[xDrive35i]

This only really happens when driving in the rain, but sometimes, the car will BONG and then the iDrive will notify me that I should drive carefully and brake gently. It says 4X4 in an amber circle: Drive Moderately, Avoid Hard Braking.

On the dashboard screen, 4x4 is again circumscribed in amber, and the ABS light and BRAKE light are on. When I turn off the engine, all of this goes away, and then I turn off the electronics. Restarting the car clears the warning, and when I check the car's handling and mechanical status via iDrive, and it says all is clear and working.

It happens occasionally in the rain, not every time.

I'm bringing the car in tomorrow.

[LEDZEP]

Interesting. Please post the diagnosis.

[xDrive35i]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

You are not alone with this problem.

This is the third or forth mention of this error. Several of us mentioned it on the "Sudden stop issue" thread which quickly turned into a "electronics error" thread.

The error you described happened to me once and immediately disappeared after shutting the engine off and restarting. It has not happened again and, in my case, didn't seem to be related to rain. I've driven the X3 in a severe rain storm with no electronic problems. Interestingly, the one time I saw the scary brake malfunction error was at the exact instant I drove under cross-country high-voltage power transmission line out in the middle of nowhere. Just driving along - never touched the brakes and the warning popped up and all the lights came on. Carefully checked the brakes, and they were obviously working fine (although didn't try to get the ABS to trigger.

Was there any lightning activity during the rain when your error happened? Could be that it's an EMF (electro magnetic field) interference issue.

It's only been once for me so far but if it happens again it will be right back to the dealership.

With at least three examples on this forum alone, it's probably something that BMW is already aware of. Hope they have a service bulletin and a fix soon.

Please let us know what your dealer says.

It happened again while my friend was driving the car, but it was not raining. So I guess it isn't related to rain. In any case, I brought the car in this morning (they gave me a very nice, gently driven, 535i xDrive sedan as a loaner), and they said they'd call me later today with the diagnosis. I'll let you know what happens.

[MA78]

Originally Posted by juddholland

It happened again while my friend was driving the car, but it was not raining. So I guess it isn't related to rain. In any case, I brought the car in this morning (they gave me a very nice, gently driven, 535i xDrive sedan as a loaner), and they said they'd call me later today with the diagnosis. I'll let you know what happens.

It's very strange that most of the owners reporting problems with their F25s live in Chicago. It must be something in the air.

Hope the dealership is able to fix this problem. Seems like something that could be a real pain in the a$$.

[xDrive35i]

They cannot diagnose it yet, so I still have my 535 loaner (which is great, by the way). They said they'll have to keep it for a few days, see if they can make it happen. Hopefully they'll figure it out.

[Brutus1]

[quote=juddholland;9073789]This only really happens when driving in the rain, but sometimes, the car will BONG and then the iDrive will notify me that I should drive carefully and brake gently. It says 4X4 in an amber circle: Drive Moderately, Avoid Hard Braking.


It is your Mother watching over you!!!

[xDrive35i]

[quote=Brutus1;9085471]

Originally Posted by juddholland

This only really happens when driving in the rain, but sometimes, the car will BONG and then the iDrive will notify me that I should drive carefully and brake gently. It says 4X4 in an amber circle: Drive Moderately, Avoid Hard Braking.


It is your Mother watching over you!!!

Must be!

[M4st3r_ITA]

It can not be the warning of possible ice on the road? Perhaps just below a certain temperature, you are advised to drive carefully ...

[xDrive35i]

Originally Posted by M4st3r_ITA

It can not be the warning of possible ice on the road? Perhaps just below a certain temperature, you are advised to drive carefully ...

Except that's a singular notification, and it doesn't show up on the iDrive screen...it's also not an error...so...yeah it's not that.

[xDrive35i]

WOULD YOU BELIEVE. they still have my car.

[VikingOne]

Originally Posted by juddholland

WOULD YOU BELIEVE. they still have my car.

WTF!, is that nearly a month, and no progress?

[loatron]

Originally Posted by juddholland

WOULD YOU BELIEVE. they still have my car.

A month?!

[jt2]

Originally Posted by juddholland

WOULD YOU BELIEVE. they still have my car.

Isn't there a lemon law in IL?

[Brutus1]

WTF!

[Want the thrill]

I would be going ballistic! What are they telling you???

[xDrive35i]

If it comes back to me and the problem arises yet again, then it is officially a lemon.

[jaymk5]

Originally Posted by juddholland

If it comes back to me and the problem arises yet again, then it is officially a lemon.

Sure it is. Did they explain, what is taking them so long?

[Brutus1]

Oh man-what a bummer! Hope they get it right this time.

[Sabian]

Ugh.. Not the kind of news I like to read about after just placing an order,
Hopefully this is nothing serious and there is a fix

[Want the thrill]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

The "Brake, ABS and 4X4 warning" appeared on my car for the third time (in 1500 miles), so It's back to the dealers. They did find some error codes this time which made no sense. The Service tech said the error codes it was showing translated as "The transmission has the wrong longitude and latitude" !!! Pretty bizarre!

Mine is the second X3 my dealer has seen with this problem. They haven't fixed the other one either.

They decided to hold the car until they hear from the factory engineers. We have a brand new Series 3 xDrive 28i for a loaner.

Hope to hear from juddholland about the status of his car.

Man, I don't want to hear that either after just placing my order Have you had any other problems with it?

[Want the thrill]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

No other problems, it starts, accelerates and handles great. No leaks squeaks, rattles, etc.

This seems to be a computer “glitch” type of situation. There are multiple red and amber warning lights on the center dash display and the computer screen has a cryptic warning that there is a problem with the brakes, the ABS and the “4X4” and to drive as slowly as possible and to contact your BMW dealer immediately. However, the car works OK and the brakes and AWD systems seem to be working normally. As soon as the engine is stopped and then restarted, the warnings go away. If an ABS sensor or other system hardware component had actually failed, the error would remain after a restart. Also, there are no ABS failure codes on the OBD-II port.

The real problem is that with the car signaling a “false alarm” every few hundred miles, if a real component failure does occur, the driver will probably be conditioned to ignore it. I’ve already filed a safety complaint with the US DOT and have been assigned a case number for investigation. If BMW doesn’t get this resolved soon, they will be facing a class action suit as well as a DOT recall. The DOT requires that all cars equipped with ABS systems have a fail-safe warning. By implication, that means a warning that actually works.

This situation is like having a smoke alarm falsely trigger every other week at 3 o’clock in the morning for no apparent reason. Not many people would tolerate it for very long.

Glad to hear you are on top of it. Please keep us posted as to what happens!

[KingKong]

I have the X3 28i, Executive Package, Navi and Premium (basically every package for Canadians). Picked it up 2 weeks ago and had all kinds of errors come on as well:

- Chasis Stabilization Malfunction
- Flat Tire Monitor Malfunction
- Drivetrain malf. Drive Moderately (reduced power to engine...SLOOOW)
- 4 x 4 Errors
- Oil Sensor Malf.

BMW Assist sent the errors to dealership right away to record the problem.

Turned out the Voltage supply from the accelerator peddle was faulty and caused the computer not to know if I was accelerating or not....They replaced it 1 week ago and so far, no errors.