3 Warning lights - tire pressure/DSC/brakes

[Bill Scherer]

These 3 warning light/trouble light indicators have lit up on my 2006 z4. The car drives fine, however I would like to address this issue and get them turned off. The car manual says that it may be a wheel sensor or a steering sensor. Can anyone offer some advice on how I may be able to determine what's wrong and how I might be able to fix this myself? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Bill

 

[Oddly Godly]

You need a code reader. That should hopefully identify what's at fault. It's worth having one anyway.

 

[Bill Scherer]

Hi Oddly Godly. I connected a code reader to my car and the read-out said that my car is "unsupported". I guess this means that I will need to pay a visit to my mechanic. Thanks for that suggestion though.

 

[Oddly Godly]

I have a creator 310+ scanner that just scans BMWs and Minis. It's possible your scanner is a generic one and doesn't support your car. The creator scanner should read your car. Obviously a mechanic should have a better scanner. For the cost of the creator scanner it's worth having anyway as on cars this age sooner or later a code will pop up. Some codes are easier to diagnose than others. My code reader has already paid for its self several times over.

 

[Peter1450]

Had the same on the Z3 , was the Front offside Pulse Generator/ DSC sensor……….always the most expensive one! But as mentioned above scanned with a Creator 310

 

[Bill Scherer]

Hi Oddly Godly and others. I got myself a Creator 310+ scanner and it recognized my z4. Most of the readings seemed to be OK, however for the one of the readings there were 2 results shown. I have attached a picture of those results for reference. I don't know what they mean.

Another issue has also cropped up. A friend suggested that I disconnect and reconnect the battery in hopes that it might resolve the initial issue with the warning/trouble light indicators. Now, after I have reconnected the battery, my radio is not working and it reads "Disabled". Does anyone know what the remedy is to fix the radio?

Thanks for any help that you can offer.

Bill

 

[t-tony]

Disconnecting your battery could have caused the car to go into”transport” mode. This can happen even when changing the battery but usually is accompanied by other things not working such as AC not working heater fan only working on slow and others. Unless “friends” have knowledge to go with these suggestions they’re often better ignored.
The best thing to have done was to clear the codes using your new Creator 310, then run the car and re scan to see which, if any, had returned. As some could be historical fault codes which hadn’t been cleared before. I don’t know if you can clear the transport code (if that’s what has happened, with the Crestor) but I’m sure Colin will @colb when he’s available.

Tony.

 

[colb]

Although transport mode is shown in the menu on the Creator scanner it is not active so wont reset it. May become active in future updates of the software. BMW Scanner 1.4 diagnostic software has the ability to reset transport mode but this runs on a laptop. It doesn’t have the ability to delete transport mode, it should have been deleted when the car had its PDI but they didn’t, probably knew it was a future money making opportunity.
I have managed to delete Transport mode using my Launch tablet diagnostic and coding unit and have done this on a few of our South Wales members it removes the Transport coding from some of the modules that get closed down when the car has a low battery condition so what power remains is there for starting the car. More trouble than its worth when a jump start would overcome a no start due to low battery and having to reset transport mode to bring back the disabled systems. If your near South Wales I can either reset or delete Transport mode at our Zedshed Cymru (my home garage) that a bunch of us down here all belong to.

 

[Oddly Godly]

Maybe you need the radio code to reset it. It might be in the service history if you have the service book. My father's car did the same when the battery was replaced.

 

[Bill Scherer]

In my online searches for a solution I saw that some people suggested that. One person mentioned that the radio code might be in the car's manual. I looked there, but the code isn't there. Someone said that you might find the code on the back of the radio, which would mean taking the radio out to see if it's there. If I find the code, what is the method to enter the code to restore the radio to working order?

 

[t-tony]

If I recall right my E84 Z4 didn't have a radio code. My Z3 did though.

Tony.

 

[colb]

Z4 didn't have a code, mine hasn't 2003 2.5

 

[Bill Scherer]

I pulled the radio out of the dash to see if there were any codes or other information on it. The attached photos show some information that was on the side of the radio. There was nothing on the inside, back end of the radio. Does anyone know if any of the information that is on the side of radio is a code or otherwise useful information? If there is a code, I wouldn't know how or where to enter it as the radio will only display the word "Disabled".

I have done many online searches regarding the "Disabled" reading on my radio. A lot of the search results included other vehicle issues that are symptomatic of the car being in transport mode. Those issues included AC and heat not working properly, etc. My AC and heat work fine as always. The only symptom that I am experiencing when I drive the car is that the radio doesn't work and just says "Disabled".

I still have the 3 warning light/trouble light indicators lit up, but I don't notice anything out of sorts (other than radio not working) when I drive the car. The Creator C310+ scanner was not helpful in resolving the issue with the warning/trouble lights. I connected the scanner to the port that is on the bottom of the dash near the steering wheel. The scanner came with a disk, but I don't know if it would be beneficial to load that onto my laptop. Doesn't it contain the same trouble shooting information as the C310+ scanner device? And if I did load it onto my computer, then I expect that I would need to purchase another cable to enable me to connect my laptop to my car. Is the software that is on the disk the same as that which is in the C310+ scanner?

Thank you for taking the time to respond fellow Z owners.

Sincerely,
Bill

 

[colb]

The disc that came with the Scanner contains the software to update your scanner and needs install on your laptop. My Creator was shipped with 11.0 version software, updating it on the laptop loaded version 12.1.
Once the update software is on your laptop plug the scanner in via usb cable supplied and hit the Creator update icon and follow instructions to update.

 

[Bill Scherer]

Thanks Colb. I loaded the upgrade from the disk onto my laptop and then from my laptop onto the scanner. I then attached the scanner to the car and tried again. Unfortunately it didn't give me any new options to solve my problem with the radio.

 

[Bill Scherer]

Update on the issue of trouble lights and also on radio disabled issue. Scanners could not detect the fault. My mechanic, who is all around knowledgeable and intuitive, tried but advised me to go to a BMW "specialist" friend of his. So I took it there. The shop is called The Little Garage. Matt at The Little Garage determined my problem to be caused by mice. In winter cold months, here in NY, i don't drive the car. So, it sat for several months in my garage, beneath a protective car cover. Nice and cozy for the little varmints. It seems that they like to eat the insulation jackets on the wiring. The insulation jackets contain a soy product and that's why the mice eat them. To detect and repair the problem it was necessary to remove the passenger seat. It was also necessary to remove/peel back the carpet from the floor and up and under the glove box. Quite a lot of work! Everything is fixed now, back in working order. Now I put some scented rodent deterrents in the car in strategic locations. Also, on mechanics advice, never put a protective car cover over the car while it's stored in the garage. That would be an invitation to rodents, only making things more comfortable for them. An expensive lesson learned. $1,400