2001 e53 Speedometer Not Working
 

Hello. I have a 2001 x5 4.4. My 'service engine soon' light came on, and my speedometer stopped working. Along with it, my odometer and cruise control no longer works. I have read that when a speed sensor fails, the ABS, and traction control lights, will come on. This has not been my experience. I would like to order a new speed sensor, however I am not sure which one to replace. Could anyone point me in the right direction? Have there been any DIY's on how to actually go about replacing them?

Thank you in advance for the help!

I believe the speed sensors would be the Driver's Side rear. The wires sometimes get frayed or the sensor itself gets clogged with a lot of dirt and road grime. The sensor is located behind the wheel hub assembly.

To get at it, remove the wheel and look behind the Brake Dust Sheild - you should be able to trace the sensor cable to it's location. You will see a Black Plastic box in your wheel arch that houses the sensor's connector. Check in that first and clean it out. Then check that the wires are not pinched or frayed and exposed.

After that, remove the sensor from the mount (you'll need Allen Wrenches to do this) and clean out that hole. You can spray WD40 in there to clean it or similar. If you have compressed air - that helps.

Re-install and see how that goes. You may still need to order a new sensor, but try checking it out first.

The below diagram should give you an idea of where it is. It is Item #23.

http://ills.bmwfans.info/3ghq.png

Thank you very much for your help. I will just order a new sensor on eBay for $25, and replace it. I will report back,

Why I'm having a bad feeling when I saw "ebay"....:dunno:

Sounds like possible bad battery versus a speed sensor. Service engine soon light doesn't trip with speed sensors.

good luck with the ebay sensors, OE sensors are about 90 bucks and I wouldn't trust ebay for a sensor that is cheap aftermarket made in China junk and perhaps would cause more ABS module errors than the broken OE part.

You should pull the error codes just to see what they are before ordering that sensor. Just out of curiosity I would check those first.

there are total of 4 speed sensors, one in each wheel assembly, each one is responsible for certain portions of the car functions, all together working with the ABS module... none of the speed sensors will trip the service engine soon light, it would first trip the tranny failsafe mode and then it can trip the engine light - the cascading effect of one failing component triggering more events...

with this type of an issue, you should diagnose the car with a computer, as the check engine light has set errors in the memory that need to be read and rectified... while a speed sensor might be the original issue, without proper diagnostics you are shooting in the dark in the "under-the-bed-monsters" - you never know if there is a monster, and if there is one, if you hit it...

and a word on chinese speed sensors - it has been established on this forum, that certain items do not warrant buying chinese knock-offs, and the speed sensors fall into that category... too many folks bought the knock-offs, just to dump them and buy the OE...

Occasionally, if I haven't started the car for a while, when I go to start the car, I get a 'Trans Failsafe Prog' error. This is rectified by turning off the car and starting it again. It does not appear after that. This happens maybe once a month, if the car goes for longer than a couple says without starting. Could this maybe have something to do with it? The service engine soon light is always on. I have never seen any ABS or Traction control lights. I will avoid eBay. Any suggestions on where to buy a quality OEM speed sensor?

There's a reason why the SES light is on. Read your owner manual.

As to where to buy a quality OEM speed sensor I think they can be obtained at any BMW Dealers.

I don't believe that the manual covers an occasional 'trans failsafe prog' error, nor does it explain how to fix it, or exactly what might be wrong with it. I would appreciate it if you did not make snarky comments, that carry no value. Maybe I am missing something, but I doubt this issue is covered in my manual. Please point me in the right direction.

Guys - I mentioned the Speed Sensor because the OP mentioned inoperative Speedometer, cruise and such. I know someone who had same symptoms on an E38 and it turned out to be frayed wires on that particular Speed Sensor. Usually on these era BMWs, when things like the Speedometer and Cruise control stop working it's because the Speed Sensor is no longer sending a signal.

With the additional information about the intermittent SES and TFSP warnings, I would suggest either load testing the battery or checking the alternator / battery voltage by opening up the cluster and doing a voltage check.

These cars do not take kindly to weak or faulty batteries.

I checked the battery voltage at idle, it is at a steady 13.5v. It is about 14 while driving. I do not suspect this to be enough to cause an issue with speedometer. I have never had any trouble with starting the car. I might just give in and take it to a stealership and pay them to figure it out and fix it.

Hmmm... well, that would eliminate the battery as the potential culprit.

Checking the Speed Sensor is zero cost, why not try that first? Even if you decide to buy / replace that sensor, you can get it for around $100+ from vendors like Autohaus - Link:Your Parts Search Returned 1 Part(s)

You can also get it from FCP Euro - Link: BMW Wheel Speed Sensor Rear (X5 E53) - VDO 34526756380V | FCP Euro

Also from OEMBIMMERPARTS - Link: BMW X5 ABS Speed Sensor OEM 2000-09/2003

As far as I know, dealers will charge you about $150 just for diagnosis or to scan your car.

you need to read the codes... a faulty speed sensor can indeed cause plausibility error which will set tranny into faillsafe... somehow, the tranny is not always in the failsafe but the engine got the light on which stays on... this can point to a frayed wire... in absence of a diag software, if you are familiar with multimeters, you can try to measure the speed sensors... they are essentially diodes, resistance in one direction, no resistance in the other direction... you can measure the sensors right at the wheels, take one out at a time and measure it - time consuming, or you can measure all four of them right at the ABS connector - i would suggest this route, as you will find the culprit right away, then you can pull the specific wheel, to measure the actual sensor - sometimes, the sensor is good, but the wiring between the sensor and the ABS is not... it will save you a lot of money and aggravation... or, you can always can have the dealer feed you a line of BS at your expense... :)

good luck...

Thank you very much. I will check them all with a multimeter at the ABS connecter.

Thank you very much

ECS Tuning
German Auto Parts dot Com
AutoHausAZ dot com

All great places to get OEM or OEM equivalent parts at lower prices than the Stealership.