[nashy456]

Afternoon guys,

Apologies if this is a long post, just keen to give all the details.

So I took my car in to have the water pump changes and had the brakes done while it was in there. Since the car has come back, it doesn't seem quite right. It almost feels as if the brakes are permanently slightly on. For example, my drive is on a slight downward slope. If I give it a very slight acceleration to get it going and dip the clutch, the car comes to a stop whereas before if would continue to roll (as you'd expect). The garage puts this down to "cold weather" but it's been mostly above 5°C so it's not particularly cold anyway.

Then today I was driving on the motorway and the below symbol flicked on and off quickly every now and then, which didn't do much harm. Then it started flickering continuously whenever I applied any acceleration. This was at about 60mph, and while the light was flickering I could only maintain or reduce the speed. I stopped for 10 minutes, set off any no further real problems. On the way back it did a similar thing where it wouldn't let me accelerate but not to the same extent as I was going a bit easier on it.

Has the garage doing the brakes caused a problem with the ABS? Or installed them in a way that's too tight which is causing the resistance as well as making the sensors go mental?

Obviously I've booked it back in for them to look at it but would be good to have some ideas from other sources.

Thanks for any help you can give

 

[nashy456]

Sorry, I should've said it's a 2006 2.5l e92

 

[rasa golf]

could be wheel speed sensor or the reluctor rings(driveshaft) have corroded and the sensor picks this up

 

[thepurpleblob]

You need to get the error codes read to pin this down.

 

[nashy456]

Just plugged in my diagnostic (granted not the best one on the market) and it’s showing no codes. Is it safe to assume there’s an issue with how the brakes were changed?

 

[Cotswold BMW]

Is it safe to assume there’s an issue with how the brakes were changed?

No, it could be all manner of codes that have put the light on.
Get it plugged into decent diagnostic

 

[nashy456]

So I've had a response back from the garage and apparently it's due to the car requiring a software update for the ECU. The bloke seems to know his stuff but I can't find much information online about it and just want to read up a bit more, anyone had any experience of this?

I'm used to mechanical problems but a car software update is a new thing for me!

 

[tankflybosshotjam]

Could be everything from distrubed 'schmoo' on the sensors, snapped ring or anything in between.

This will be a diagnostic routine (module specific) I'd wager you have a general EOBD type reader which will only return emissions-related faults. You can do it all without diagnostics but trust be, it's a long and complicated path!

'Software update' sounds a touch 'dunno, blind 'em with science so they go away' to me.

 

[Cotswold BMW]

car requiring a software update for the ECU

:rofl

 

[nashy456]

So the software update I was recommended didn’t work (unsurprisingly to some of you boys lol). Turning off the traction control entirely seems to sort it but obviously don’t want to use that too often.

Driving home today I’ve now had a cruise control warning light come up. This was after setting the car speed at 50mph and a surge taking it up 5-10 mph beyond that. After a couple of tests I had the cruise control symbol appear on the dash and the cruise control wouldn’t engage so there’s an error there now as well.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Could it be a speed sensor that needs replacing?

 

[rasa golf]

codes codes codes,,by a proper diagnostic machine..otherwise guessing is all you can do and i doubt youd enjoy throwing money at maybe fixes,,but as i said in my earlier post,,it sounds like a wheel speed sensor,,you have 4 so get codes read..simples either inpa or similar/carly/ or bmw garage

 

[Alan G]

As above.
Wheel speed sensor but a proper code scan is the first thing so you know the faulty one.