BMW E60 Parking Sensor Failure, Diagnoses & Repair

[@Ghhrjovi]

You are the only one to show how to tell faulty sensor without a code reader! Thanks man!

[@MTechGuy]

No worries, thanks for checking out the video 👍

[@XCNT]

Wow, never did I ever think you could diagnose parking sensors by listening to them. But just did on my dads, and found the faulty one!! Thanks for the video!

[@MTechGuy]

No worries, glad the video helped. Thanks for watching

[@kimsmoke17]

So brilliant. Would not thought the sensors make audible noise… thank you. I couldn’t figure how to diagnose which sensor wasn’t working without a scan tool.

[@MTechGuy]

Good to hear you found the video useful 👍 Thanks for watching!

[@ricowswave1324]

Just did mine today replaced one of my rear sensors and all worked as it should with no faulty PDC! Thanks for the great video👍

[@MTechGuy]

Nice one ricowswave, glad you found the video useful. Thanks for watching!

[@sonnybell3760]

how expensive to replace?

[@SmartProjectsABC]

On my BMW E61 2009, the PDC started to fail gradually. The iDrive would show PDC failure and PDC button blinking. They were off for a day and come back. Then the next day were not working. This continued for some times and then at some point, they newer worked. I saw no error via OBD2 reader. I got the car to the service and they found the front cables to be broken. It was not PDC sensor failure. Cable replaced and now working fine.

[@ahmedrc8986]

This is the best channel for explaining m5. Thank you

[@MTechGuy]

That’s great to hear man, thanks for watching!

[@brianjoitescu]

Super informative video as always. Don’t ever stop making these videos! 👏🏼

[@lastnightschef]

Saw a vid that told me to spray the faulty sensor with WD40.. Didn't work on mine. hen I went on with your solution! Found the faulty sensor, replaced it and everythings works great again!

[@MTechGuy]

Glad it helped! WD40 isn’t really a proper fix. Thanks for checking out the vid!

[@kimsaunders-singer4434]

Clever guy who makes it easy. Cheers!

[@MTechGuy]

Thanks for watching Kim

[@TotoGuy-Original]

had a problem on my e90 diagnostics said it was the same one you replaced but i replaced it and i still got the fault. i dod clean the connector with contact cleaner as well. the problem says there is a short so i guess i need to replace the harness? i did other tests on ista and they all came back good. i just cant get rid of the fault so the old sensor might have been fine then!

[@brenkeenan8892]

Know it’s an older film, but spookily mine has just thrown the same fault! Protool (worth its weight in gold!) confirms it’s the…………right rear 😂. Used your tips just to confirm it is that one. New one ordered today. Another great informative film (even if my OCD flipped out that you never suggested gleaning behind the bumper before replacing it 🤣🤣) But as ways you have saved my hours of time and skinned knuckles and money etc trying to work out how to get the faulty one out. Eternally grateful for your back catalogue of films and wait eagerly for the subscription bell to “ding” when a new one lands on the channel. Cheers fella.

[@MTechGuy]

Cheers Bren, I’m glad to hear you got your sensor trouble sorted. You are right, I should have taken the opportunity to clean up the 15 yrs worth of muck from behind the bumper! Good tip for anyone else reading this. Thank you for supporting the channel, I really appreciate it.

[@Elliottboyd93]

@@MTechGuy Just got an X1 and after a valet the parking sensors have failed and the tint is flaking off! Maybe you did the right think by not cleaning it seen as BMWs are so sensitive… might sack it off and go back to VW, had more issues in a month with a BMW than I have in years with the other German lot! 😂

[@MTechGuy]

@@Elliottboyd93 Sounds like the consequence of a pressure washer!

[@brenkeenan8892]

Just a quick update. Swapped out rear right sensor (if you have access to ramps or a lift you can do the corner ones with the bumper still on. Just reach up, release the tangs, pop the sensor out and unclip the connector) However, turns out mine was actually a wire fault. The sensor harness had come lose under the bumper and was just grazing the exhaust! Burnt through one of the wires to the sensor. Bloody awkward to solder a link in, but all done and back working now 👍 But while under it I noticed several control arm bushes are ripped!!!! So they are now next on the list 😟

[@scottrees4530]

Great advice had this fault for over a year and no one even bmw can find the fault yet. Replaced module 3 sensors and still have pdc ultrasonic supply code 🤬🤬

[@MTechGuy]

Thank man, hope the video helps in getting yours sorted. They’re not a complicated system

[@Fightergator01]

Great video. Taught more about sensors and gave me some confidence to not be afraid to take off a big bumper to get at things. My 2013 Lexus RX350 has a front left sensor that is giving me fits!! At a stop light, the sensor will trigger when I come to a stop at a red light for no apparent reason and then go off. Occasionally comes right back on after being off for 10 seconds or so. I'm wondering if water could be a first problem to look for? Stopping might allow the water to pool in a spot in the sensor connector, then clear, then return? I'll try some WD40 for a while and see if the problem goes away. Thanks again for the additional insight into sensor problems.

[@MTechGuy]

Cheers man, thanks for checking out the video. WD40 might work as a temp fix but will likely return. I’d remove the from bumper, inspect the wiring and connector and consider replacing the sensor. I’ve got no experience with Lexus but should be same principle

[@Onispeedsixer]

Ty for this video my 335i just started doing the PDC malfunction.

[@MTechGuy]

No worries, thanks for watching!

[@trottpaul]

Will your cell phone bluetooth to your car, I have 2006 m5 can’t get mine to hook up, wonderd if the car is to old can’t find a video on you tube of anyone connecting there cell phone. Another great video you put out again. Best regards Paul in Fl.

[@MTechGuy]

Thanks Paul, my 2005 is prepped for a cell phone in the arm rest, but won’t connect with the Bluetooth because it’s a Japanese Import which has different hardware to the rest of the world. Your Bluetooth module may be faulty or need programming. If your car doesn’t have one, 3rd party options are cheaper than a factory retrofit

[@SonnyLT]

What if mine only occasionally comes up with error? And is it same bumper removal process for e61? Thank you

[@AlexGray]

Great video! I’ve seen some parking sensors shaped like a bullet and others (like yours in the rear here) are L shaped. I assume the rear is L shaped and the front takes the straight, bullet looking sensors?

[@MTechGuy]

Cheers Alex, yeah rear L shaped, fronts straight 👍

[@AlexGray]

@@MTechGuy Nice thanks! Is it possible to remove the colored cap and swap it to a sensor or is the cap not removable?

[@MTechGuy]

Nah, not removable- they are fully sealed. Not expensive to get painted, or you can buy them pre-painted, just make sure you get a genuine one. Coincidentally I just had another one of my M5 rear sensors go out, I ordered a replacement this week, I plan to make a video for it soon

[@adddddams]

Thank you for the detailed video! Very helpful. I have just picked my E61 up from having some new front lower arms fitted and an MOT and am now getting the PDC failure. I have listened to the sensors and it sounds like one on the front and one on the rear are now not working. It certainly seems unusual that they were all functioning fine before I left the car at the garage and now two are not functioning correctly (front #3 and rear #4). Before purchasing two new sensors - could this possibly be something else linked to the harness maybe, that may have been disrupted during the work? It seems an unlikely coincidence that two have failed at the same time whilst having work done. Thank you for any further assistance with helping diagnosing this issue before I purchase any parts and/or undertake any work on it. Really appreciate it. Cheers!

[@MTechGuy]

It’s unlikely it’s related to the lower control arm job, the bumper doesn’t need removing for that, and they are two seperate harnesses. If they cleaned the car afterwards with a high pressure power washer- this could have caused water ingress and problems. I would swap them around with the other sensors and see if the fault moves before spending on new ones

[@adddddams]

@@MTechGuy I will give that a go - Thank you!

[@kuoppamaa1111]

Im new whit the bmw's. My car has the pdc problem and i've been wondering why does my car make a double beep noise randomly sometimes when driving?

[@alexandermcleanbarclay9266]

Hi m I have a BMW E63 650CI auto sport which is basically a 5 series with a different jacket my pdc has not worked for a while but when it first became faulty I had it checked using the code it stated that the signal was going straight to earth I never understood the term but not sure if the sensors are the problem or the pdc module itself do you think the test you done to determine what senor was broken would work on mine good informative video by the way and thanks in advance for your help with this

[@MTechGuy]

Depends on what the specific code was. Could be a wiring issue? I would start by doing a voltage check at each sensor connection and work back from there

[@eXiBiTuS]

U bought aftermarket sensors or the oem ones? Aftermarket just as good? great Video

[@MTechGuy]

OEM, I wouldn’t bother with anything else. Cheers

[@bigo9293]

Hi mate any ideas I have pdc fault but I'm getting no response from any sensor at all? How can I test to see if it's the module?

[@MTechGuy]

Get the fault codes read and go from there

[@mrbe1497]

Great video. Thank you for sharing 💪🏾👊🏾💯

[@MTechGuy]

Thanks for watching!

[@stuartboakes1017]

Great video Have you done the SMG reset? Is it worth doing?

[@MTechGuy]

Only really necessary if you change the tires on the car, it reinitialises the SMG slip detection. I plan to do a video on it sometime

[@gmp203]

good job. thanks

[@amarmuric1740]

Hello, nice video man. On my E60 front right sensor sometimes let a sound (sorry for my English) when there is nothing, today it showed me this warning, I turned off my car, after 2 hours there was no this warning, I checked control massages it hadn't that even there, so I don't know was it mistake or not...

[@MTechGuy]

Sounds like the sensor is possibly starting to fail. If it happens again get the code read to confirm, then change it out

[@amarmuric1740]

@@MTechGuy thanks bro, I'll do it😉

[@johanvanschalkwyk7634]

Do you happen to know the part number for the sensor, I'm having hard time finding it. My front right is not working. I have 2008 M5

[@MTechGuy]

There’s heaps of part numbers due to each paint code colour having a different part number. Take a look on REAL OEM

[@johanvanschalkwyk7634]

@@MTechGuy thanks!

[@letsrollout7307]

Thanks bud . Hope this will be my issue as well seems easy enough . Great job

[@MTechGuy]

No problem 👍 Good luck!

[@ObbardProductions]

I checked all my sensors today. they all had the clicking sound, but was clicking quieter than the others, does that mean its faulty?

[@MTechGuy]

I would check the fault codes next and go from there

[@bbx78]

Very helpfull video, thank you very much!

[@MTechGuy]

Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching!

[@amarmuric1740]

Hello bro, I know this question isnt about parking sensors, and I know it is 2.0d, but, I don't know, I have bought E60 520d I expected that he has good acceleration but mine from 0-60 km/h go very bad, from 60km/h its pretty nice. My friend has Jaguar 2.0d, his weight is similar like mine, but he has so much better acceleration than mine BMW, question is, does BMW E60 2.0d has really that bad acceleration or maybe I have some problems like micro filter or something???

[@hopsis6788]

I have a E61 from 2004 which has the rear-right-middle sensor sounding constantly, as if something would be against it (=in the red zone). Dealership had me buying a new replacement sensor, but that didn't resolve the problem. I've now tried looking for a damaged wire, but nothing visible or any change when wiggling the loom or each wire separately . Any ideas/comments?

[@MTechGuy]

Check & clean the connection for that sensor, then check and clean the connection for the rear loom. If no change- check out the PDC module, they are susceptible to moisture damage in the E60, or it may be time to replace it

[@andrewbrown5402]

My e60 m5 has developed a pdc failure fault today but by the time I drove to the stealership it had fixed itself. So on this basis I guess water in sensor and drying as I’m driving along. This problem needs to be fixed asap, as I rely on them now all the time. Dealership want £180 for a new sensor, guess I will go to eBay first.

[@MTechGuy]

Water ingress issues super common with these sensors! Sometimes they come right, but it’ll happen again eventually once water is able to get into the sensor and it’s lost it’s weather tightness. There may have been a fault code present for the failure at the dealership, even if it had started working again. If you can find a painted one on eBay, even if it’s a used one it’s going to save you £££ 👍

[@lastnightschef]

Great stuff!

[@MTechGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for checking out the channel!

[@lastnightschef]

Will definitely do that frequently. It helps me a lot, I am planning to buy an E60 M5 on Saturday.. When the car looks good I'll take it home with me. Your videos help me a lot to know where to look at.. Thank you!

[@MTechGuy]

Thanks man, that’s great to hear. Glad you’ve found the videos of value. Good luck with the E60 M5 purchase! 👍

[@lastnightschef]

Thanks a lot! After years of searching it's hopefully the one!

[@lastnightschef]

I bought it!

[@TheHuracan1984]

thank you

[@Globalpeaceseeker]

Beautiful car!

[@MTechGuy]

Thanks!

[@vloggershubby]

If one sensor not work or short why all sensors not working in bmw x6

[@jao906]

How do I disable it completely

[@MTechGuy]

Press the DSC button if it’s SMG. It can’t be turned off on the early 6-speed manual cars

[@SmartProjectsABC]

My sensors are not active when car is off :( cannot hear them when engine is running

[@MTechGuy]

Turn the ignition on, but without the engine running and make sure the PDC button is turned on, then have a listen

[@SmartProjectsABC]

@@MTechGuy With ignition on but car not running, the PDC will not become active. My 2009 e61 does not have auto start/stop. Strange thing, I do not see any error via OBD2 reader. The PDC failure works but most of the time does not.

[@MTechGuy]

The module could be dead? If you are getting a PDC failure warning on the display there should be codes stored which may not be visible with some OBD2 scan tools, try a BMW dedicated scan tool

[@SmartProjectsABC]

@@MTechGuy thanks for your effort. Hope that it is not the module because sometimes PDC works.. The day i got the failure was a raining day I drove 600 km on two direction road with lot of water splashing into my car on 100km/h speed. Hope that one of the sensors in front just got wet :) will continue working on this when I have time.

[@daniny1506]

@@SmartProjectsABC hi. Did you fixed the issue? I have same problem like yours my sensors sometimes work but not for long

[@VersaVirgo]

The sound has no difference. They both like having a wind playing inside. I can't Identify with my e61 also which sensors are not working.

[@jamiestanley8774]

Mmmmmmmm . I have no notifactions anywhere . Nothing on my code reader .

[@MTechGuy]

Use a BMW dedicated scan tool, if you have the PDC warning on the dash, there will be a code logged

[@domualex]

Vanos is mega noisy..i had the same problem...find a 2007+ exhaust gear(top of engine) and replace it

[@MTechGuy]

Yes, the revised exhaust gears are less noisy!

[@MTechGuy]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGm3m62YnruSo7M

[@domualex]

@@MTechGuy my pressurr was perfect yet the vanos was very noisy...i changed the gear on bank 2 and its super silent...i use liqui molly 10w60

[@onomatopoeidia]

If you get no signal from any of them then pull the three plugs off the PDC module, unclip the circuit board and pull it out of the plastic case. Give each plug a spray with isopropyl alcohol or electrical solvent cleaner and give the board a spray too. Plug it all back in and it should work. Moisture affects these modules badly so move them out of the wheel well and into the left storage compartment in a plastic box with a moisture absorber. Alternative is get a reliable Japanese car :)

[@MTechGuy]

Cheers man, cleaning the harness connections it a good tip 👍

[@markburnett7461]

Spray wd40 on your sensors thatll drive any moisture out, done my e46 worked a treat

[@MTechGuy]

WD40 works as a temporary fix, but doesn’t repair a sensor that’s letting in water. Sensor replacement will avoid the issue returning 👍

[@rollotomassi4987]

Tried with WD40 and it didn't do the trick for me. I had two bad sensors which I took out cleaned and soaked in 90% isopropyl alcohol for 10-15 min. and dried them with compressed air. Turned the oven on to 350 Degrees (F) and put both sensor in the cold oven and left them in there for 15 min after the oven hit 350 degrees. After the sensors cooled overnight I installed them the next day - both are still working. My sensors are the originals (date stamp on the sensors matched the year of my 2005 645ci) Not sure if a $10 sensor from eBay will hold up in the oven, so do this at your own risk.