ABS Problems - E90 owners or past owners

[Solo Man]

How common is the ABS pump failure on these cars? Serviced my neighbour's car yesterday and when he collected it the ABS light came on. I cannot get it to stay off. Googled it and it seems to be quite a common problem overseas on the E90's around the 2006/2007 year. I assume that the 1 series also is prone to this problem. Can any one that has experienced this problem help me with info. Thanks!

 

[akash]

What service was done on the car?

 

[Luis Malhou]

Just clean and check every sensor on every wheel. If you did brakes make sure cables for the sensors are plugged in and clean. The wheel speed sensors pick up magnetic sand and can cause errors. take them out. clean them nicely and put them back

 

[akash]

If you did a brake pad change and open the brake fluid reservoir and it was not tighten properly you will also get an ABS light.

 

[Solo Man]

Did engine flush, oil filter and new Liqui Moly oil. Then took off the engine cover to check the valvetronic stepper motor. That is all. Did not touch the wheels.

 

[Lizzard]

Plug in a diagnostic tool, if you have one, and see what the code tells you. Maybe they just need to rotate the wheel full left and then full right to clear the error. But the code will be beter to diagnose this

 

[Solo Man]

Diagnostic says something about ABS no connection and the codes 5DF0 and 5DF1 iirc

 

[Lizzard]

Those fault codes shows to the following, 5DF0 hydraulic pump motor, and 5DF1 hydraulic pump.

Got this info from another group, thank you bimmerfest. But you can try this and see if it works.

Quote:
Had same problem, so looked to the hydro unit and used a socket extension and put my ear against unit. I could hear it running but not that much. I tapped it a few times, unplugged it a few times, and it seemed to work. Lights went out. I put my ear to the hydro unit again using socket extension and this time pump sounded definitely more positive, more powerful, it obviously started running slow. Took it for test drive and jammed brakes on to activate the Abs a few times. So far all working good. Thanks to all the tips on here I know exactly what the problem is.

End Quote

Hope this works and point you in the right direction. Can you not reset the steering angle sensor and do a test of the pump in the INPA software to see if they work correctly.

 

[Solo Man]

It seems the motor that works the abs valves have a problem with the brushes sticking and not making contact on the armature as it should. Apparently it is a common problem and BMW won't fix it, you have to buy the whole new unit with valves and motor. I googled it and found that there are companies that fix the problem but they are all overseas. If i had the problem on my car at least i would open up the motor and see if that was in fact the problem and take it from there. What i want to know if any owner has had similar ABS problems and how did you/they fix it??

 

[Solo Man]

So took off the plastic covers and tapped the ABS motor with the handle of a screwdriver and reset the abs light and it is fine at the moment. Seems it is the usual problem of stuck brushes on the abs motor. Will see how long this solution lasts.

 

[Lizzard]

Sometimes it is the small things that makes the problem look bigger, had a ABS, Traction control and brake light on and ended up buying thousands of rands diagnostic tools so I could just clear the error with a tissue and some perfume (alcohol) later :roflol:.

Happy you got some results, lets hope this helps and for future reference