[des16]

I brought my car to the dealer with all the warning lights on the dash, including ABS, tire pressure, brakes, airbag, seatbelt, etc. He ran the diagnostics, charged me $175, and said the car was not worth fixing. He indicated that at the very least it would require a new ABS module, new ABS sensors on at least 2 wheels, and tone rings. He indicated that these parts would and related labor would cost more than the value of the car. Anyway, before I give up and follow his advice, attached are his scans. His email with the scans referred to them as: "before and after scans; the second is the returning hard codes." Anyway, before I take his advise and sell the car (which I would prefer not to do since otherwise, it's in great condition and I've spent a lot of several thousands on it recently for brakes, shocks, tires, exhaust, new vanos solenoid, oil gaskets etc), I wanted to get some advise. It seems to me that nowadays all the dealer does is run the codes, come up with some expensive parts that need to be replaced, and pass along the bad news that this will cost $5000. But, maybe that's the new art of auto repair.

[ppointer]

Originally Posted by des16

I brought my car to the dealer with all the warning lights on the dash, including ABS, tire pressure, brakes, airbag, seatbelt, etc. He ran the diagnostics, charged me $175, and said the car was not worth fixing. He indicated that at the very least it would require a new ABS module, new ABS sensors on at least 2 wheels, and tone rings. He indicated that these parts would and related labor would cost more than the value of the car. Anyway, before I give up and follow his advice, attached are his scans. His email with the scans referred to them as: "before and after scans; the second is the returning hard codes." Anyway, before I take his advise and sell the car (which I would prefer not to do since otherwise, it's in great condition and I've spent a lot of several thousands on it recently for brakes, shocks, tires, exhaust, new vanos solenoid, oil gaskets etc), I wanted to get some advise. It seems to me that nowadays all the dealer does is run the codes, come up with some expensive parts that need to be replaced, and pass along the bad news that this will cost $5000. But, maybe that's the new art of auto repair.

My daily driver is 17 years old with 235k miles on it, and worth perhaps $2000 on its best day. But I love driving it, and it is the used car that I know. Every year I have to spend $1k on something for it; now it has a rattling cat, so it's going to need a new exhaust manifold and a tie rod or two. I have newer cars, but I keep this one going because it drives so well. I think you should find an independent mechanic, and get a second opinion. I wouldn't spend $5k on my 2000 BMW, but I might spend $1500 to get another year or two out of it. The next used car might be worse.

[CTinline-six]

Time to sell? The question is it depends.

The reality is all cars regardless of age will eventually need repairs/cost you money, some more than others. Do you enjoy the car? Is it paid for?

Life is short, drive what makes you smile. A newer car may be more reliable, for a period of time, but even then it will need repairs down the road and cost more money up front to purchase.

For example, my vehicles may cost a bit more in maintenance per year than a newer car, but they are much cheaper to own since I have no monthly payment, lower insurance, lower taxes, etc. I can afford a new car, but I still enjoy them, so there really is no need. If the car you have is constantly plagued with problems, then it might not be worth saving. If these are just a few things that have popped up recently, my advice would be to fix it. BMWs are expensive to repair regardless, but you can save a bunch of money by shopping around for repair shops (avoiding the dealer), and DIYing what you can.

[dannyjones]

With all those warnings simultaneously, have you checked your battery?

[Mashman]

It appears you have 3 issues.

A faulty O2 sensor, TCU not working, and a DSC issue.

You mentioned that you recently had the brakes done? Did the lights come on after the brakes were done? Where did you have the brake work done? At the dealer? If the answer to the last questions was 'yes', I would find a local indy, and take the car to them. Make sure to tell them the DSC/ABS lights came on after you had the brakes done.

The O2 sensor needs to be replaced, but that should not be a bid issue. The TCU issue is not a problem, unless you want to connect your phone over bluetooth. That leaves the DSC, it would appear that the DSC unit is bad, because it's reporting problems with sensors on both the left, and right. But, with this occurring right after a brake job (I'm assuming new front pads, maybe rotors?), it's possible the issue is just the sensors. You can get new sensors for $50/piece, and installing is a 15 minute job.

Take it to an indy, and have them check out the DSC, make sure to tell them that you recently had the brakes done, and to check if the sensors were damaged (the connector are in the wheel wells, and can become brittle with age, and easily broken).

Even if you need a new DSC unit, you can get a used one. If you get a used one, look for one like this (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E90-E92-...5Y3pQ1&vxp=mtr), they intentionally snipped the lines to seal the unit.

If there is nothing else wrong with your car, I would definitely get it fixed, just not at the dealer.

[Efthreeoh]

I agree with the above thread (and the one about the battery), but would like to elaborate on the mechanics of it. Most of the fault codes like road speed and the air bag stuff is because the DSC module (computer) is not receiving speed data from the front wheels. The speed sensors are easily replaced, and that's where you'd start with the DSC issue. The "tone rings" are part of the front axleshafts. They can get damaged by rust and possibly damage the speed sensors. There's an easy fix for it which is just putting a washer under the sensor mounting bolt and increasing the air-gap between the ring and sensor. Worst case is replacing the front axles. I'd replace the speed sensors first and see what results from new sensors. Look at the old ones and see if the face is scratched up. If it is, then the rust on the tone-rings is damaging the wheel speed sensor.

The O2 sensor looks to be the downstream Bank 2 unit, which is a bit pricey for the part but 15 minutes to replace if the car is on a lift. The lamda probes are easily reachable and are located in the exhaust manifolds right before the connection of the rear section (cat-back) of the exhaust system.

The TSU issue... I get that code all the time. It usually triggers every once in awhile, but my bluetooth connection works just fine. Occasionally my phone won't connect, but does the at the next engine restart. I wouldn't even address that one.

If the battery is original, after 10 years, it's probably on it's way out. Low battery voltage can cause a myriad of problems. Find a decent BMW Indy to take the car too. Dealership work on old BMWs is far too expensive. You can work with an Indy as to the approach on how to keep the car economically viable to repair.

At 121,000 miles, your car has a lot of life left in it. My car is at 325,000 miles and I think I just lost the rear diff. If I can find a decent used one, I'll fix the car and keep on driving it.

Good luck with it.

[Bob Shiftright]

Originally Posted by des16

I brought my car to the dealer

Dealer?

I wouldn't be surprised if he would be more than happy to sell you a new BMW!

If all of this happened to your car at the same time... Well, what are the odds? (Unless the car was struck by lightning or infested by poltergeists.)

When my car was new, it had an amazing array of electrical problems, all fixed under warranty -- with new BMW replacement parts. I shudder at the thought of how much this cost BMW.

I don't drive my car very much, and eventually I brought the failing battery question -- which I had read about on the BMW boards -- to the dealer's attention. They changed out the battery (replacing the original AGM with a lead acid battery, without changing the battery registration). I bought a trickle charger, and the number of electrical problems improved tremendously.

(BTW, my mis-registered battery lasted 7+ years.)

I concur with those who suggest looking at the battery. I'll add that for maintenance that I can't or don't want to do, I use independent shops for everything except for recalls after the original warranty has expired.

[Denny347]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The TSU issue... I get that code all the time. It usually triggers every once in awhile, but my bluetooth connection works just fine. Occasionally my phone won't connect, but does the at the next engine restart. I wouldn't even address that one.

I get that one as well, even after I clear it. All works just fine, not sure what it is from.

[hassmaschine]

Whoever the OP took the car to was probably hoping he'd dump it for $500 so he could pick it up cheap, replace $300 in parts and sell it for a $5k profit.