Remove ACC Radar Cover?

[deedie]

Anybody know how to access the ACC radar.

 

I have had the ACC unavailable fault for a while now, and understand it could have moved slightly and may just need realigned slightly.

 

Want to eliminate this possibility before taking it the dealers for a recalibration.

 

Car is due an MOT over the next few weeks, is this fault an MOT failure.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[deedie]

its okay i found some instructions on removing the cover.

[ApertureS]

If the radar has moved, it is not as simple as manually adjusting. It needs calibration using a special board and software down to less than 1 degree of accuracy so can’t just be done with adjusting the screws.

 

id be more worried about what has moved because unless it’s been hit, something is an issue.

[deedie]

This is why I want to inspect it. To see if there is anything obviously wrong with it. It's not been hit as far as I know. It just came on one day while driving in the North of Scotland. 

[deedie]

So I had a look at this.

 

There appears to be 3 torx screws that hold this in place. 1 at the top left hand side and two at the bottom. There is a lot of movement in the top screw, where I can move the sensor forward and back about a quarter inch. I assume that is not normal?

 

Also if any body could answer my question about this warning light being an MOT failure?

 

Thanks

Edited 1 September, 2021 by deedie

[fixitsan]

On 01/09/2021 at 20:14, deedie said:

Also if any body could answer my question about this warning light being an MOT failure?

 

I think if you go into the Car settings menu you can turn off front 'assist', which will take away the message. It should 'probably' pass an MOT anyway, but I think that disabling it before an MOT negates the whole problem neatly

[deedie]

Just now, fixitsan said:

 

I think if you go into the Car settings menu you can turn off front 'assist', which will take away the message. It should 'probably' pass an MOT anyway, but I think that disabling it before an MOT negates the whole problem neatly

Thanks for that. I will try that and see if it gets rid of the warning. It's going in next Saturday for a recalibration and MOT. Have confirmed with the testing center that the fault is just an advisory. 

[deedie]

12 hours ago, fixitsan said:

 

I think if you go into the Car settings menu you can turn off front 'assist', which will take away the message. It should 'probably' pass an MOT anyway, but I think that disabling it before an MOT negates the whole problem neatly

No luck with that, but thanks for the suggestion

[fixitsan]

3 minutes ago, deedie said:

No luck with that, but thanks for the suggestion

 

Shame, mine currently has no ACC sensor attached, so if front assist is enabled I get a constant 'stop/start system' error, until I get around to coding the new sensor into the system

[MikeM46]

On 31/08/2021 at 21:15, deedie said:

This is why I want to inspect it. To see if there is anything obviously wrong with it. It's not been hit as far as I know. It just came on one day while driving in the North of Scotland. 

My ACC has also recently stopped working! Dud you ever get your problem resolved? Or are you just  ignoring the warning symbols?

[deedie]

5 hours ago, MikeM46 said:

My ACC has also recently stopped working! Dud you ever get your problem resolved? Or are you just  ignoring the warning symbols?

Yes. Got it recalibrated for £150. 

[mfizz]

Strictly speaking (as far as I know) it is only an MOT fail if you have any safety related lights on (Engine, brakes, power steering, seat belts, any external lamps, tpms). So if a tester is just doing their job they will pass it all off. However a eagle eyed one will look at the ACC malfunction and possibly think emergency breaking is not going to work. It might be up to their discretion if they think its  a safety issue (given that there are plenty of cars without it on the road).

[deedie]

27 minutes ago, mfizz said:

Strictly speaking (as far as I know) it is only an MOT fail if you have any safety related lights on (Engine, brakes, power steering, seat belts, any external lamps, tpms). So if a tester is just doing their job they will pass it all off. However a eagle eyed one will look at the ACC malfunction and possibly think emergency breaking is not going to work. It might be up to their discretion if they think its  a safety issue (given that there are plenty of cars without it on the road).

It is not a failure at all. Spoke to the test centre about it.

 

Fixed now anyway

[MikeM46]

Did they say what the problem was & what fixed it?

[deedie]

4 hours ago, MikeM46 said:

Did they say what the problem was & what fixed it?

the ADAS system needed recalibrated.

 

A few weeks before mine developed a fault, i was getting a tyre fitted in national tyres and they were doing an offer on wheel alignment at the time. Due to type of wear on my tyre, i decided to get this done. Was only an extra £20. Apparently a car with an ADAS system cannot have this done without having the ADAS recalibrated at the same time. The garage said that National Tyres should not have taken on this work without the proper equipment. 

Edited 14 December, 2021 by deedie

[roo]

4 hours ago, deedie said:

Apparently a car with an ADAS system cannot have this done without having the ADAS recalibrated at the same time. The garage said that National Tyres should not have taken on this work without the proper equipment. 

This bit sounds like utter nonsense and that they were just trying to give you a reason rather than just saying 'i dont know'. Having the wheel alignment done should not affect any of the cars electronic systems. The ACC uses radar to judge the distance, it has nothing to do with the wheels alignment.  Its more likely a small knock like a pothole jarring the car, or something software related caused it to go out of calibration.

[deedie]

1 hour ago, roo said:

This bit sounds like utter nonsense and that they were just trying to give you a reason rather than just saying 'i dont know'. Having the wheel alignment done should not affect any of the cars electronic systems. The ACC uses radar to judge the distance, it has nothing to do with the wheels alignment.  Its more likely a small knock like a pothole jarring the car, or something software related caused it to go out of calibration.

And that is exactly what I thought.

 

Until I googled ADAS wheel alignment. And they are correct

[Berisford]

11 minutes ago, deedie said:

And that is exactly what I thought.

 

Until I googled ADAS wheel alignment. And they are correct

Google a little deeper.........

[deedie]

1 hour ago, Berisford said:

Google a little deeper.........

Link would help!

[ApertureS]

3 hours ago, roo said:

This bit sounds like utter nonsense and that they were just trying to give you a reason rather than just saying 'i dont know'. Having the wheel alignment done should not affect any of the cars electronic systems. The ACC uses radar to judge the distance, it has nothing to do with the wheels alignment.  Its more likely a small knock like a pothole jarring the car, or something software related caused it to go out of calibration.

As a qualified tech trained in ADAS too I can promise you geometry and wheel alignment make a huge difference. To start with the radar has no way of knowing direction of travel without steering wheel input and setting the radar up to be perfectly parallel to the cars straight ahead alignment (done off the rear axle) this is done to a tolerance of 1-2mm to give you an example of how import it is. 

The radar doesnt look straight ahead and know everything and its position relative to the car, it needs to be told this and thats why it needs calibrating. Adjusting alignment, front bracket placement, replacing suspension components, moving subframes all have the chance to throw this out.

[deedie]

9 minutes ago, ApertureS said:

As a qualified tech trained in ADAS too I can promise you geometry and wheel alignment make a huge difference. To start with the radar has no way of knowing direction of travel without steering wheel input and setting the radar up to be perfectly parallel to the cars straight ahead alignment (done off the rear axle) this is done to a tolerance of 1-2mm to give you an example of how import it is. 

The radar doesnt look straight ahead and know everything and its position relative to the car, it needs to be told this and thats why it needs calibrating. Adjusting alignment, front bracket placement, replacing suspension components, moving subframes all have the chance to throw this out.

Thanks for that.

 

That is what I read when I looked into it. Was worried when the comment above suggested it was nonsense. Good to have some input from someone who is actually working with this system. Hopefully the info will save someone making the same mistake I did.

[Berisford]

 

 

 

 

29 minutes ago, deedie said:

Thanks for that.

 

That is what I read when I looked into it. Was worried when the comment above suggested it was nonsense. Good to have some input from someone who is actually working with this system. Hopefully the info will save someone making the same mistake I did.

So the ADAS was working before your visit to National Tyres and it worked for a 'few weeks' after the work was done and when the fault popped up the dealer blamed National Tyres for not recalibrating, yes?

[deedie]

1 minute ago, Berisford said:

 

 

 

 

So the ADAS was working before your visit to National Tyres and it worked for a 'few weeks' after the work was done and when the fault popped up the dealer blamed National Tyres for not recalibrating, yes?

I'm not really concerned either way to be honest. All I know is it's sorted. The fact of the matter remains that wheel alignment can effect ADAS. As was my research. It may have absolutely nothing to do with the reason why mine was needing recalibrate. No way anybody can tell. The fact that you implied it wasn't even possible was interesting. I'm still waiting on that link to that info. So that anybody with a similar issue in future may come across this thread and can then decide the best course of action.

[Berisford]

4 minutes ago, deedie said:

I'm not really concerned either way to be honest. All I know is it's sorted. The fact of the matter remains that wheel alignment can effect ADAS. As was my research. It may have absolutely nothing to do with the reason why mine was needing recalibrate. No way anybody can tell. The fact that you implied it wasn't even possible was interesting. I'm still waiting on that link to that info. So that anybody with a similar issue in future may come across this thread and can then decide the best course of action.

Never implied anything other than a £20 wheel alignment shouldn't require a further £150 calibration - as posted above by 'roo', it's a nonsense excuse by the dealer, especially given the system worked before and after the event.

If you dig a little deeper and beyond the plethora of adverts spooking folk into parting with their monies you'll find mentions such as this from the BMW X5 forum:

https://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/142695-wheel-alignment-and-adas-recalibration/

 

[deedie]

13 minutes ago, Berisford said:

Never implied anything other than a £20 wheel alignment shouldn't require a further £150 calibration - as posted above by 'roo', it's a nonsense excuse by the dealer, especially given the system worked before and after the event.

If you dig a little deeper and beyond the plethora of adverts spooking folk into parting with their monies you'll find mentions such as this from the BMW X5 forum:

https://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/142695-wheel-alignment-and-adas-recalibration/

 

That's more helpful with what you never implied.

 

So we now have a trained technician above contracting this. And quite a few sites that I seen during my research.

 

Suppose that is the issue with looking on the internet for advise, you never know what I nonsense and what isn't.

 

My issue is sorted and I have no further need for the info. So I'm out

Edited 14 December, 2021 by deedie