[BMW60]

Hey everybody, I bought a 2008 bmw 328xi that has numerous dash lights on, including ABS 4x4 and brake lights. I’ve looked it up, and I’ve found that a bad wheel speed sensor can cause those codes. From what it looks like the wheel speed sensors are all there, but there’s something else missing (see picture).


Does anyone know what these wires could go to? The wires themselves are completely missing on the passenger side.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[chilledn52]

Most likely brake pad sensor wire. One on front left, one on rear right. to bypass the code, strip the sleaving around the loose wires and twist them together, and then google the reset process

[BMW60]

Awesome thanks, I’ll look into it. I didn’t even consider the brake pad sensors. Would that also throw the traction control and AWD lights?

[chilledn52]

Originally Posted by BMW60

Awesome thanks, I’ll look into it. I didn’t even consider the brake pad sensors. Would that also throw the traction control and AWD lights?

no. you can disconnect battery and reconnect. turn the steering wheel all the way to the left, then all the way to the right and hopfully it disappears. if it doesnt, scan for codes.

[Jaronbwall]

Looks like brake pad sensor wires. I deleted my rear sensor a few years ago because it broke when replacing the pads. Save yourself the hassle. I spliced them together, tightly wrapped it with electrical tape, and tucked it behind the caliper. Anyone that can't tell if brakes are worn out probably has bigger issues anyways. Cheers.

[Onizukachan]

Yep, thru e90 gen you can jsut short the wires and bypass the sensor function and light. Sadly on f30+ that trick no longer works.

[BMW60]

I bypassed both sensors, and the lights are still there but I was able to reset the service interval. Looks like I get to hunt down the real problem now :/. Thinking I’ll text the wheel speed sensors next.

Thanks for all the help!

[Jaronbwall]

Originally Posted by BMW60

I bypassed both sensors, and the lights are still there but I was able to reset the service interval. Looks like I get to hunt down the real problem now :/. Thinking I’ll text the wheel speed sensors next.

Thanks for all the help!

Well damn. That's annoying. Is the wheel speed sensor important?... asking for a friend.

[BMW60]

Not speaking from experience here, but I’m guessing it could cause those problems. My thought process is that if the car can’t determine the speed of each individual wheel, then it wouldn’t be able to use ABS or traction control or even AWD properly because it doesn’t get all the info those systems require.

[BB_cuda]

Normally if you use aBMW specific OBD reader. It will tell you which wheel had the error. For instance, if you have LF wheel speed sensor error, best first thing to do is swap left and right front sensors to see if error follows the sensor. It may or may not.
Here’s why. The sensor picks up a magnetic spot in the wheel gearing. If the bearing is the culptrit, swapping the sensors side to side will not result in the error moving sides too. Trying to save you money on the sensor unless you need one.
I’ve had both left and right rear wheel speed sensors go bad but never a front. Now I’ve set myself up for a front one going bad. Haha!

[BMW60]

I took the sensors off to take a look at and clean them, and found this. It looks like somehow the ring that the sensor detects has gotten mangled on the front right side. So I guess like the first step is to replace that. Also, I took it to Autozone to get the codes checked, and their reader said all 4 sensors are bad. Not sure if that’s true… Maybe a fuse is blown or missing or something? Judging from the lack of maintenance on this car though I’d say it’s definitely possible they all went bad over time, and the previous owner just elected to ignore the issue.

[jbellk75rt]

Good detective work. Any progress yet?

[BMW60]

Unexpected update, my transfer case shredded the other day, so I suppose I’ll get that sorted out and see if that fixes anything. Not sure exactly what caused it… maybe the previous owners never had the fluid changed?

I have also noticed a vibration sound at highway speeds… My hypothesis is an unbalanced driveshaft, but I don’t know how that could have happened. Does anyone know if an off balance driveshaft could cause the TC to fail like that?

This should probably be another post 😅