ASC & ABS Warning?

calbens · Post by **calbens** » Tue 20 Nov, 2007 22:44

I've had the purple people eater for as good as two years and to date *touch wood* have had trouble free motoring............................................until this evening

Driving along the M6 I stupidly drove on the inside lane, not something a true BMW driver should ever do. Anyway I got caught in the deep tramlines for a little while but when I came out of them to over take I had that usual sort of wobble with the steering but nothing major, or so I thought.
My ASB and ASC lights both came on and stayed on, obviously I reduced my speed a tad and braked carefully when I came off at my junction and the breaks seemed to be working fine.
I got home and killed the engine then restarted it in the hope that the lights might have gone off, they didn't.
5 minutes later Viv takes it out round the block and the lights are off and stay off.
So do you think it might be a little blip after the wobble coming out of the ruts or do you think it could be something more serious.
My concern is that I set off for work and get half way there and the lights come back on again, am I going to do any damage or do I take it that because the lights have gone off that everything is okay?

Bex

Post by **Robert T** » Tue 20 Nov, 2007 22:56

Hi Bex,

Shouldn't be a big problem to drive the car with these lights on, but you need to be aware that both systems will probably be disabled, so you will have no traction control and no ABS, so you need to take extra care when driving.

This seems to be a common symptom of a dirty wheel rotation sensor which is used for both systems, but it could also indicate an electrical problem or fault with the ABS pump, which is again used by both systems.

It should have logged a fault code, which may reveal something.

HTH. Cheers R.

mich · Post by **mich** » Tue 20 Nov, 2007 22:58

I wouldn't think you would do any harm to the system, and if they come on just be a careful driver cause you are on your own

Personally if they stay off I would just leave it, however if they come on again for no apparent reason then I would get it checked.
you beat me to it Robert T, just as I was composing you sneaked one in

calbens · Post by **calbens** » Tue 20 Nov, 2007 23:18

Thanks for that guy's, you've both helped ease my mind.
I'll see how I get on tomorrow, if it does come on again then I'll get it booked in straight away.
Keeping my fingers crossed, at least until after Christmas

Bex

Straight_Six · Post by **Straight_Six** » Wed 21 Nov, 2007 01:06

this seems to be quite a common problem this time of year.

i have started experiencing a very weird light sequence with the ABS and ASC lights...

sometimes when i turn the ignition on all my lights will disapear and then when i start the engine these two lights come on for approximately 2 seconds and then they both go off?!?! this dosent happen everytime i start the car but the majority of the time

i hope it turns out to be nothing as my patience with this car is wearing thin now.... inlet cam shaft sensor gone last month, rattles behind the dashboard making the car feel like it is about fall apart when going over ruts in the road, windows go down when they want to but albeit very slowly, glovebox has started to open itself.....

all minor problems but my overall opinion of the car is 'poor build quality' and its not impressed me the last couple of months.

Leigh

mich · Post by **mich** » Wed 21 Nov, 2007 04:04

Straight 6 You are being tested.
it is a test of love

what ever you do dont fail or the word will go out to all Z3.
Is the Z kept in a garage

benelvin · Post by **benelvin** » Wed 21 Nov, 2007 07:36

Straight_Six wrote:this seems to be quite a common problem this time of year.

i have started experiencing a very weird light sequence with the ABS and ASC lights...

sometimes when i turn the ignition on all my lights will disapear and then when i start the engine these two lights come on for approximately 2 seconds and then they both go off?!?! this dosent happen everytime i start the car but the majority of the time

i hope it turns out to be nothing as my patience with this car is wearing thin now.... inlet cam shaft sensor gone last month, rattles behind the dashboard making the car feel like it is about fall apart when going over ruts in the road, windows go down when they want to but albeit very slowly, glovebox has started to open itself.....

all minor problems but my overall opinion of the car is 'poor build quality' and its not impressed me the last couple of months.

Leigh

Heh - I know how you feel!

This year I've had:
Water Pump, thermostat, a sticking UJ on the driveshaft, new center mount (caused by vibration of said driveshaft), new rear window and at the moment I'm saving up for a new diff :O

I still love it though! I guess if you want to avoid these kinds of things you buy a honda.

Also I think the reason could be - the cars that come onto the second hand market at the age we've bought them are there because the owner knows they're starting to need working doing. Maybe because they haven't been well looked after - the chaps on this board who have owned them from new or nearly new don't seem to have any problems at all.

Post by **Robert T** » Wed 21 Nov, 2007 11:09

Leigh, I'd have to watch the timings of the lights on mine carefully to say for sure, but yours sounds pretty normal. On mine the ASC light is definitely one of the last to go off. It may just depend how quickly you turn the key - if you pause in position II before cranking the engine or not - when you crank the engine you will notice that power to the stereo and a few other bits gets cut momentarily - which may just restart the checking sequence. If there is a fault with either of these system then the lights stay on continuously (unless the bulb has gone

), so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Only had two unexpected expenses with mine this year: a new set of rear springs as one had fractured, and a replacement taillight bulb.

Cheers R.

calbens · Post by **calbens** » Wed 21 Nov, 2007 22:47

Well I survived the 100 mile round trip to work and back today and thankfully the lights didn't come on.

Just as well, as it was piddling it down

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Wed 21 Nov, 2007 22:49

Dont know what you were worried about, I've followed you and you dont ever use your brakes anyway

Gazza.

calbens · Post by **calbens** » Wed 21 Nov, 2007 23:28

garythefish wrote:Dont know what you were worried about, I've followed you and you dont ever use your brakes anyway

Gazza.

Argh you see there is method in my madness.........no point wasting money on wearing the pads out unnecessarily

The truth is that if I brake I get left behind by the big boys, so whilst you lot chicken on the bends I go hell for leather to stand half a chance of keeping up with you

* praying that MrB doesn't come in now and burst my bubble*

beemer · Post by **beemer** » Thu 22 Nov, 2007 11:24

i'm not sure if they ABS sensor is the same on the Z3 as it is on a 1995 318iS coupe but i had an issue with the lights coming on as i was driving along. Apparently, if one of the wheels skips/bounces across the ground, the system can get confused and think that a sensor has failed.

There's a section of road near here which is a long, fast, downhill piece of road, approaching a roundabout. It has very pronounced rumble strips, followed by anti-skid surface and that was sometimes enough to trigger the coupe's warning lights.

The same thing happened from time to time when we had lots of rain and one wheel would aquaplane.

I was told by a dealer that both of these things can cause the warning lights to come on and not to worry about it unless they don't reset after switching off.

calbens · Post by **calbens** » Mon 03 Dec, 2007 11:29

Thanks for that beemer

I'm pretty sure that is what happened to me, coming out of the rut, even though I was careful it still shook the car. The lesson I've learned is to drive in the middle lane whenever I see tramlines

and stuff what others driving behind me think