Hello everyone,

thank you so much for all the help last time. This time is kinda tricky. I just changed my battery 2 weeks ago after almost 9 years. I thought I was lucky but yesterday my car threw a warning “Drivetrain malfunction” and I have my reader to get me two codes “P13B8” and “P13AE”. After some research, people are saying that they are codes for “knock” sensor.

I can’t find anything related to replacing a knock sensor in a F55. Please shed me some light on how to replace it myself? And if possible, also Vano sensor? Because a member from here told me that my random hiccup at starting maybe related to vano.

I would like to thank all the good people who helped me and will hold my hand (&#129303.

2016 MCS 5 Dr automatic 42000mile F55

 

Strongly recommend you get your hands on a scan tool that will read BMW/MINI specific codes. P codes are generic OBD-II and do not provide sufficient detail in many cases to get you past trial and error replacement. The BMW/MINI proprietary codes -- and you will definitely have at least one if your car is throwing OBD-II trouble codes (P codes) -- will provide greater detail and insight about what the car sees going on. That detail is especially valuable when dealing with generic errors ("Drivetrain Error" is one of those kitchen-sink kind of generics that BMWs/MINIs throw).

Not to short-circuit your work, but getting those proprietary codes will probably help you *a lot.*

Cheapest way to get such a scanner that I know of is to grab BimmerLink (phone app) and a compatible OBD-II wireless adapter (such as the Veepeak OBDCheck BLE, but there are plenty others). Sub-$100 to grab the pair. Maybe sub-$70 even. And completely pays dividends for someone who clearly intends to keep their car for a good while.

Hope this helps!

 

thank you! I actually have that and in fact there are 5 codes….





i am not sure if it’s because i replaced the battery about 3 weeks ago or it’s the aftermath of a highway pothole (it happened after that).

thank you again!

 

Have you tried clearing the trouble codes to see if they return/which ones return?

 

how to do that 😂

 

When you are looking at the list of codes in BimmerLinnk (not the detail of an individual code) there should be a trashcan icon -- upper right corner, as I recall. Tap it.

Note that may be a paid feature -- I don't know if you're using the paid or free version of BimmerLink.

 

thank you! I just did that. And my windshield fluid sensor is bad too. I wonder if they are all related to the shock when I ran pass the huge pole hole. Seems like everything doesn’t work right after that. Thank you!

 

By any chance -- this pothole -- did you hit it with the right front wheel? The windshield washer reservoir, pump, and sensor are all literally right in front of that wheel (hidden behind the fender liner).

 

Yes!!!!!!!!!!😳😳😳😳😳😳😳 what should I do now?

 

Ok - there is wiring you can't see in the right front wheel well, a good amount of it. Windshield washer pump/etc definitely is in that mix. Other things will be in that mix. And then there is a grounding block -- a central ground point for *lots* of circuits -- in that wheel well in additon.

Net, given that your car isn't going crazy engine-wise despite the codes (unless I've missed some detail somewhere), taking the pothole in that corner and having the washer electronics get wonky suggests that something bonked up at least some of the wiring -- this is more an electrical issue, probably some broken, frayed, or otherwise made-unhappy wires.

Wires are wires. House, car, whatever. Find where there is physical damage and repair it using whatever wire-repair techniques apply and make sense.

So your main first task works like this:

(1) Jack up entire front of car and put car on jackstand(s) for safety.
(2) Remove right front wheel.
(3) Remove underbody splash guard (this is why step 1 is the whole front of the car instead of just the right front corner. You'll thank me later.)
(4) Remove right front fender liner. Note that the fender liner seems like it is attached to "feet" in front and rear of the wheel with plastic rivets. These are not intended to be removed. You need to remove all fasteners that hold the semicircle of the fender liner AND the "feet" -- they all come out together.
(5) inspect the heck out of literally any wire you can get your eyes on. Pay close attention in particular to the wires running to/from the washer pump, and the bundle of wires that those are wrapped together with. You'll spot that since they are all more or less secured together, if something serious messes with one it may mess with more/all. This is how you know where to start looking for physical damage -- the wires themselves and anything they connect to that's in that right front quadrant of the car.

Step (4) is the most mundane and the most difficult at the same time. The fasteners aren't bad -- mostly 8mm hex head screws, a couple of 10mm plastic-covered fasteners, and I think 4 plastic fasteners that are clearly intended to be removable with a trim tool. But the fender liner is kind of jigsaw-puzzled into its proper location. First few times dealing with it you'll think it isn't intended to come out, you'll want to force things, and you may damage something (TIP: do NOT force the wheel arch trim or anything it attaches to, you'll break tabs on them you can't replace and it will annoy you forever). Then, when reassembling, you'll have the same jigsaw puzzle problem and you'll want to force things, etc. (same tip applies).

I'm almost dead positive that you'll find damage to either the washer pump wiring, its connector to the pump, or to the pump itself. As for the rest, not sure, but you'll know trouble when you see it.

PS ground wires on the MINI are brown. So when you see a not-huge, almost flat-ish black rectangular plastic box with a bunch of brown wires running to it, that's the junction block I'm talking about. Connection to ground is through the bolt that holds the box in place, so be mindful that if you unmount the box, you are removing the connection to ground for everything in the box -- be sure to put it back.

Wish I could give more detail but without knowing what's lurking in there in terms of damage, too early to be more specific. But this should literally give you place to start looking that is logical based on the pothole encounter & problem onset coinciding with that event. Thank your windshield washer sensor code for the tell!

 

Ahhhhhhhhh.

I am praying if there is anyone can help me with that. I am located in NYC and I am willing to fly over to anyone if anyone can help (providing if it’s safe to drive thus far).

I live in an apt and there is no garage or anything. It’s dead cold here too…honestly I don’t think it’s anything I can do and I brought my car to my usual garage shop. They said they “found” nth and asked me to wait for the code/malfunction thing to come back again. Could I drive the car? I am seriously puzzled now. But I am extremely grateful for your help. Thank you!!!

 

Glad to help as much as I was able. Re driving the car -- you probably can sort the answer to that better than anyone else, have you driven it since all this came up? How did it behave?

Personally, with knock sensor complaints, I would drive the car as little as possible. Wiring to the sensor may be damaged, and the knock sensor is very important for proper engine control.

In terms of next steps, my choices in your shoes, in order, would be:

(a) trustable independent MINI shop
(b) trustable independent BMW shop
(c) trustable independent multi-eurocar shop
(d) MINI dealership
(e) BMW dealership

What I would absolutely not do: expect a general auto mechanic, even a really good one, to sort this in any reasonable amount of time (or even at all). Nuh uh. Auto electrical is way too specialized on modern cars. This is one where you dig in with the BMW official tech literature and BMW/MINI-specific diagnostic and troubleshooting tools + technique. In this kind of problem, it's all about knowing/having resources unique to THIS car.