Parking sensors

[Reedler]

Hi All,

I was reading some of the older forum posts regarding parking sensors. I have had the tone buzzing in the car as soon as I put it into reverse for the past two weeks. I tried listening for the ticking sound coming from each parking sensor and found the two at each side of the number plate on the front were making no noise. I have also read that the front ones are a nightmare to replace. Is there a way to double check the sensors are broken, all the other sensors were ticking.

Many Thanks

Reedler

[X5Sport]

The ticking sound is the usual way, unless a scanner can do it.

If it is the front ones then this guide from the TIS may help you with any repairs.

Richard

[Horizon]

If you disclose your location, their maybe a member near to you who has a BMW 1 4 0 scanner who could diognose your problem. I bought one a couple of weeks ago and I think it was a good purchase.
Only if you have windows XP !!!!! as I couldnt get it to run on Windows 7, but some members have, especially on 32 bit.
I diognosed a faulty rear sensor before my scanner arrived, and got one of Ebay foe £18 delivered, fitted it in 5 mins, but front ones are worse as you have to loose the bumper as per Sanj's link.

[Reedler]

Thanks for the replies. I'm in the Aberdeenshire area. I've been toying with the idea of getting one of the scanners as I believe you can activate the webasto heater with it. Going to get two sensors and take bumper off this weekend (weather permitting).
Cheers Reedler

[Steamyrotter]

[quote="Horizon"]
Only if you have windows XP !!!!! as I couldnt get it to run on Windows 7, but some members have, especially on 32 bit.
[/quote]

Have you tried to run it in compatability mode (XPSP2/3 under properties), or use XP mode Virtual Machine???

Managed to get a few things to work on W7 64bit that way.  But think the XP mode is only available with the Ultimate / Pro versions??


Had a few probs with my sensors and diagnosed by the clicking. (once the traffic outside my house calmed down enough for me to hear!!)
Now have slight issue with angel eyes invertors affecting the fronts as continual bleep when they are on, but OK when off.
Need to shield them, or relocate me thinks!!

[X5Sport]

[quote="Steamyrotter"]
[quote="Horizon"]
Only if you have windows XP !!!!! as I couldnt get it to run on Windows 7, but some members have, especially on 32 bit.
[/quote]

Have you tried to run it in compatability mode (XPSP2/3 under properties), or use XP mode Virtual Machine???

Managed to get a few things to work on W7 64bit that way.  But think the XP mode is only available with the Ultimate / Pro versions??
[/quote]
Correct.  And for the proper 'geeks or nerds' (as Mrs X5Sport is wont to call me on occasions), you can of course run Oracle VM VirtualBox (free) and if you have an XP disk load that inside it.  Not one for the computer illiterate or plug and play types as it needs a bit of thought to set up, but once done is great....   :type:

[Bargain Bucket]

Of course it is possible that the tick test AND scanner both fail to reveal a fault. My front sensors sometimes trigger a continuous tone as if there was something directly in front of the car but there are no fault codes and they all tick quite nicely (even when the tone is sounding). It's driving me mad.

[Steamyrotter]

[quote="X5Sport"]
[quote="Steamyrotter"]
[quote="Horizon"]
Only if you have windows XP !!!!! as I couldnt get it to run on Windows 7, but some members have, especially on 32 bit.
[/quote]

Have you tried to run it in compatability mode (XPSP2/3 under properties), or use XP mode Virtual Machine???

Managed to get a few things to work on W7 64bit that way.  But think the XP mode is only available with the Ultimate / Pro versions??
[/quote]
Correct.  And for the proper 'geeks or nerds' (as Mrs X5Sport is wont to call me on occasions), you can of course run Oracle VM VirtualBox (free) and if you have an XP disk load that inside it.  Not one for the computer illiterate or plug and play types as it needs a bit of thought to set up, but once done is great....   :type:
[/quote]

Or wait for Win8 to be released and then absolutely nothing will ever work again..........

[jaynana]

tried this?

[JF1980]

Tried to get mine working with Windows 8 today - no chance.  Managed to install the drivers in a special boot mode but still wasn't having it.  Used an XP virtual machine on my MacBook which worked flawlessly.  It didn't show the error I was hoping for

Steamyrotter - what's the issue with your angle eyes?  I have a similar issue with my fronts (although it's intermittent).  I have LEDs in my angel eyes.  Is there some king of electrical interference?  If so I'd be very happy to pop my original dim bulbs back in to get rid of the PDC issue!

[Steamyrotter]

The front PDC would continuously bleep when teh side lights were on.

Originally thought it was dodgy shielding on teh invertors (as they are CCFL ones) but yesterday I found out what it was..

It appears that when the car is running it controls the front side lights with a PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) supply.  Normally not an issue with ordinary bulbs as they can take it, but continually pulsing a supply to the invertors can give rise to some very hefty interferance...

If you tempoorarily put a relay coil acros the bulb you should see what i mean..
I believe there is an option in the LCM to adjust or turn off this PWM but since i didn't ave anything to interrogate it with i just bypassed the whole lot and wired back to the interior / dash board lighting through a relay..

Found this when fitting a couple of LED rings tot eh for lamps with dimming option.  They were flashing when running which pointed to a non stable supply.
Everything works as expected now, and i can reverse in the dark without fear.....(once i get the car MOT'd and back on the road.)

[jaynana]

lcm sends a pulsating signal (i think its 10 blinks at low current) to each of the lights to figure out whether the lights are working. lcm continues to do this at a regular frequency.

this is low enough  to not light up ordinary lights. its enough to light up led lights.

i believe the feature can be switched off with a scanner.. not sure cos i don't have leds so dont have this prob.

[Steamyrotter]

This is more than the 10 pulses and only when engine running.
Hazarding a guess at approx 40-80 hz and not dependant on engine speed

Have turned off the CC for the front parking lights but need to investigate the PWM settings of them.


Apparently you can adjust PWM for all front lights individually
Thats how you can get the main beam on as dimmed DRL.

[Horizon]

[quote="Steamyrotter"]
This is more than the 10 pulses and only when engine running.
Hazarding a guess at approx 40-80 hz and not dependant on engine speed

Have turned off the CC for the front parking lights but need to investigate the PWM settings of them.


Apparently you can adjust PWM for all front lights individually
Thats how you can get the main beam on as dimmed DRL.
[/quote]

I think you can alter the settings with the BMW scanner, I'm sure I saw a section on the lighting section about cold and hot tests, which I think is the way it pulses current through all the bulbs to test they are ok. I cant find my paperwork with all the options available . Someone on here with a scanner maybe able to assist you, I have one but havn't used it for ages

[Steamyrotter]

Cheers

Already have something similar that does the job, It's just finding the correct option to disable without upsetting anything else..