I am new to the forum. I know there are previous threads on this issue, but mine is slightly different. I own a 2003 Mini Cooper "plain" (not an "S") that I bought used, a year ago, with 48K miles on it. I bought the car from a new local BMW dealer, and realize now that pretty much everything they told me about the Mini is incorrect. There are no authorized Mini dealers in the area at all...I'd have to drive hundreds of miles to get to one. A local repair station that specializes in German makes (primarily VW) has been doing my oil changes at 5000 mile intervals and I haven't come due for a full service yet. He says he's worked on BMWs, but not really on Minis. Luckily, I've basically had no significant problem with the car.

Anyway, two days ago, the ABS and "tire" lights came on while I was driving. Both at the same time. The audible alarm didn't "bing", which I thought it would do. I didn't really think TWO things would have suddenly gone wrong with the car, and it felt fine, so I just sort of ignored it. When I parked and then restarted the car, the ABS light didn't turn off; the tire light did turn off but it came back on as soon as I started driving. After several stops and restarts this way, the lights both went off while I was driving and stayed off.

The next day, the ABS light stayed on when I started the car and the tire light went off but came back on when I started driving. While I was driving, the lights went off for about 2 minutes, then came back on.

Today, same deal when starting but while driving the lights went off and stayed off. When I parked, I felt a slight slip as I pulled into a parking space along a curb. It sort of felt like I'd rolled over a bump or rock, and I thought nothing of it. My husband didn't notice it at all. When I restarted the car, the ABS and tire lights turned off, just like they should. I started and parked the car a couple more time, and was glad to see that each time the lights turned off and stayed off as they should. I drove home and everything felt fine until I turned into our driveway. As I was braking to park in the driveway, I could feel and hear the brakes "grabbing". My husband said he thought the ABS system had released the right front brake...that's what it felt like to him (although, quite frankly, neither of us has ever been in a car when an ABS system activated).

I called the mechanic who has been doing the oil changes and described it all to him. He misunderstood me at first, thinking the "grabby" brakes happened while the ABS light was ON, and said that for some reason the system had activated. I clarified that when this happened, the lights had been off for 10 miles or so. The mechanic explained that when the ABS system activates, it does release the pressure on one brake, which people often think feels like the brakes are suddenly grabbing.

The mechanic said to check my tire pressure and adjust any tires that need air. While the tires LOOK fine, I was surprised to find that my front tires had 35psi, while one rear is at 33psi and the other is at 34psi. I had the tires rotated about 3000 miles ago and at that time the tire shop said they set the tires at 38psi (why I asked for 38psi is another story). I don't really think ALL my tires are slowly leaking, so I doubt they actually set them at 38psi. I don't know if the slight difference between front and rear is enough to set off the tire warning light (my owners manual says it won't detect "slow leaks").

I am supposed to bring the car into his shop tomorrow after I've verified I don't have a low tire, and he is going to "scan" for errors. I know he's got all the sophisticated scanning programs for VWs (I used to have a Golf TDI and he was my mechanic) so I assume he's got the necessary programs for the other makes he services. He said if his scan didn't show what the problem was, or if he thought he couldn't fix it, he wouldn't charge me and I'd need to take it to someone else.

So, from reading threads that are a few years old, I see that wheel speed sensor problems can cause these two lights to come on (I don't know what the DSC or "triangle" light is, or if my Mini is supposed to have one, but only two lights are coming on). However, I didn't see that anyone reported that their brakes acted up when the two lights were on...or when they were off! There was absolutely no need for the ABS system to activate either when I was parking on the street (the little sensation I felt pulling into the parking spot, when I thought I ran over a rock, was sort of like the sensation I felt when braked in my driveway) or in my driveway. The pavement was not wet, gravely, or anything else that might cause "slipping" or problems braking.

Now I'm afraid to drive my car! I'm sure that even if the mechanic identifies a bad sensor and says he can replace it (a sensor is a sensor is a sensor, right?) he's going to have to order the part. If I have to find another mechanic to work on it (there is an independent Mini "expert" about 30 miles away) or have to return to the BMW dealer I don't have a lot of faith in (when I bought the car, they said they could work on it, but suggested I take it to the above mentioned independent expert as he is closer to me) I'm going to have to drive some distance. Is it safe to drive the car if it is occasionally going to "grab" like this. It didn't feel like my car wouldn't stop, and it didn't pull or swerve...I was practically at a stop when we felt it. Both times that I felt this slip/grab sensation my wheels were turned (to the left, if that has any bearing on it; I'm sure I did SOME braking while turning the steering wheel to the left between these two incidents, but probably didn't have to come to a full stop).

Does anyone have any hints, tips or ideas for this problem? Is it safe to drive the car until someone has the part and can fix it? Is it a completely different problem if I'm feeling something like the ABS system actually activating unnecessarily?

 

My bet is that it is a wheel speed sensor. I had one go out last month. My lights went on and occasionally off after starting the car and driving. I did notice a couple times, the abs would briefly activate (maybe for half a second) when I was slowing down. It feels like a slight pulse in the brakes, which could feel like runing over a couple small bumps (or rocks). Hopefully your mechanic can scan the car's computer for faults as some scanners can detect the exact sensor that is bad. I ended up replacing my front passenger side first which was not faulty. It ended up being the front driver's side sensor that was the culprit. All is good now.

 

I also think it is the sensor, I have also had the same issue with the braking feeling like I was on gravel, it seems when I was turning right into a driveway as the right wheel touched the lip of the driveway the ABS would kick in for just a slight bit, I have been able to make this happen now on a regular basis at the same location.
You may have a dirty connection, or a loose connection. I have also found a lot of the local shops do not have the right tool to scan for this, so good luck I hope your local guy has it. If not tell him to just check each sensor and clean and inspect for a loose connection.

 

My mechanic said the very slight difference between the front and rear tire pressure wasn't an issue. Unfortunately, it exhibited NEW symptoms driving to his shop. Each time I stopped at a stop sign or stop light (had to do three of them), the car started shuddering (the first time it just shuddered and stopped, but by the third one, it just kept shuddering). I thought it was a brake releasing again. I got to the mechanic's shop, explained the ride in, and then he took it out for a test drive.

He was back in a flash, as the temp gauge had suddenly shot up and coolant light came on. To make a long story short(er), it turns out the hose that attaches to the bottom of the radiator "blew off". His words. I was really worried that it had damaged the engine, but he said the coolant in the engine block didn't pump out and some intermittent fan came on so it didn't actually "boil". Still, what has this got to do with those lights?

He said that the brakes felt "spongy" to him, and the shuddering that I felt (and I guess he felt it too) when stopped felt like an idle problem to him, not a brake releasing. So he went on a diagnostic search to see how these all fit together with the lights...if at all.

First of all, he DOES have BMW readers that will read the Mini computer for codes. He said there were absolutely NO codes recorded. There were thin oily splotches on the underside of the car, which he said could be brake fluid or power steering fluid, but which turned out to be coolant (it was just such a small amount that you couldn't see it was green-ish on your finger). But he carefully checked the brakes and found no problem there, saying what he perceived as spongy must just be the way this cars brakes feel; the pads look pretty new and everything else was fine with no leaks in the brake system, including the power brake vacuum. He also checked the power steering system, too...just because he told me the fluid on the underside might be power steering fluid...and it was all O.K.

He showed me that the clip holding the hose onto the radiator hadn't been properly positioned, and it has probably been like that since the last service (which was before I owned the car). He said he had no idea why it would "blow off" now, but he checked/cleaned the hose and reconnected it. It has a surface flaw in it, and he recommends replacing that hose at the next service. Of course, he had to refill the radiator.

So, after the radiator hose was properly reattached, the brake system fully checked, and ditto for the power steering system, he took it out for a test drive. The drive included an emergency stop, and he said the ABS system activated just as it should (of course, at this point, the ABS and tire lights were no longer on). Nothing was leaking. It wasn't shuddering while stopped at lights. However, he still thought the car was not idling properly.

He turned the car back over to me and said to drive it around while he went to lunch, then bring it back and he'd recheck it and put that under "plate" back on. Well, I just drove home...no problems until I got to my driveway, where I heard something like a slight scrape (didn't even know if it was coming from my car, though) and the ABS and tire light came back on as I stopped in the driveway.

So, I drove it back to him after his lunch. He'd already told me he thought I should have the spark plugs and air filter replaced, and let him investigate some vacuum line that can get oily and affect idle. This car supposedly was not due for anything other than oil changes for another 15K miles, but I don't know if I can believe what the dealer who sold me the car said, or what the original owner told him. I told him to just "do it".

He said if the spark plugs looked like they'd been replaced 15K ago, and were the right ones, he wouldn't replace them. I went off to look for an air filter, as he didn't have one in stock. When I came back from my fruitless search for an air filter (neither the local Napa or Kragen/O'Reilly had one) he showed me the spark plugs he'd pulled and said he thought they were the original factory installed plugs. The air filter was pretty plugged, and he pulled a handful of what looked like redwood bark out of the box (we are in redwoods country up here). So both the plugs and filter will be changed by end of day tomorrow, and he will have investigated this vacuum path/hose/whatever he was concerned about.

And, what does all this have to do with the dang ABS and tire light? Nothing, I guess. He confirmed again that the computer had NO codes at all in it's memory, and that he DOES have a program that can read this computer and translate the codes. But because I've been harping on all the threads on this forum that say "wheel speed sensor" or "wheel angle sensor", "front driver side" or "front passenger side", "clean them"..."no, replace them", etc. AND because I said I thought I heard a little scraping sound when the lights came on in my driveway, he said he would carefully check all the sensors and wires, too, to see if any show corrosion or rubbing.

So far I've run up a bill of $150 for diagnostic time today (which is really generous, because worked on it or talked about it for close to three hours) and he's given me an estimate of $200 for the spark plugs, air filter and checking the vacuum path he thinks could be affecting the idle. Of course, I still might be facing a sensor problem, which would be more expensive than all the other stuff put together.

 

Sounds like you need someone with a BMW dealer computer to run a test on the ABS system, If the light has come on there should be a fault stored somewhere. ABS sensors are pretty common failures.

 

I agree, and some of the BMW ones dont work either. I was told by a friend who has one that only the actual ones that Mini has do all the scans that the car needs, not sure if that is 100% accurate but that is what he told me when I had my issue with the ABS sensors

 

Current status: brakes and power steering systems O.K.'d with no problems. Radiator hose repaired...no overheating damage. Vacuum "path" for idle proved to have no problems. New spark plugs and air filter installed. Mini is now running just fine, except that the ABS and TIRE lights coming on and going off intermittently. My mechanic is in the process of selecting and installing an ABS diagnostic scanner program. I'm going to ignore the lights for a few weeks and then take it back in for a scan.

 

I have a 2008 S and after driving a couple of miles the ABS light came on check engine light at the same time. I powered off/on after a couple of minutes and the alarm went off and later came on again. Once home I checked under the hood the car seem very very hot. The ambiet temp was in the mid 70s and my fan usually run a short time after I shut it off but not this time. I called dealer and they said they could get me in in a couple of days but when I asked if it was ok to drive it he scheduled me for the next morning. Any ideas?

 

I think you should start a new thread on this. In my research on the ABS problems, I haven't seen anything about the ABS light coming on with the CHECK ENGINE light; it has always been with the "tire" light (and, in many posts, a 3rd light that I don't think is even on my year/model). If you start a new thread, be sure to include in the topic that it is your ABS and the CHECK ENGINE light that are coming on simultaneously. Good luck with your problem.