PDC error

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spartacus68

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 9, 2017
Messages
159
So after the charging solenoid lock episode, my wife tells me there's a PDC fault (park distance control). I thought this may just be the dirty roads considering we had over a foot of snow last week and temperatures of -23.

So the snow is melting and temperatures are back to normal for this time of year. I tried cleaning the sensors but the problem persists. These sensors are expensive, especially the front ones which are pre-painted. I've sourced a supplier and have used Hubauer Shop before, so I know they are genuine BMW and avoids going any where near the main dealer.

The car has front and rear sensors, auto park, plus a reversing camera. It's probably just one sensor, so how can I go about determining it? I'm used to working with VCDS on Audi and Volkswagen cars, but I know genuine BMW software is likely to be ISTA software. Any links to European sellers, I mean plug and play, so software, cable, the works.

Any other tips appreciated to solve this please, thank you.
 
To find out which of the sensors is broken:

- switch the system on
- put your ear right next to each sensor
(apparently you can also use a drinking straw - one end in your ear, the other end on the sensor) - never tried that though.
- the sensors that are working will emit a faint "ticking" sound
- the sensor that is broken will be silent


The sensor that is silent is not necessarily broken - so before you order a replacement take it out and see if:

- the electric contacts aren't corroded (happened to me before)
- the cabel going to the sensor is still attached (could have been ripped off by a chunk of ice/snow - I had that on my 7-series before)
 
Just an update. Detailed the car today which will have helped, and then used an electrical contact spray on the control module for Park Assist that lives under the back seat. So far, so good - time will tell.
 
Update to the update. The repair lasted less than a day. Not sure if the parking sensors or the park assist module that lives under the rear bench seat. Will keep you posted.
 
Good question SwissDI3. I need to do this with my wife. As soon as you open the door to check it switches to neutral (or park), hence one person operation goes out the window! :D
 
spartacus68 said:
Good question SwissDI3. I need to do this with my wife. As soon as you open the door to check it switches to neutral (or park), hence one person operation goes out the window! :D
Buckle the driver's seat belt behind your back and exit the passenger door to keep your i3 in drive ready state.
 
I still haven't resolved this fault between work and taking a week or so annual leave away from the computer. Welcome to lock-down 2021.

So tonight my wife said there's a new error - seat-belt restraint and airbag. Honestly - what is it with this car?

So it got me thinking, say these are false errors, and its actually related to 12v battery? Car is 2015 and probably on original battery. Got to be worth replacing, even if I don't have any other symptoms such as locked boot (tailgate for our US members!) :D

Anyway - keep you posted. Getting to the stage this car will go if it keeps flagging errors. I need to get some sort of scanning device as I'm whistling in the wind otherwise and using the collective expertise of owners on here.
 
Just an update. Finally got hold of dealer diagnostics, ISTA+. I read through the codes regards PMA front outer right module park distance control. Now for all I know this could be historical and not recurring. I cleared all the codes and so far, nothing has come back. With the i3 - once the code is triggered it will sit until the dealer investigates or you can simply live with it. All the car's modules (fault tree mode in ISTA) display as green which tell me they ECUs are working and responding.

Not sure if the airbag light again was linked to wiring under the driver's seat when vacuuming. I disconnected the wires, reconnected and cleared the codes. Fault now gone.

If you haven't moved to this type of software it's an absolute revelation. ;)
 
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