Traction control light

[MVB180]

Anyone else had their traction control light flash up? Had it a few of late and think it's probably the drive shaft.
The questions I have are should both drive shafts be changed? Also the sensors for the shafts, should they be changed as well but can I change them first and if I still have issues then do the drive shaft or should they be changed together.

[pbonsalb]

Why would the drive shaft trigger the TC? It’s not going to slip. It might make noise, but it won’t slip. My car had only 1 driveshaft, though it had a joint in the middle. I am not aware that the two halves are available separately. You can buy a new shaft, a rebuilt shaft, send your shaft out to be rebuilt, or buy an aftermarket one piece shaft. But the shaft has nothing to do with your traction control light.

[roastbeef]

My initial thoughts are wheel speed sensors rather than anything with the driveshaft.

[StripclubDJ]

What's traction control ?

[MVB180]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

My initial thoughts are wheel speed sensors rather than anything with the driveshaft.

Speed sensors, aren't they on the rear drive shafts?

[pbonsalb]

Ok. You are confusing axles or half shafts with driveshaft. The driveshaft goes from your transmission to your differential. The axles or half shafts go from your differentials to your rear hubs.

[MVB180]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Ok. You are confusing axles or half shafts with driveshaft. The driveshaft goes from your transmission to your differential. The axles or half shafts go from your differentials to your rear hubs.

Ah, ok

[MVB180]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Ok. You are confusing axles or half shafts with driveshaft. The driveshaft goes from your transmission to your differential. The axles or half shafts go from your differentials to your rear hubs.

This looks like the issue, or could be. The write up is accurate.

[6ixSpd]

It's either the wheel speed sensor or excessive corrosion build up inside the wheel hub where the magnetic ring sits. When you remove the sensor, if you can see rub marks on the surface that points inwards then this is your problem. It usually only happens at very high mileage though.

What's the mileage on your car?

[MVB180]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

It's either the wheel speed sensor or excessive corrosion build up inside the wheel hub where the magnetic ring sits. When you remove the sensor, if you can see rub marks on the surface that points inwards then this is your problem. It usually only happens at very high mileage though.

What's the mileage on your car?

Just over 100k

[pbonsalb]

At least on other BMWs, I have found a lot of debris filling up the grooves between the teeth. If you have that and can clean the teeth, that could help. On 100k mile cars, the sensors sometimes break when you try to remove them. My system works fine at 103k and 12 years.

Mismatched front tire rear tire diameters could also cause the TC to be triggered more often.

[Ximian]

Another cause of it is if you changed wheels without resetting the TPMS, TC will kick in even on small amounts of throttle input.

[Bartledoo]

Originally Posted by Ximian

Another cause of it is if you changed wheels without resetting the TPMS, TC will kick in even on small amounts of throttle input.

Huh