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anyone else had this abs dsc problems?

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  SDpnoy 
#1 ·
so, my car(2001 325i) last week started to have this problem with the traction control kicking in while on the freeway, sometimes around town(15-35 mph) what happens is this

i'm driving on the freeway, cruising speed 65 mph
then suddenly the DSC light blinks
a loud buzzing sound then follows (abs, DSC pump i believe?)
then tries to lock one of the wheels some times front driver or rear sometimes passenger side front or rear.
usually it would send a few pulses to try to lock one of the wheels then the yellow DSC and yellow Brake light would come on and stay on

it continued doing this every time i drive from school/work(i work at my school), or anywhere i plan to get it fixed before February.

today however...

earlier today however, i was going to school as i was driving in a twisty road (my usual way to school)
and this is what i remembered (i was never knocked out, but i don't remember the whole thing entirely, just most of it)

this particular twisty road is a 2 way, and also a bit narrow

so let us start

it was 9:00 AM i got ready, for school/work (10:00-12:15 pm school, 12:30 -4:00 PM work) work was ~30 miles away

got in my car, started i and was on my way
then about 8-10 minutes later i was on the twisty road (took that long because i live in a private community with 25 mph speed limits and slow drivers, kids, pedestrians etc)

9:10-9:12 AM
i was on the twisty road doing the 45 mph speed limit
there was this one particular curve that some on coming drivers go a bit wide
i anticipated it so i was a bit more to the right
suddenly the DSC kicks in, and this time it was a bit more forceful this time that it locked the passenger side wheels completely for a split second, which send both passenger side wheels to the dirt
this then turned to a of snap over steer situation, i just remember the car drifting left then right and then left again
when the car finally drifted left the tired dug in the dirt embankment
the car then rolled over

so i turned the car off
got out of the passenger side
and this is what i saw...

shattered rear glass
the roof on the back is bent on both sides
rear passenger window is shattered
tail lights were smashed
fuel port door bent & broken
both of the rear wheels were bent
the front however
the trim pieces were broken
splash guard was removed
radiator bracket was bent and so was the radiator
none of the airbags was destroyed

Fortunately i was just fine no bruise or scratch (i am starting to experience some back and neck pain however.)
and i have full coverage insurance

so anyways anyone else had this problem with the traction control kicking in?
what did you do to fix it?
any similar stories with traction control kicking in at weird situations?
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Back when I bought my E46, it had the trifecta on the dash.the abs dsc and brake lights were all illuminated. The PO said the car would shudder on right hand turns. I took it to my local indie shop and they read the abs codes for free. It turned out to be a bad wheel speed sensor. People say you can clean them..but, here in Florida at least, they don't really get dirty. It just went bad. It was a cheap fix though.. i think it was a $50 part..Yeah brakes aren't something you really want to push off for too long. Are you going to buy another E46?
 
#3 ·
Back when I bought my E46, it had the trifecta on the dash.the abs dsc and brake lights were all illuminated. The PO said the car would and would shudder on right hand turns. I took it to my local indie shop and they read the abs codes for free. It turned out to be a bad wheel speed sensor. People say you can clean them..but, here in Florida at least, they don't really get dirty. It just went bad. It was a cheap fix though.. i think it was a $50 part..Yeah brakes aren't something you really want to push off for too long. Are you going to buy another E46?
definitely
but also considering an e92
 
#4 ·
It is a tough choice. I didn't care for the E9X at first, but it's growing on me. But if I were in a similar situation as yourself, I think I would opt for an E46 M3. Glad you made it out of that rollover relatively unscathed. Kinda sucks that your abs being on the fritz caused the rollover in the first place. At least you gained something out of it. Good luck with your decision.
 
#5 ·
Glad you made it out safely. Sorry you lost your car to this DCS issue. My 325ci convertible just experienced DCS problems where the wheels locked up alternating brake pulses (quite scary even at 35mph). I pulled over, turned it off, checked the wheels, scanned OBD-2 codes (none) & fired it back up. The light reset & came right bavk on as I moved firther down the road. The system activated again while driving in a straight line & very cautiously (even radio off). The Traction control triangle, 'Brake' & 'DCS' lights were illuminated in solid yellow.

Potential solutions & final fix:
-checked DCS fuses, good
-removed, cleaned & reinstalled each wheel speed sensor
Issue remained so I had my Indy shop scan the ABS system & they found the Front Left wheel speed sensor to be faulty
-ordered the replacement part from BavAuto, part# tel:34526752681 for $100
-replaced the Front Left wheel speed sensor, drove 30 feet & car ABS, DCS systems are working great.

Hope this is helpful to someone
David
 
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