[caddybill1]

hi iv got a 320 petrol and i have a couple of lights up on the dash. hand break light tc light. every time i go to pull off the car judders.only until i turn the tc system off it drives lovely.i have changed all brake senors on the wheels still does it

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by caddybill1

hi iv got a 320 petrol and i have a couple of lights up on the dash. hand break light tc light. every time i go to pull off the car judders.only until i turn the tc system off it drives lovely.i have changed all brake senors on the wheels still does it

Starting to see this now time and time again. The following of course is a guess but trust me you've described a common issue.

There are 2 common issues that when you describe the symptoms come back with the same end result.

1/ hydro unit, the hydro unit can play up, on the 4 cylinder cars the unit can be purchased as a repair kit(the electric part on the 4 cylinder cars usually doesn't suffer) the repair kits around £150+VAT, takes max around 2 hours to remove fit, including carrying out the required brake bleed/fluid change and resetting the faults taking it for a drive to initialise the system.

2/ drive shaft reluctor rings. Getting very common now on the earlier 2005/2008 cars I've got some pictures somewhere which I'll gladly post up, the rings swell due to corrosion expands they fowl the wheel speed sensor creating the issue. We've done a fair few and 90% of the time it's the neat side drive shaft thst plays up. The shafts of required are new(they'll be exchange items) around £448+VAT figure, most garages will also request a wheel speed sensor change as that would of had a hard time, you'll see scoring on the plastic underside at least. You can buy a pattern part but BMW want around £79+VAT for there sensor, pattern parts will of course be cheaper.

You need to obviously get it checked out on the hydro unit fault you'll get codes, usually 5DF0 5DF1 which are hydro unit connection/internal failure codes. The drive shaft fault can/can't register a code, therefore needs to be carefully examined by looking at the ring while someone ideally rotates each wheel slowly by hand anyone who knows will be able to visually see the issue plus will hopefully be able to advise re the solution.

We were seeing now around 2 cars at least per week with the issue of drive shaft reluctor ring issues if you are handy or a garage is handy they may be able(if it is driveshaft reluctor ring related)to clean the offending area with wet'n'dry and this can work but more often and not its short term. As said if yours is drive shaft related you may not see a fault code as the car thinks or assumes traction is broken by the message it gets and all its doing in essence is the job it's tasked to do.

When you changed the 'brake sensor' did you look at the wear sensor re it's condition as the culprit may be there for you to see(etching marks on the sensor)

RE drive shaft pics 2 cars first 2 are from a 120i




these 2 are from a 118d obviously drive shaft removed




hopefully you can see the etching wear signs on all pictures plus on the picture of the drive shaft removed the flaking effect

[Jase 320d]

Both my rear reluctors went

I just changed the reluctor rings over and gave the driveshaft a cleaning up.

Cost me £20 for the 2 new reluctor rings (ebay)

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Jase 320d

Both my rear reluctors went

I just changed the reluctor rings over and gave the driveshaft a cleaning up.

Cost me £20 for the 2 new reluctor rings (ebay)

This is an option I've heard about/but as yet we haven't ventured into, but personally I think its a good alternative/back up plan and a damn sight more affordable to the customer than buying if you've got both drive shafts that have failed over £1000 worth of drive shafts simply due to corrosion and from where I'm sitting a possible manufacturing issue as more and more people are now seeing this problem head on

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by s11nny

ive currently got this issue and diagnosed as relector rings, mine is going in for replacement this week, I get juddering on corners. I don't get lights on startup, however my cousin gets the handbrake light on startup and this is his electro hydraulic pump.
seems like it is becoming more common now

Ah very true

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by s11nny

driveshafts are currently on backorder, mine was meant to be fixed but bmw didn't have the part.

There are quite a few driveshafts on back order we obtained a 120d near side rear drive shaft late last week to fit to a car that had the dreaded issue took nearly 9 weeks to obtain, customer had let BMW know the score but despite this there was little they could do the cogs of production are it would seem very slow in delivering a problematic part at the moment.

Petrols however it would seem are a little quicker to obtain if needed been quoted 7-10 working days supplies in Germany.

Makes the varios DIY options look all the more worht looking at and of course its a damn sight cheaper too

[Jase 320d]

I dont know why people are spending hundreds and hundreds on new driveshafts when they simply are not required

My original reluctor rings lasted 7 years from new. Even if the replacement reluctor rings last half that time (3 1/2 years) id much rather replace them again at a cost of (£20) for parts

To replace the reluctor rings its exactly the same as replacing a driveshaft. I did the first myself in a couple of hours ( i am by no means a mechanic ) and the second one i got the local garage to do it for £40 labour.

So i changed both rings for £60 and its perfect now. Would have cost £100 if id got the garage to do both sides. Makes financial sense to me.


I just cannot understand the theory of changing the entire driveshaft when the driveshaft is not the issue.

Its not as if replacing the driveshaft is a future proof remedy as those new shafts will also corrode. Makes no sense to me at all

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Jase 320d

I dont know why people are spending hundreds and hundreds on new driveshafts when they simply are not required

My original reluctor rings lasted 7 years from new. Even if the replacement reluctor rings last half that time (3 1/2 years) id much rather replace them again at a cost of (£20) for parts

To replace the reluctor rings its exactly the same as replacing a driveshaft. I did the first myself in a couple of hours ( i am by no means a mechanic ) and the second one i got the local garage to do it for £40 labour.

So i changed both rings for £60 and its perfect now. Would have cost £100 if id got the garage to do both sides. Makes financial sense to me.


I just cannot understand the theory of changing the entire driveshaft when the driveshaft is not the issue.

Its not as if replacing the driveshaft is a future proof remedy as those new shafts will also corrode. Makes no sense to me at all

It is a pain we go with this simply as we offer a customer a set of alternatives noted that there are several company's on line offering rings for around £19.99 which is great value as yet we haven't done a ring replacement mainly due to people recovering from the shock I guess

We're I'm sure will look into it to see biggest concern perhaps is quality but from the info I've read all salt protected, therefore the end result like paint job will be steering by good old fashioned basic preparation had a look at www.ukpartsdirect.com/ seem to have all areas covered

[caddybill1]

thanks lads i will get on to it

[ando1980]

I've just recently had the same issue with my E90 and have been quoted over a thousand for two replacement drive shafts. I asked if the guys could instead change my reluctor ring s and sensors but they refused saying that one fell off the last time they tried. Time to find a new garage??