I've got a '13 S Clubman that I've had for about 17 months now, and I've noticed a few times over the time I've had it that the side marker light (or lights? - not sure if it's both) ahead of the doors that normally flash when the turn signals are on sometimes light up under braking. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the times or conditions under which it occurs, but it seems to have been occurring somewhat more frequently lately (I've noticed it twice in one month when pulling into my garage at night vs maybe a dozen or so times up to this point). I've encountered it out on the road when driving at night, under both light and heavy braking conditions, and while pulling into my garage.

Has anyone else seen this? I'm not sure if it happens during the day or with/without headlights on, since I can't see them, or if it's one or both markers that light up but it definitely happens at night on the driver's side marker with the headlights on. When it happens, the indicator remains lit until I release the brake pedal. It seems like it would be a waste of time to bring it into the dealer at this point, since their chances of seeing it are slim to none, but I'm curious to see if anyone else has noticed it.

--Matt

 

Has the traction control/ABS systems been activated when you notice the side marker lamps on?

 

OEM bulbs or have you converted to LED's?
I wounder cause SOME LED bulbs that are sold, without resistors, sometimes exhibit a similar behavior...

 

This is called "Brake Force Display". It's a standard feature on R60s and LCI cars.
The rear turn signals and side markers become brake lights when antilock system is activated, giving more light and more warning at the rear of vehicle when making a panic stop. Side markers are involved as well, probably because they share a circuit with rear turn signals.
You notice this more at night because of the reflections. If this is happening without antilock activations, you may have a diagnosible problem that the dealer may be able to solve.

 

All stock bulbs everywhere. I'm not aware of the ABS having intervened at any point when I've seen it. I've noticed this at least 4 times under very light braking, when lightly tapping the brakes to come to a stop pulling into my garage.

I've been fighting with the dealer about a vibration issue when turning right since the day I bought my car. It developed into a wobbling situation and resulted in a new wheel bearing having been installed about 5k miles ago. I started a thread here a while back detailing what I see. The vibration never stopped, but the wobbling did immediately when they replaced it. Unsurprisingly enough, the very same condition seems to be returning now lately. It hasn't reached a critical enough point where a dealership visit would be anything more than a waste of time yet, though, so I haven't brought it in yet.

Could the subtle low-speed lurching that I described in that thread be indicative of ABS intervention? Could the vibration when turning be related too? I think you guys are onto something here. This car hasn't been right since the day I picked it up, and I could really use something that the dealership can't claim is my imagination. If some sort of testing could produce some sort of electronically visible symptom, it would certainly be a step in the right direction.

--Matt

 

Yea, it could very well be ABS activation is what your feeling. I've had cars with weak ABS sensors that were out of alignment or had a lose mount that caused
false ABS activation.

As for brake force display.. I want to go out and slam on my brakes now to see if I can get the side markers to light up.

 

Just wait til it snows again!
The weathermen here are predicting sleet for Thursday.

 

Just tried this, I got nothing.

 

Would the cause of something like this be readable by any available tools (NCSExpert, etc.)? I've wasted enough work days at the dealership at this point over this issue that I'd rather not head that way without something concrete that I can show them.

--Matt

 

Anyone on this? I've used VAG-COM on previous VW cars. Can I expect that sensor reading is roughly comparable on these cars? I googled around, but haven't been able to find references to anyone directly reading the wheel speed sensors or getting realtime feedback from the ABS system.

--Matt