snap the lock ring for the clock spring in correctly when I reassembled my steering wheel. They originally told me I was going to need a whole new steering position sensor, but they were able to repair it instead.

Prior to taking the car to the shop, my buddy and I replaced the servo motor for the transfer case, and of course we put new fluid in as well. I think my servo motor was still functioning (I just turned 100k miles), but the worm gear inside of it was getting pretty worn down. So, it was only a matter of time before that took a shit. I'm not sure if that was what was throwing the code for the transfer case or not.

So anyhow, my car is driving great again. They did give me a write-up on some other issues that I need to address with it (cracked rear brake hoses, valve cover gasket, leaking coolant heater line, oil filter housing leak), so that should keep my busy for the rest of the winter.

- Stu