The mysterious tri-fecta: DSC, ABS, Brake amber lights

[lay3r3]

I've been reading through the historical posts and can't seem to see if there is a definitive answer to these three lights without checking codes. This week as I started to pull away from the house the truck hesitated for a second and I briefly thought I ran over something and then the lights came on. Drove fine to work but after it did the same thing... after a few feet from the parking spot a jerky hesitation and then the lights. Today it didn't happen as quick but it lasted longer... was giving it the gas but it was spotty/jerky getting to the wheels then it went away and the lights came on.

So I'm not sure if I start at my Indy shop or if I head straight to the $tealer. Maybe as simple as a speed sensor or deeper? Most of what I've read here doesn't mention the hesitation type behavior I'm seeing.

Sound familiar to anyone?

[TwinTurboGTR]

What year and model is your X? also, try this. From a parked position, wheels straight, turn the wheel full lock to the right, then back to full lock to the left, then bring the wheel back to center and see if that works. Also, a weak battery can cause havoc on these cars. So if your batt hasn't been changed in a while, it might be time.

[times5]

Mine had a similar problem to you. It was the steering wheel angle sensor, had to have a new one fitted and coded to the car, the original one would not initialise as one of the 4 brushes inside the sensor had burned.

Mine was also had the jerky feel like yours, I turned the traction control off and i did not get the jerk on acceleration, its one of the buttons under the heater controls, think it has DSC written on it (this is what I did until I could get it fixed).

Times5

[PropellerHead]

This reminds me of a situation common to the E39. Here is a post from another board that explains the tri-fecta and the extensive diagnosis.

[lay3r3]

Twinturbo, thanks for the suggestion. This morning the lights were on when I got in first thing which surprised me as yesterday it reset itself after sitting overnight. I rotated wheel full left then full right but no change on the light. Then, after pulling out of the neighborhood the lights went off on their own but as the stop light turned green I found myself lurching through the intersection jerking forward. Just a tad embarrassing Lights kicked on and smooth sailing.

Times5, glad to hear that symptom isn't unique. Do you recall what that fix set you back? And I was wondering this morning if I proactively disable DSC before I leave if it'll hold off the repair for a while... I'm due for some new shoes up front so I'd like to spread the cost out.

[times5]

I can't remember the cost (Im in England so don't know if the price would help much), but i found the part on real oem with price see below,

RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.6is STEER.COL.-STEER. SPIN. UPPER

item 9, you would then need to add about an hours labour and the cost of coding to the car.

Times5

[lay3r3]

Oh, and forgot it in my original post as TwinTurbo pointed out.

It's an '03 4.4 with just under 93,000 miles.

[times5]

The part that I linked in the OEM site is the same on 4.6 and 4.4 I've just got the site on my iPod set to the 4.6 parts list. My angle sensor failed at 98000. I should also point out that the sensor might need calibrating, have you had anything done to the front suspension or steering, or hit a curb, this can cause the sensor to go out of calibration.

Times5


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[MINIz guy]

I just got the same three lights on our '03 3.0 with just under 90k miles. It drove fine with no transmission lurching but was underpowered as the Engine Failsafe Prog was activated. The DSC Inactive message also popped up. I restarted it again and all the lights were off. Good thing I only have a 2.5 mile commute to school on local roads; I can ride this problem out until I get a break to bring the car in.

[jst2878]

Had the same issue. Turned out a rebuild of my abs module did the trick. Check your batt voltage first