[blacksail337]

every time i drove my car today the data screen would randomly pop up with the abs error symbol with 4x4! under it

and my brake, dtc, and abs lights on the cluster all came on

i had the 4x4! one come on once cause i unhooked the battery, so i tried the right to left thing on the steering wheel, not working this time, plus i haven't unhooked it at all.

each time i start the car all the codes and errors are gone, and just pop back up at some point

searched and only found one post where a guy had a broken rear wheel bearing, but he was hearing grinding noises, i got nothing, cars running and sounding perfect

any ideas?

i swear it's one f@cking thing after another with this car

[fdriller9]

I usually get those messages when I disconnect my battery...like you said. If your car is cranking, your battery is probably fine. Have you touched the battery lately? Are the terminals connected tightly? I once didn't tighten down my ground for my amp and it kept cutting in and out. Switched out like 3 different LOCs before I found that the ground was loose. Look at the little window on top of the battery...make sure it's green. A sensor could be bad. You're alignment could be off...but it would have to be really off for all those systems to trigger lights and you would know because of vibration. Have you changed anything with the car? Ride height (if you have coilovers)? Wheels? Doubt it's a bearing. I would let the dealer look at it. One of the systems may be faulty which can be affecting the others. Good luck. Hope you get this sorted out.

[SGxi]

I get the error everytime I disconnect my battery.

[blacksail337]

my alignment is off, going sat to get that fixed

dealers outta the question just rolled 400 miles over warranty

haven't touched the battery but i'll check it to make sure the terminals aren't just loose somehow

thanks for the suggestions

[Kylekuu]

do you have active steering? If you do and your steering wheel is center but your wheels aren't, then all these codes pop up. also try calling the dealership, sometimes they may do it out of good will; since your only 400 miles over

[forza1976]

Originally Posted by Kylekuu

do you have active steering? If you do and your steering wheel is center but your wheels aren't, then all these codes pop up. also try calling the dealership, sometimes they may do it out of good will; since your only 400 miles over

I don't believe Active Steering was available on XI models back in 07 (not sure about newer models).

[blacksail337]

update!

yea no clue on the active steering

checked my battery, all connections were tight but the bolt that holds the battery down was completely out, so fixed that

also i have a small connector with 3 or 4 pins in it thats not plugged into anything? don't see anywhere for it to go though, assume it's for an option i didn't get or something?

and my little viewer circle on the battery is black, not green or yellow, which is supposed to mean insufficient charge, but i don't see how that would be possible with me commuting 2 hours a day unless my alternator is going.

or the battery is just on it's way out after 3 years

fingers crossed for the drive to work, see if the codes pop back up

plus i know my alignment is VERY off, so thats still a possibility, getting fixed sat

[Nikolas]

Since your alignment is very off - do you have any extreme tire wear? That could also do it.

[blacksail337]

i did on the rears, i had my coils set really low and discovered the very inside of the tires were down to the steele belts

so i raised the car back up and just replaced the tires last weekend, but none of these codes and lights came on until after the new tires were on and the suspension was raised

[blacksail337]

update, now i'm hearing a weird grinding noise when i start the car?

sounds kinda like when you grind the starter on a car with a normal ignition switch, happens well after i release the start button though.

and my xdrive is actually disabled/not working, i spun the rear tires yesterday taking off from an intersection.

guess i need to order a BT tool asap, but with so many codes thrown at once i'm not sure it will tell me a whole lot more.

thinking about having an independent shop take a look at it

[blacksail337]

this entire time my batteries little clear "eye" thing has been black, so i was gonna charge it overnight tonight, put a tester to it and it pegged 12 volts

was hoping the battery was low like the black thing is saying it is, and that was causing all my weird issues

guess not

wtf

[who's ur daddy?]

I had this exact same problem. They had to replace a control module. It's on my invoice - I will try to find out the specifics for you. Nothing to do with resetting the battery I'm afraid...

I don't know how much it would have cost out of pocket as it was covered under warranty.

[blacksail337]

awesome thanks a lot!

i was looking in the manual last night and it said this combination of errors all at once just means "electrical system failure"

so hopefully it is just some simple sensor or something thats burned out

.. . . . . 400 miles over warranty

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by blacksail337

this entire time my batteries little clear "eye" thing has been black, so i was gonna charge it overnight tonight, put a tester to it and it pegged 12 volts

was hoping the battery was low like the black thing is saying it is, and that was causing all my weird issues

guess not

wtf

Not sure but I think your battery should be around 14v. When cranking this will go down and if it's at 12v then you maybe getting too low of a voltage and some systems are no starting....your car also disables features to save battery charge. Sounds like your battery needs to be replaced. Idk why ABS and DTC would be disabled but maybe your battery is just in really bad shape. I have an '06 and my battery is fine...yours should be too but things happen.

[binaryagent]

The battery should measure around 12.6-12.7. When the engine is running it should measure around 14.3 or so. When cranking it should go no lower than around 10. The magic eye only measures on cell and it's a gimmick (from what I understand) anyway.

Maybe resetting the transmission is worth a try.

Also, maybe the change in circumference of the rear tires has confused the transmission?

I recently had fault codes that turned out to be loose DME connectors.

The voltages are off the top of my head and might be a tenth or so off but that's the general idea.

[blacksail337]

yea i figured the magic eye was just kind of a novelty, im pretty convinced my battery is fine at this point, hopefully it's the same exact thing as who's your daddy had with a control module failing.

how do you reset the trans? bt tool i assume?

i think my overall circumference should have stayed the same cause i'm running a lower profile tire to compensate for the extra inch of wheel size, so the car should be none the wiser on that mod as far as i know

and i should prob know this but. . . . whats dme? i'll be glad to check mine and make sure they're not loose as well. when yours were did you have this same combo of fault codes or something different?

can't thank all of you guys enough for all the help, tips and info, really appreciate it

[fdriller9]

I don't think there is a way to reset the transmission. You can reset the adaptive throttle by switching on the ACC power (2 presses of the start button, no foot on brake). Then hold down the throttle for 25-30 seconds and restart the car. Some hear a noise "coming from the transmission." I think it's just coincidental.

[binaryagent]

Originally Posted by *********

I don't think there is a way to reset the transmission. You can reset the adaptive throttle by switching on the ACC power (2 presses of the start button, no foot on brake). Then hold down the throttle for 25-30 seconds and restart the car. Some hear a noise "coming from the transmission." I think it's just coincidental.

Yes, the only discussion I've found about the transmission reset is hearsay but worth a try maybe. That's the same procedure but I haven't heard it called adaptive throttle reset until now.

[binaryagent]

Here's some good info on xdrive and the importance of matching front and rear tire diameter:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...34&postcount=8

[binaryagent]

Originally Posted by blacksail337

and i should prob know this but. . . . whats dme? i'll be glad to check mine and make sure they're not loose as well. when yours were did you have this same combo of fault codes or something different?

DME is the computer. I'm not sure how to get to it but if you watch the piggyback installation videos I think that will give you an idea. Maybe someone else has more info. I think you have to remove a couple of cowling pieces so unless you have good evidence that the DME is the issue it might not be worth your time. I had different fault codes related to the fuel system.

[blacksail337]

got my alignment done yesterday, still have all my lights on, so that wasn't it

car feels really loose and washy now, like my tires are flat or something

fix one problem and create a new one! i love it

[who's ur daddy?]

Here's the excerpt from my service @ BMW:

CHECK CAUSE OF 4x4 WARNING LIGHT ON. SCANNED, PERFORMED TEST PLAN, FOUND THE TRANSFER CASE SERVO MOTOR FAILED, REPLACED.

PART # 27-10-7-546-671