Autophix 7810: Diagnosing ABS System 2009 BMW 328XI
I recently purchased the Autophix 7810 diagnostic code reader from Amazon to try to diagnose what's wrong with my BMW's ABS system. You can read all about
how my ABS error light came on in my car here. I already sort of knew what was wrong. I watched some videos and did a bit of reading and deduced that one of my ABS wheel speed sensors was no longer operating as it should. I had the choice of buying four new wheel speed sensors and winging it (replacing them all) or buying a code reader to find out exactly which one was bad. I was talked into buying the code reader by my lady. She liked the idea of checking out what any codes that happen to pop up mean. I agreed, so I bought the reader. The one I decided on is called the Autophix 7810. I just used it and was told what was wrong with the car in about 30 seconds. To me, that was kind of fast. I guess that's a good thing, but still, I wish it felt like I got my money's worth a little bit more. Oh well.
I just went through the diagnostic process and took pictures each step of the way. I thought I'd post them here, just in case anyone else has had their ABS system dash lights come on in their BMW. Mine is a 2009 BMW 328XI, FYI.
I'll go through the entire process, from plugging the code reader into the car all the way to finding out what the error is.
This is the OBD access panel. I pulled this off to access the plug.
This is the OBD port.
And this is the Autophix 7810 code reader itself.
This is the Autophix code reader plugged into the BMW OBD port.
Whether you have the key in the ignition or not, once the plug is plugged into the port, the unit will turn on. There are no batteries necessary for the code reader. This is the first screen.
Since I'm diagnosing a BMW, I chose the
For BMW option and pressed the
Enter button. After pressing that button, I was presented with the
Instruction screen.
Next, I used the arrow buttons to navigate to the
For BMW Series Diagnose option and then I pressed
Enter. For each step of this process, I navigated to where I needed to go and then when I wanted to go to the next step, I'd press the
Enter button. To back up a step, I'd press the
Exit button.
After that, I chose the
For 3 Series option. I did this because the car is a 328XI.
Then I navigated to the
E90/E91/E92/E93 (2004-2013) option. I didn't know what chassis the car had, so I had to look it up online. It's sort of a pain. BMW has all sorts of chassis codes. This is where I found mine:
https://store.activeautowerke.com/pages/bmw-chassis-codes-chart
On the
Select Function Screen, I chose
Basic Functions.
Then, on the
Select Menu screen, I chose
System Scan.
Once the
Enter button is pressed, the code reader begins scanning the system. Here's a shot during that process. You can see the percentage completed in the upper right corner.
The lines in red are problems.
This is the
Select System Diagnose screen. It list all of areas that are okay as well as the areas that need to be looked into. I think all of these red areas are related to the one issue my car is facing.
To start out, I navigated to the
EGS Transmission Control option and pressed
Enter.
This brought me to the
Select Function screen. I chose the
Read Fault Codes option.
Well look what we have here. It says:
581A Signal Error, Wheel Speed, Front Left, From DSC. I'm guessing that's the ABS wheel speed sensor.
Next I checked the
VGT Transfer Case error.
I'm not sure that gave me an actual error, so I checked the
SC Dynamic Stability Control error.
And that error read
5E27 Wheel Speed, Plausibility, Front Left.
I don't know. I'm guessing the front left ABS wheel speed sensor is bad. I ordered one from Rock Auto for around $27. It's the Hella speed sensor with a part number of 012806101. I'll get it in about a week and install it. Then, I'll check back here with my report. Hopefully the dash lights will turn off.