DSC 4x4 Engine Failsafe

ian1967 · #1 01-23-2009, 11:36 AM

I've searched the forums high and low to find an answer to my question, but as yet have not been able to find an answer, so here goes to see if anyone can shed any light on this.

I have a 2002 3.0i Sport. Purchased around 8 months ago and for the first month we owned it, no problems at all, running like a dream. Then all of a sudden, while halfway to work one day, up on the screen comes DSC 4x4 and the Engine Failsafe Prog message, with the DSC lamp and the ABS lights on the dash. Parked at work and called the local dealership who said bring it in.

Later that day, started her up and drove about 40 miles to the dealership and no messages came up on he dash. They ran a diagnostic and said no faults found.

Drove the car home and low and behold, the DSC 4x4 error message comes up again, and then after, about every 10 miles, it comes on. A little concerned, back to the dealership, who this time decided that it must be a valve that needed changing, and at the same time its service was due, so that was done.

For around 500 miles after that, all was going well, no error messages, no problems. But then on a long journey, after around 200 miles, here we go again with the DSC 4x4 Engine failsafe error message.

Key out, key in and start her up and the error dissapears and evenutaully we get home, after seeing this error message every now and then.

A week later, we took the car for its annual MOT and the only thing it failed on was the Co2 emissions, which is going to be fixed in a couple of days.

I guess my question to other X5'rs.. is has anyone had this problem before, would the errors be down purely to a faulty co2 sensor?

Any advice would be gratefully received before the dealership try to allieviate my wallet of some more hard earned cash.

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jabba · #2 01-23-2009, 03:47 PM

Had the same problem and although it didn't come up with the error specifically pointing to the fault it turned out to be the idle control valve which I changed - cost £120 from the stealer so not a necessarily a cheap part to buy but it solved my problem. Can't say whether yours is exactly the same but you may want to start investigating this as a possible cause as well.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

ian1967 · #3 01-30-2009, 08:32 AM

We're in Sweden right now visiting the in-laws and today the X5 went to the garage to have the Co2 reading problem fixed. I had assumed that it was a sensor that needed replacing, but thanks to our German mechanic, on further inspection, the problem was not with a faulty sensor, but it was the "motor cable" that feeds the electronic information from the car into the magic black box. The connections on this cable were bad and hence the information being fed to the computer was shorting, which was the cause of the gremlins.He advised that it was a common problem on the E53, usually main dealers recommending that the entire wiring harness be replaced, but he cleaned up the connectors and viola... our X5 is running perfect again. No more DSC 4x4 engine failsafe messages, no more airbag light (came on a few days ago), no more strange happenings with the rear tailgate deadlocking itself when you stop the car, no more abs and brake light errors, its fun to drive again!!!!The last BMW main dealer we took it to, replaced the idle control valve and assured us that they had fixed the problem, presenting us with a nice £350 bill. At least our German BMW mechanic, working in Sweden has actually fixed the problem and only charged us £80 to clean up the connectors and reset the computer.

bigtom · #4 01-31-2009, 10:38 AM

My 2004 3.0d is driven more than 65.000 km without any sort of problems, but now it seem's to have severe brain damage. I have every kind of warnings, the temperature indikator shows cooking most of the time, the odometer and vacuummeter is on and off, no tiptronic. In between the indikators seems to be alright, but most of the time it's catastrophy.
I have opened the big relay box in left upper corner of the engine compartment and checked and cleaned all connections, but the problem is not solved.
Any ideas about what to do next? I think it must be some kind of connection problem, but now I don't know where to look. HELP

PS: I can still use the car, - except for the transmission failsafe program and the cooling fan going on full speed even on cold winter days it seems to work like normal.

ian1967 · #5 01-31-2009, 12:46 PM

I'm up in Sweden right now and I know what you mean, but having read a lot of the posts here in the forum, many people suggest that X5's are not good cold weather cars. That leads me to think that as with everything electronic, moisture will play a big part in malfunctions.

I'd suggest first having the computer read for fault codes, as that might point straight to the problem. Everything that you mention seems to suggest the same or similar to mine, being an electrical problem.

If they find no error codes, have them reset the computer, and that might just fix your problem.

bigtom · #6 01-31-2009, 04:30 PM

Thanks. Actually I drove to Sweden (Arvidsjaur) for a meeting late last week, and thats when my problems began. I went from +5 here on the coast of Norway to -10 on the Swedish taiga and back without any problems. Next morning the car started to play games, starting with DSC alarms before it now presents the complete range of warnings and takes the mentioned precautions.
I really hope you are right about reading the computer log, but I'm worrying that all this crap also are being registred as realities by the computer.
In case I hope a reset will do the trick. Anyway I'll report the result when its ready.

X5Dude · #7 02-11-2010, 07:18 PM

I ran into a similar issue with my X5. It was raining here in sunny Southern California and I was driving along with no issues. I exited the freeway and within 4 miles of slow moving traffic in pouring rail, the car displays "Engine Failsafe Prog". I had previously had the "Trans Failsafe Prog" error (to the tune of $3000) so I was concerned about this error. I parked the car for a couple of hours and when I restarted, the error message had clear. I drove home and checked for errors with my obd ii scanner. It showed 0 codes.

The following day I drove about half a block down the street and then the failsafe message reappeared. I tried to turn around and go home, but when I stepped on the accelerator, I got nothing. I waited a few minutes and was able to drive home in reverse. This time with the failsafe message showing, I scanned for codes once again. Still I got 0 codes. I scoured the forums for like problems and found all kinds, most without resolution.

At that point, I decided to visit the local BMW repair shop (non-dealer). He used a much more sophisticated scanner which displayed a code related to the pedal position sensor. He told me that the code was clear, and that there was really nothing to fix at that time. He cleared the code, and I drove 3 miles before the failsafe message reappeared.

I returned to the shop and the owner scanned again to find same pedal related code. He ordered and will install the part ($180 + 2 hrs labor) on Monday of next week. I hope it solves the mystery.

m5james · #8 02-11-2010, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian1967

We're in Sweden right now visiting the in-laws and today the X5 went to the garage to have the Co2 reading problem fixed. I had assumed that it was a sensor that needed replacing, but thanks to our German mechanic, on further inspection, the problem was not with a faulty sensor, but it was the "motor cable" that feeds the electronic information from the car into the magic black box. The connections on this cable were bad and hence the information being fed to the computer was shorting, which was the cause of the gremlins.He advised that it was a common problem on the E53, usually main dealers recommending that the entire wiring harness be replaced, but he cleaned up the connectors and viola... our X5 is running perfect again. No more DSC 4x4 engine failsafe messages, no more airbag light (came on a few days ago), no more strange happenings with the rear tailgate deadlocking itself when you stop the car, no more abs and brake light errors, its fun to drive again!!!!The last BMW main dealer we took it to, replaced the idle control valve and assured us that they had fixed the problem, presenting us with a nice £350 bill. At least our German BMW mechanic, working in Sweden has actually fixed the problem and only charged us £80 to clean up the connectors and reset the computer.

Any chance on pics?

RMak · #9 02-11-2010, 11:58 PM

I've had those problems too. DSC inactive, trans fail safe program at times and brake lights mostly during cold temps. After the x5 warmed up, shut her down, restarted her, all dash lights disappeared. Ended up that I needed a new Alternator. So far, everything is good.

bigtom · #10 02-12-2010, 05:06 AM

Finally this shit seems to be over. I checked and cleaned all major cable connections without any effects, and two rounds with resetting the log etc. only had short time effect, but my problems with the DSC 4x4, Engine Failsafe etc. anyway seems to be solved now.
I took a fight with the local dealer and they finally accepted my problems being covered by BMW guarantee. They told me they had to replace a control unit, although I never got any accurate information about which of them.
Anyway I am quite pleased with my car at the moment, but I still have an unsolved dispute with the dealer because I now want my money back for their initial and useless attempts to solve this problem.

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