PDC (Parking Distance Controller) Malfunction

[MattBianco]

Car was parked for nine days in a covered parking. Prior to that we had torrential rains. Today, picked up the car from parking, and upon turning it on I got a PDC Malfunction error along with a warning to not rely on the proximity sensors when parking. Cameras work, but all the sensors are out.

Any ideas?

Very inconvenient time to take it to a a dealer, but is its function used daily by wife.

[Doanster]

Sorry to hear, Matt. No fun coming back to an issue after the holidays.
Was the car outside during the torrential rains prior to you parking it for nine days? That's the only thing I can think of... one of the sensors is bad due to water seepage.
Wonder if it'll just magically go back to normal tomorrow morning.

[MattBianco]

@Doanster thank you.....car was inside during the bad weather, but it was driven in heavy rain for about an hour. Strange thing is that the rains stopped two days before the car went into its nine day rest in covered parking.

I did some searches and tried reset suggestions (hold parking button down for 10 seconds and start), listened for clicking sounds to determine which is quiet (impossible with the front sensors), cleaned sensors with rubbing alcohol, etc.

Warranty covers all this, but it is just inconvenient as I leave in two days and there is no way to get this done quickly Monday morning. I was hoping a homeopathic cure from a member might resolve it, at least for the shot term.

[F15GorDe]

Any chance it might have been "tapped" while parked?
I'm not sure it's water related, although it could be.
Timing is never convenient.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by MattBianco

@Doanster thank you.....car was inside during the bad weather, but it was driven in heavy rain for about an hour. Strange thing is that the rains stopped two days before the car went into its nine day rest in covered parking.

I did some searches and tried reset suggestions (hold parking button down for 10 seconds and start), listened for clicking sounds to determine which is quiet (impossible with the front sensors), cleaned sensors with rubbing alcohol, etc.

Warranty covers all this, but it is just inconvenient as I leave in two days and there is no way to get this done quickly Monday morning. I was hoping a homeopathic cure from a member might resolve it, at least for the shot term.

We could code out the errors to see if they come back or not.

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by F15GorDe

Any chance it might have been "tapped" while parked? I'm not sure it's water related, although it could be. Timing is never convenient.

Possible, yes, but highly unlikely based on where I was parked. I checked the bumpers for marks and scratches. They look untouched.

Originally Posted by opasha

We could code out the errors to see if they come back or not.

Let me see if I can get an appointment for early Jan. If not, and if caused by a fluke error, yours would be a good way to go.

[MattBianco]

Update:

Today it worked for about 2 minutes, then error resumed/it stopped. Then it worked again for 30 seconds, and stopped. Then for about 10 minutes and stopped. Then went back to not working for the last leg of the drive. Going to dealer on the 26th.

[MattBianco]

Update:

Nearly a month after the PDC fail, it began working all of a sudden, and as you might have guessed, the service schedule is for this coming Monday. Classic.

At least I have captured the repeated alarms going on and off on video, as well as snap shots of the errors.

[barcelona]

After a month of being without you really don't need it, lol. I find PDC most useful. I think it is dangerous when you believe it is working when in fact it is not. If not working I guess you receive the error message. I try to remember every time I go to dealer to ask for printout of CBS from key to see what error codes I had. Could be useful especially when there may be an issue that arises after warranty but can be documented before expiry.

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by barcelona

....I think it is dangerous when you believe it is working when in fact it is not. If not working I guess you receive the error message. ......

The good thing is you see this, showing the sensors are out, and know not to rely on the beeps or the green/yellow/red visual alerts for the sensors' range.

You get this screen after accepting the error in iDrive. As some times it connects and disconnects the sensors, there have been occasions where you have to accept the error 10 times with each disconnect. And you hear the beep every single time you come to a stop in traffic as the sensors have failed.

[Doanster]

Hopefully it's as simple as going through and replacing one sensor at a time to see which one had the intermittent short/cold solder joint.

[hyde]

The only thing I would hate parking without PDC is the auto surround view trigger when I am parking in my garage.
I always look at top view and park by the line that I have in my 2 car garage right at the center, it never failed me. I guess with PDC not working properly, it probably won't automatically display top view. Sometimes top view won't come on, so I would drive close to the wall on purpose to enable it, because, you know, it's such a hassle to hit a button.

[MattBianco]

hyde imagine the alarm/chime and screen warnings in stop and go traffic. It is very annoying. Then, add IDrive screen pop ups which have to be cleaned and instrument cluster alerts over and over again.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by MattBianco

hyde imagine the alarm/chime and screen warnings in stop and go traffic. It is very annoying. Then, add IDrive screen pop ups which have to be cleaned and instrument cluster alerts over and over again.

I am surprised you lasted this long with all those beeps, I probably would have just dropped it off at the dealer and tell them to just get to it whenever they can while you just take their loaner. I hope it's a minor issue, and can get fixed quickly. Hopefully just a loose connector or something.

[blockrockin]

hi just wondering if the problem was ever figured out ? mine is doing the same. i have a appoint at the dealer but just was wondering if the issue was ever discovered ? thanks

[Installsplus]

Originally Posted by blockrockin

hi just wondering if the problem was ever figured out ? mine is doing the same. i have a appoint at the dealer but just was wondering if the issue was ever discovered ? thanks

I just had the same issue. Front bumper had to come off it was a faulty passenger side sensor. A little to early for a 2016.

[mac-sk]

HI guys, I am new BMW owner and new here. I have same issue. Does anyone know where PDC module is on the car. 2013 550i xdrive. Any help is very much appreciated.

[mac-sk]

Here is what comes on.

[CatalinP]

Use bimmerlink, Carly or Ista+ to read out the errors, it will tell you exactly which sensor failed.

[mac-sk]

Thank you

[Zeekobmw]

[QUOTE=mac-sk;23650572]Thank you[/QUOTE
I’m having the same issue. Did you figure out a reset or solution?

[mac-sk]

[QUOTE=Zeekobmw;23667869]

Originally Posted by mac-sk

Thank you[/QUOTE
I’m having the same issue. Did you figure out a reset or solution?

I didn't do it yet.