Had the wheels off for new rotors, green stuff pads, etc and in the left front wheel well I found this:



Three wires nicely trimmed for attachment to something and an empty electrical connector. Looks like a forgotten item in the re-build from last year. Anyone know what should be here and why the computer doesn't know anything is missing? Thanks.

 

Not sure, but the black box looks like the leveling sensor for the xenons...

 

When you replaced the rotors and pads, did you allow the suspension to exceed full "droop", or did the noted wire get hung up on something? Looks like the plug was pulled off the end somehow. Agreed, looks like the Xenon headlight aiming/leveling sensor, but with the plug pulled off. That "nicely stripped wire" is also what a wire looks like when a plug pulls off. Good luck with the repair!

 

Thanks for the quick responses. I'm on the road so I'll check when I get home tomorrow, but I 'm pretty sure the connector socket was empty. i.e. if the wires just pulled out the male end of the connector would still be in the socket. And guilty as charged re jacking the entire car off the garage floor.

tm

 

Nyah, it's perfectly OK to jack the whole car up, but if you let the suspension exceed full droop (perhaps by unbolting something and putting the weight if the suspension components on the wire) that can pull things loose.

Perhaps the wire was too short originally, or some road debris got caught up in it somewhere... and I thought the Xenon leveling device was on the REAR axle? Or are there devices on both?

Either way, it looks like the male end of the pluggy thing unplugged from the whatchamacallit just below it, and then got yanked off the wirey thing that shows those loose thready silvery things dangling down from the whoozis there. THAT's your problem.

(I apologize for the overly technical terminology)

 

There is a xenon leveling sensor on the left rear wheel of my `05 S. I didn't know about one at the front, but it makes sense, to determine if the car is nose-down or tail-down.

 

Checked the car just now and found: sitting on its wheels, the wires are about 3-4" too short to reach the connector and the male end is definitely gone. Since it is not laying on the garage floor, I suspect it has been gone for a while. Guess I'll run by the dealer in Monday and check his diagrams.

Didn't intentionally go for "max droop" when jacking the car. Just got it off the floor to remove the wheels. Based on the current evidence, I don't think it happened last week.

tm

 

I looked on mine and those wires definitely go to a plug that's connected into that sender just beneath it. Unfortunately it's been raining so I also lay my arm in a puddle . That may be part of the DSC system that tells the computer how far the car's leaning (and may also feed into the Xenon leveling feature). Either way, there was a nicely black-sheathed wire harness connected to the plug.