BMW M5 Forum and M6 Forums banner

DSC Light and Brake ABS Lights On - Advice?

103K views 94 replies 48 participants last post by  Howie 65 
#1 ·
I was driving my M5 yesterday and the DSC light as well as Brake and ABS lights came on. At restart, they are off, and then come on in a few seconds. I held DSC button for a few seconds in an attempt to turn it off, but no success.

Also, when the lights first came on, the car felt a little weird, as if the brakes briefly actuated by themselves, and then the lights came on right away.

Anyone have any experience on potential causes? I don't have a fault code reader in my possession at the moment.

Thanks!
 
#28 ·
Had the DSC and Brake and ABS lights pop up yesterday, right after a smog check. I think it was due to the rear wheels were spinning but the fronts were not. After I drove about 50 yards, the lights turned off.
 
#29 ·
Maybe we should turn off the DSC before any dynos or smog tests...
 
#31 ·
I don't think so. I believe it is the ASC that gets triggered (rear wheels turning, front not turning). In rare cases it may have to be reset by a dealer, but not likely.
 
#32 ·
updating an old thread. Same deal on my car this morning. ABS light, DSC light, BRAKE (yellow) light. No speedo, didn't look to see if nav was effected, but my fuel gauge seems to be fluctuating quite a bit. Steering is quite heavy. Only thing that really bothers me is lack of speedo.

I wonder if Carsoft will read the fault codes? Will try that tonight.
 
#33 · (Edited)
my latest update. Carsoft didn't work, tried the peak reader, got the flashing 'E'. Followed the peak instructions to disconnect the battery, left the car for a while, re connected and tried again to read. Got a dozen or so fault codes, for speed sensors, instrument cluster, 'dsc timeout' and what not. Cleared the codes to see what would come back. (after the batt disconnect/reset, i should have tried carsoft again, but didn't)

Today's news, speedo is now working, but the tach and it's lights are dead. No dsc/abs/brake light yet, but oil temp gauge is pegged toward the 3'oclock position (way beyond 300, even though the car is cold).

Obviously i need to get it into a dealer (or well equipped inde), but I'm just curious, and the tech i trust is off until next monday. Car runs fine, but this makes me question the logic behind driving a 100k mile e39 M5 as a daily driver. As we've all said, the electronics are what will get you in the long run.

I will say in the 6 years and 70k miles i've owned this car, this is the first real issue (that has caused me to question it's long term reliability) to come up
 
#34 · (Edited)
This is weird... the fuel is the odd man out, all the others you'd tie to a wheel speed sensor . Although the speedo, come to think of it, is usually not along with the ABS/DSC stuff...

Any cabling issues? Bad Grounds?

I suppose a single module might be doing this, but I can't think of one that ties all those together...

I'm at 99,6xx BTW

Keep us posted. (duh)

A
 
#35 · (Edited)
Any cabling issues? Bad Grounds?

I suppose a single module might be doing this, but I can't think of one that ties all those together...

I'm at 99,6xx BTW

Keep us posted. (duh)

A
funny, my wife's first response was "what have you done to the car lately?" and the answer is nothing, really. Since getting the e34 to tinker with, i've just driven the the e39, with the occasional oil change, over the past year plus.

I think a dsc fault can cause many issues and confusion. The dead tach surprised me though, but i've only driven a couple miles from home to my office this morning, so i need to put some miles on it this evening to see what comes up.

Here's an odd potential relationship. Last week, one afternoon, get in the car after work, start it up, and before i leave my parking spot (radio tuned in, sunglasses on etc) i look down and notice the battery light. Must have been on for several seconds after start up, then a quick blip of the throttle and it goes away. Maybe there is a charging /voltage issue going on too.

Few more days to experiment, i'm reporting my notes to my tech (a member of this board) at my local dealership.

AS for the fuel gauge, i wonder if the car uses milage traveled to somehow buffer the fuel gauge? The gauge was acting like it was working 'real time', accelerage, gauge drops, turn right, fuel level drops, brake, it rises, turn left it rises, no buffering at all. When i reset my mpg, that display just went blank, since the car has no milage input.
 
#36 · (Edited)
Two things. Try unplugging and plugging back in every cable on the ECU and the dash console.

I don't personally know the wiring, but I'd hazard a guess that these are the two places that all these types of cables and sensors connect together.

I'd head for the ECU first. For example, an entire connector type and grouping, on the ECU, can be all on the one cable...and have a single ground. If that ground is faulty..then the entire group of sensors/devices goes intermittent. It could be as simple as cleaning a connection by unplugging and then re-plugging it.

Follow the identical electrical system handling procedure for swapping out the ECU, so as to prevent damage to the ECU unit- this, prior to any cable pulling and re-insertion.

I have all four lights on myself. No DSC, no ABS, no speed sensor traction control, etc. I'm loving it! No electronic nannies....so I'm not about to change any damn wheel sensor. I've left it broken for nearly a year.
 
#38 · (Edited)
I have all four lights on myself. No DSC, no ABS, no speed sensor traction control, etc. I'm loving it! No electronic nannies....so I'm not about to change any damn wheel sensor. I've left it broken for nearly a year.
my thoughts were the same at first, 'cool, i don't have to hit the dsc button anymore!" but i do like having a speedo and tach... Currently once my car starts, the tach swings around and comes to rest around 8200rpm. Need to post a pic of that...

aok, thanks for the offer, but i don't want to mess with it, it's going in on monday.

here's the photo, so i guess now that that final red light on the tach is off, i can really wind it up!
 

Attachments

#39 ·
wanted to update. DSC control unit, as other have mentioned. Apparently, the dsc control unit took out my cluster, as the cluster was fried as well.

Having a couple other things taken care of while they have the car, wrt suspension and steering freshening, which added a couple days to wait for parts, but will get it back tonight....


Yee Haa...
 
#40 ·
guess its my turn,

im having the abs, brake(yellow), and dsc come on. no change in anything from what i can tell. my car was recently hit in the front passenger, but it was only cosmetic stuff. maybe the shop didnt plug something in all the way? the lights will go off if i restart the car and stay off, while at the same time they will come back on. so its hit or miss on the lights coming on, but i can turn them off easily.

taking the car back to the paint shop and seeing what they have to say.
 
#41 ·
My turn now too - Brake, DSC and ABS (yellow) lights on this morning after dropping my son off at baseball. Car seems to drive just fine (speedo/tach are normal) with obvious DSC disconnected.

Will check the speed sensors tomorrow during oil change - is there any way to determine which sensor is causing the problem?
 
#42 ·
#43 ·
Just wondering if anyone had any updates with this issue? It happened for the first time in my '00 M5 today. Twice after starting the ABS/DSC/Brake lights would come on but everything felt normal. The third time, all the lights were off-however the slightest application of brake pedal would cause ABS to kick in and try to modulate the brakes, no matter what speed. I can definitely feel that it seems like the majority of the ABS application is taking place at the front left wheel. I am going to connect my Carsoft to it tonight hoping I might see some type of problem report, but until then has anyone else had their system go into 'anti-lock' mode with any application of the brake pedal?
 
#44 ·
My turn with DSC, ABS, Speedo ,...

Great post
Will start with ABS sensors cleaning and hopefully that will help.

In my case i lost DSC after a random acceleration comparison with a Bad sounding Mustang...
I went through a rough road and my rear stock suspension was struggling.
Must have overwhelmed the DSC system and it has been permanently off ever since .
I felt like an improvement to the car drivability so i never bothered to fix it. (one less button to press...):M5launch:

Now about a week ago i started having intermittent issues with Speedo, ABS, Gps, Fuel Tank indication and the rest...

One more interesting note. My tech pulled some faults on the ECU bus...
Any suggestions?
 
#45 · (Edited)
Great post
Will start with ABS sensors cleaning and hopefully that will help.
Any suggestions?
Try cleaning before spending $$$. Had that problem with old E46 after i was driving thru heavy rain/mud mix.DSC OFF,ABS Light and Speedometer INOP. Wash car throughly (around wheels especially) and let it dry outside.It could be that simple.It worked for me
 
#47 ·
possible simple fix

This happened to me (ABS, DCS, BRAKE lights on, speedo dead). Many times it can represent a failed ABS wheel sensor ($100 plus labor each) or worse yet a failed ABS control module ($1000+). After doing some research I suspected a faulty ground. I loosened the nut and retightened. Bingo - problems solved (for now). I hope this helps someone else who encounters this maddening problem. Here's the location of the ground point.

<img src="http://img.skitch.com/20091110-qrbednw9aq5pe4rmea4sgmuiws.jpg" alt="skitched-20091109-210136.jpg"/>
 
#49 ·
This happened to me (ABS, DCS, BRAKE lights on, speedo dead). Many times it can represent a failed ABS wheel sensor ($100 plus labor each) or worse yet a failed ABS control module ($1000+). After doing some research I suspected a faulty ground. I loosened the nut and retightened. Bingo - problems solved (for now). I hope this helps someone else who encounters this maddening problem. Here's the location of the ground point.

<img src="http://img.skitch.com/20091110-qrbednw9aq5pe4rmea4sgmuiws.jpg" alt="skitched-20091109-210136.jpg"/>
I haven't scientifically tested this, but the ABS/DSC/Speedo problem has occurred the past two days on my way home from work. Luckily my tach to speed calculator works pretty well so I can make it to safe place to stop (this happens on the interstate). At any rate, I believe it's related to vibration. I'm going to check the ground point tonight.

My fix? Plug in the Peake, reset cE light, start car -> problem solved.
 
#50 ·
Well the problem has become more frequent and not related to any specific events. No DSC/ABS, Tire Control Inactive, and no speedo.

Did the EAC Bosch module shown here help anyone? I'm weighing this against taking it to the local dealership, which I should mention, didn't know what an E39 M5 was when I was looking for one, and just straight up ordering the Bosch module from EAC and getting it re-coded.

Thoughts please?
 
#52 · (Edited)
I've been chasing my DSC issue for a few weeks now, wondering if anybody knows what's up. Only the DSC light is on (brake and ABS lights are off), and I've tested ABS in the snow and it works. The DSC light is always on right from start up.

I've tried the following:

- I've cleaned the wheel sensors, didn't fix the issue.

- I've had the battery unplugged for a day while doing the vave cover gaskets... didn't expect this to change anything, but the car has been "rebooted" in a sense. At the same time, I checked my brake fluid and it's at a decent level.

- I borrowed my friend's Carsoft 6.5 and this is the code I got when I scanned the DSC section:
"88 auslassventil hinten rechts" (yes, in german, googling it translates to "outlet valve rear right"... more googling of this code leads to precharge pump). There are no other codes for DSC or ABS.

Any ideas? Am I looking at replacing the pre-charge pump?
 
#54 ·
Hi guys, I'm also having the dsc, abs, brake light on. It just turned on 2 days ago while changing lanes. Most threads lead me to believe it might be the dsc controller/module. Can anyone let me know where it is located and if possible instructions on how to remove? Thanks!
 
#56 ·
Here is my quick story.

My brake light and DSC light came on and took it to the shop the next day and ran a code. Turned out to be my brake light switch. I didn't even know my brake lights were stuck on.
 
#57 · (Edited)
I have the flame suit on as I know it has probably been posted but I'm too lazy to go back and read :blink: but go to modulemaster.com. They tell you how to gain access/remove said module on the website. If you have the Bosch unit it is around $300 for a rebuild plus shipping. I had this done on my E39 525i last year and the rebuild cured my symptons. I no longer have that car but knowing that they are legit gives myself piece of mind in case the M5's module acts up.
 
#58 ·
Im in the same boat here.DSC ,ABS,Brake lights are on with The tire control inactive .
Speedo and tach are working normal .But every once inwhile when i start the car the ABS gets activated and the pedal pulses and the all the lights do off until the next start up.
Most likely i have a bad module .but before i pull the plug on a new module i want to test the ABS sensors.
Dose anyone know what the resistance supose to be on those sensors?
 
#59 ·
Happened to mine, plugged in the BMW software (GT1) and swapped out a few ABS control modules to confirm the problem, it was the left front wheel speed sensor (~$80) that went bad. Plugged in a new one, started up, problem gone.

Go to a shop and have them tell you whats throwing the code.
 
#61 ·
Just had the same issue this morning, dsc abs light popped on randomly shortly after startup and i pulled over and let the car rest for 5 min and they went away. This is the second time it happened.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top