Paying attention to your automobile is essential in these days, in reality, if you do not do the minimum service of it, or if you do not take into account signals of abnormality, you strongly risk to see your car getting in bad conditions. This is precisely the subject we are going to focus on in this article, one of the symptoms that most perturbs motorists is the ABS warning light on BMW i3. In an attempt to help you analyze this warning light, we will first check out what this ABS warning light corresponds to, then in a second what you can do if the ABS light is on BMW i3?.

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What does the ABS light on BMW i3 signify?

We will begin our article with the definition of an ABS warning light on BMW i3, for this, in first, we will see what an ABS is, and soon after, why the ABS light on your car lights up.

What is the ABS on BMW i3?

To begin with, it is necessary to demonstrate to you what the ABS of your BMW i3 is employed for so that you can understand the rest of this content page. The ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) is a system that prevents the wheels of your car from locking during braking. The purpose of this system is to optimise the braking distance of a car by preventing the wheels from locking, sliding on the road and you losing control of your car. The ABS system of your BMW i3 is composed of several components, here they are:

  • Speed sensors on each wheel, which will analyze if one of the wheels locks up.
  • A hydraulic system and valves that will manage the pressure of the pads on the discs to manage the braking power of the car
  • A computer that is the control center of your entire ABS system as well as the ABS light of your BMW i3

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The truth is, you can with ease feel how your car’s ABS works. If you have to steer, you will find that your car will brake by pawing, this is exactly the behaviour that ABS enables, it will optimise braking to the maximum by linking the phases of pressure on the brake discs and the phases of release to prevent the wheels from locking up.

Meaning of an ABS light on BMW i3

Now we move on to the part that you are probably more curious about, meaning of an ABS warning light on a BMW i3? Firstly, it is an orange light, so if it is on it shows that your ABS system is defective. You should be advised that as soon as the ABS warning light is on, the ABS will be put into safety mode, so you should adapt your driving and not take any risks. Here are the different problems that the ABS warning light on your BMW i3 can alert:

  • It could be a simple short circuit, a damaged wiring harness, a defective relay or fuse. Use a pressure gauge to check it.
  • A malfunctioning ABS sensor: A failure of one of them causes the ABS light on your BMW i3 to turn on
  • The ABS hydraulic block of your BMW i3: If it is defective it is possible that the indicator light will turn on and you will no longer be able to use your ABS.
  • The ABS computer: If the computer has a trouble, being the center of all decisions made to run your ABS, the light will obviously turn on.

What if the ABS light comes on on my BMW i3?

We will now move on to the part where we will try to give you some solutions to shut off this light, and thus answer the following question, what to do if the ABS light is on on my BMW i3?. The solutions will be based upon the deficiencies you are experiencing. Firstly, pass your BMW i3 to the diagnostic tool, if you don’t know how to read a fault code on BMW i3, don’t think twice to browse our content page which points the steps to take. Once you have discovered the origin of your issue, here are the steps to take to fix it and turn off the ABS light on your BMW i3:

  • Problem of the ECU or the hydraulic block: It can only be adjusted, and in this case, you will have to go through a specialist, but if it’s dead, it could cost you around 1000€ to change the ECU and 1500 to 2000€ if you have to change both of them.
  • Electrical issue: Once you’ve identified an electrical issue with your manometer, if it’s only a fuse or a relay, count around 10€ maximum, in any other case you’ll have to repair the wiring harness.
  • A defective sensor: Occasionally a simple cleaning of the sensors will be enough to get rid of the issue, in any other case changing a sensor can cost up to a few hundred euros.

To discover more tips on the BMW i3, take a look at the BMW i3 category.