DSC/RUN FLAT light problem due to STEERING ANGLE SENSOR

[Rolandh]

Hi I finally solved one of the most common problems of the DSC/RUN FLAT indicator lights fault . (well I hope I did ) From another thread it was mentioned that it was due to the STEERING ANGLE SENSOR. which is located mid way into the steering column. So how would you know its this?

- If you reset it from your dealership and there are NO electrical faults or just plainly no Faults found.

If this is the case then the BMW/MINI computer cannot recognize that its a mechanical fualt. since this sensor is sort of a potentiometer which will only create errors if the you move the steering wheel left and right.

SO if you dont want to go back again to MINI for a reset follow this:


1. Turn off engine
2. Open Fuse box located near the Foot rest and remove 5A FUSE located on F2 if you check out the cover of the panel this should be the DSC sensors fuse
3. Swithc igntion key to position 2 (the one before you fire up the engine) this should make the self check for the electronics and then the lights should go out.
4. Ignition back to position 1 re-insert 5A fuse and put back cover.
5. Start engine


This should remove the 2 indicator lights DSC/RUN FLAT if they seem to be stubborn .



NOW IF IT KEEPS COMMING BACK AND YOU ARE OVER THE WARRANTY follow this

1. Remove plastic Cover underneath the steering column.
2. remove the screw on the STEERING Column near the "U" Jont .
3. Slide out the STEERING ANGLE SENSOR
4. Remove the connector sensor from the harness
5. Open the sensor carefully use a TORX screw driver for this
6. The potentiometer like disc should look like the one below with the contact brush. You will notice the tiny steel brush are all bent and worn out mine did with ony 5000km!!!. Why doesent this happen to other old BMW with DSC ? Must be a build defect since the switch lubricant or whatever grease they used was too thick which made these micro brush bend and eventually touch each other and break up which causes the fault the small contact brush is tooo sensitve and maybe little by little it goes on and off . you will notice the fault should light up when your turning .
7. I just bent the contact brush more upward CAREFULLY! and cut off the small brush hanging (I wanted to solder something on like a flat pc of metal to simulate a contact shoe (and not like a brush) on this part but maybe nextime
8. Apply switch grease (in this case i used TAMIYA switch grease found on RC Shops)
9. Spread the Grease thinly but not to thin.
10. Re-assemble the S.A.S it doesent matter what position you put back the disc coz for me I forgot and it worked well

11. Before you put it back under the steeing column. try to plug it back the harness. start engine (make sure there are no DSC/ RUN FLAT lights on if there is refer to the top for the reset) then try turning the wheel inside S.A.S. there shouldnt be any fault by then. If there is open it again and bend the contact brush upwards carefully.

12. This should solve that problem.... OR IF YO DONT WANT TO GO THROUGH THIS AND YOU GUYS ARE STILL ON WARRANTY BETTER HAVE IT REPLACED WITH A NEW SENSOR.

I noticed that other BMW Steering angle sensors (cars with DSC) are also compatible and might be better . I went to my dealership and noticed the MADE IN IRELAND sensor to be better build quality than what we have currently. Hmmmm better tell this to your BMW/MINI dealership. If they replace it from the same batch it will come out again.

Our steering angle sensor part num is 37-14-6760-232
They told me its the same with this 37-14-1-094-142 MADE IN IRELAND and maybe better build quality

ask your dealer if they can replace it with that.


Hope this helps you

Let me know

[MiniE]

my dearler said the same thing, they replaced my steering angle sensors, and so far so good

[swamos]

Good work RolandH

I've no idea whether it works, but it looks very impressive

[afiy2k]

Right i thought i'd add to this topic.

A while back i hit a curb quite hard and thought nothing of it. Carried on driving the rest of the evening when i got both DSC and Tyre pressure lights come on.
The car has been like that for almost 5months, no traction control, and couldn't tell when my tyres were low pressure/flat.
Also another effect of hitting the curb was over time my steering wheel was way off centre, turned about 10 degrees to the left when in a straight line.

I've been wanting to fix this for a while now but reading posts on Mini2 there were so many possibilities.
So while on a visit to West Yorkshire my brother in law knows a few garages personally so we went for a drive. Took it to the first garage where they nicely plugged it in to a computer and checked for error codes for free.
"Steering Angle Sensor" came up on his screen so from what i had previously read on Mini2 it must be what is causing the lights to come up.

So went to BMW to see how much the sensor would cost....£146 ex VAT

Took it to the next Garage when i had the tracking done to fix the steering wheel, after a test drive and a little extra adjustment it was perfect.

Once that was done, i found this thread with the 2 fixes, i also found another one which says to try spinning the wheel to calibrate the sensor.
I tried the 2 easy ones which was the calibration and removing the fuse. After 10 mins of trying i gave up as the lights wouldn't go out.

The next day i had to visit someone, so got in the house, started driving and within 2mins i see the tyre pressure light go out, then the DSC flash a few times and also go out.

Everything is working perfect now, testing the DSC on a wheel spin fixes my traction.
So i'm not sure what exactly fixed my problem, if it was purely the tracking or a combination of all 3 but i thought i'd let everyone know.