Random warning lights - Pics and video - 2010 N55 135i DCT

[.Griff.]

Hi all,

I'm James, 38 and from the UK. I've got a 2010 N55 135i DCT which up to now has given me no issues whatsoever.

That was until last week. I'd been out for the day driving round the Welsh mountains (Snowdonia for those of you outside the UK) and admittedly I'd been having some fun. On the return journey I was cruising down the motorway when the car went into limp mode and scared the crap out of me. I managed to get it off the motorway and after turning the car off for 30 seconds everything was good again and I made it home.

At the start of this week I took it to a local BMW specialist to get it scanned for fault codes and to put my mind at rest. He claimed he couldn't find anything wrong and said it was probably just the oil temp getting a little high and put it down as a "one-off" incident.

Later that day me and the girlfriend went out for the day and we'd been driving for about an hour and a half when the dash lit up like a Christmas tree -

As you can see from the video above it was reporting -

CC-ID 24

CC-ID 50

CC-ID 354

CC-ID 678

You'll also notice the engine light which come on and off along with these codes at random.

I posted this on a UK based forum and it was suggested that a faulty battery may be the cause of the "spurious" faults.

I used the hidden menu and this was the reported voltage -



Today as soon as I started the car the automatic transmission warning light appeared for the briefest of seconds. In auto-mode the car drives absolutely fine and I don't notice any issues but if I use manual mode the car changes out of first gear by itself every time. I pull away gently it moves into second. If I mash the throttle it changes into second by itself.

Could all of these weird issues, that only started last week, be related to a dodgy battery or has my car been fine up to now and then decided that multiple systems are going to fail on me?

Any advice or assistance would be appreciated.

[Solo_M_Tech]

Have the battery tested, and the DSC module. If the battery is bad or the voltage too low, it will cause all kinds of issues.

The DSC module may have failed, though unlikely. I saw this happen to an E60 last week. Ran diagnostics and the signal voltage to wake up the DSC module, wasn't getting returned to the DME, so the DME threw a fault code. Replaced and programmed the DSC module and it fixed the problem.

[.Griff.]

Originally Posted by Uber///Madd

Have the battery tested, and the DSC module. If the battery is bad or the voltage too low, it will cause all kinds of issues.

The DSC module may have failed, though unlikely. I saw this happen to an E60 last week. Ran diagnostics and the signal voltage to wake up the DSC module, wasn't getting returned to the DME, so the DME threw a fault code. Replaced and programmed the DSC module and it fixed the problem.

Sorry for the late reply. I've been on holiday.

I'm literally in the process of having the battery tested today so I'll know regarding that later.

The car seems to have developed a few other "issues" however.

Namely it will lose power and stutter very occasionally. This seems to coincide with the speedometer failing and then returning to normal.

Could those latest issues also be attributed to a dodgy battery?

[reisf]

1. Find a different BMW specialist.
2. Just replace your battery, you will need to soon if your on the original battery.
3. This is most likely your SZL module going bad (steering angle sensor), it causes those exact errors - TPMS, DSC and ABS. Did you hit something while driving?
4. Have your steering angle sensor re-calibrated.

Try those things first and let us know how you go. BTW 11.8V is way too low a voltage if you have an AGM battery, which most 135i's have - you need a new battery asap

[.Griff.]

Thanks for the reply.

I used a battery conditioner/trickle charger on the old battery last weekend and all week the car has been fine.

Yesterday I had a new battery fitted and registered to the car by a different specialist just to be on the safe side.

HOWEVER. In the last 30 minutes all the faults suddenly came back.

Namely -

All the fault codes shown above.
The automatic transmission warning appears occasionally.
It's losing power and the speedo dies occasionally.

The new specialist said that he'd scanned the car for error codes when he registered the new battery and the only one(s) that came back were "speed sensor related". At the time I/we were convinced the faults were the result of a bad battery so he didn't pursue the speed sensor faults/codes.

Would a fault speed sensor cause all the symptoms I'm experiencing?

[reisf]

Hmm never dealt with a faulty speed sensor before, however the transmission warning light and the speedo dying are not right.

Where did you get your battery from? It is safer to stay with OEM batteries, but i just hope if you did go aftermarket they gave you the proper battery.

This still sounds like an electrical system fault to me, there is a chance your new battery is not charging so have you charging system checked (or diy if you know how) to make sure you battery is getting the voltage and amps it needs to charge.

Put your new battery on the charger overnight, it could just be low from sitting on a shelf for months.

Also, see if your car was affected by the battery cable recall.

[The Wind Breezes]

Sounds to me like you have an issue with your DME or wiring.

[.Griff.]

Thanks for the replies.

The battery was from BMW themselves and is outputting 12.6v so I'm fairly confident that can discounted as a cause. I've also used a battery conditioner/tickle charger on it just in case but the faults persist.

The list of faults is now getting longer and more ridiculous.

In addition to everything above it's now stalling at low RPM's. When it changes gear in auto-mode it's sluggish and sometimes stutters after changing up a gear.

I did a 25 mile journey on Monday morning. 15 miles into it I got stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway. Minutes later the yellow coolant warning graphic appeared on the dash. Two minutes later this changed red and I limped off the motorway. Once I cycled the ignition a few times it disappeared and I could continue my journey.

Twelve hours after that I checked the car again by taking it on a 1 mile circle around my area. It took 3 minutes at most but when I returned the radiator fan was going nuts.

It's booked into the specialist again on Monday but I just hope and pray they can find the cause.

[reisf]

Coolant light as in overheating? What you described sound alike the water pump failing. You get the yellow light, then the red light almost instantly. This could also be why your radiator fan was going nuts.

Get the car towed to a mechanic, do not drive it.
He will need to scan the car to see if the water pump died.
That should explain your more recent issues.

In regards to your previous issues, maybe your DME, needs a software update - this might require a dealer visit.

[.Griff.]

"Rear nearside speed sensor and water pump" apparently.

I asked about cost and was quoted £80 for the speed sensor and I'm waiting to hear about the waterpump and thermostat (they said they'd replace both).