"BMW X5 - No Speedometer or Odometer and Various Displayed Faults"

By Ron Stultz

24 August 2013

Summary: the left rear wheel speed sensor is defective and needs replacement and is certainly a do-it-yourself job.

Background:

Model year 2000, X5, 4.4i, 181,000 miles.

No speedometer, odometer and DSC and ABS lights "on".

Additionally, on board computer has no miles per gallon or distance function.

On the X5, there is one wheel speed sensor on each wheel. The antilock brake system (ABS) and dynamic stability control (DSC) use inputs from the 4 speed sensors.

When you set in the drivers seat, the left rear wheel speed sensor supplies information used to determine vehicle speed and odometer.

Do-it-yourself (DIY) replacement of left rear wheel sensor:

Tools needed: small flat blade screw driver; can of CRC electrical contact cleaner; can of brake cleaner; 3/16inch Allen wrench.

Park on level.

Pull emergency brake tight.

Using chassis jack point near left rear wheel, jack up car so left rear wheel is off ground.

Remove left rear wheel using 19mm socket. If never removed, might be tough, tight.

Now look and find small plastic box mounted on frame and trace wire from box down to wheel. This is the wheel speed sensor cable.

Open plastic box. It is hinged on one side.

Gently pull out blue connector and examine. The blue connector comes off the wiring harness connector via a thumb indent.

Push the thumb indent and then pull the wiring harness connector out of the blue connector. Do not pull by the wires.

The connector might be tight and a small flat blade screwdriver might be required to depress the indent to separate the connectors.

Once the wheel speed sensor blue connector is free of the wiring harness connector, proceed to remove the wheel speed sensor from various chassis mounts.

When you get to the large plastic box mounted on the chassis, it opens on the right side and is hinged on the left.

With the wheel speed sensor cable loose of all chassis mounts, take 3/16inch Allen wrench and find where the speed sensor is attached to the wheel and loosen the bolt holding the sensor head in place.

To loose the bolt, turn the Allen wrench counter clockwise.

Remove the bolt.

Now grasp the speed sensor head and try to turn it slightly while pulling upward.

A small flat blade screw driver here between the wheel and the bottom of the sensor head helps pry the head up and out of the hole it is in the wheel.

With wheel speed sensor removed from X5, take a can of CRC electrical contact cleaner and spray up into the wiring harness connector and then let the connector dangle and the spray drip out.

Take a can of brake cleaner and shoot cleaner down into the hole in the wheel where the speed sensor head was mounted.

Place new speed sensor head into hole in wheel and insert bolt and tighten down.

Route new wheel speed sensor cable through large plastic box and chassis mounts.

There are 2 chassis mounts and the wheels speed sensor has a rubber grommet that is used to push the cable into the chassis mount. Might be tight but you can push it in.

Now take wheel speed sensor and push into wiring harness connector. Gently insert and perhaps slowly rotate until you find the correct orientation of the wheel speed sensor connector. The connectors will go together only one way.

With new wheel speed sensor connector snapped into wiring harness connector, mount connector in plastic box so bottom rubber grommet is seated in the slot in the bottom of the case.

Close plastic case and snap into place.

Mount rear wheel and lower car off of jack.

If after replacement of left rear wheel sensor, the DSC and ABS lights are still on, you might have to take car to dealer or other to have them determine what other sensor might be bad.