Turning on/off the DSC
- Thread starter richie the rocket
- Start date
I am confused here. I thought that yellow light icon thing that flashes on your dashboard means that DSC is on? Whenever its icy outside and I guess I hit an ice patch, I see that light flash on my dashboard, so I am assuming that means its being used. Plus if I push the DSC button, the light stays on, so I am pretty sure that it means that it is on.
DSC is a fancy BMW term for traction control, no?
Thanks for helping me understand my car better everyone!
DSC is a fancy BMW term for traction control, no?
Thanks for helping me understand my car better everyone!
Yes, It means that DSC was on and is being activated.
Yes, it flashes when it is being used.
No, when the light stays on permanently that means that you have deactivated DSC and activated DTC. In order to completely deactivate DSC, DTC, and DBC you must press DSC button once to turn off DSC and then press and hold the button again for 3 seconds. In addition to the yellow trangle light a red "Brake" light will come on on the dash to let you know they have both been activated.
Dynamic Stability Control contains DTC (traction control) and DBC (brake control). Here is a description of DSC from Bmw's website.
Dynamic Stability Control provides remarkable tenacity on slippery road surfaces. Sensors monitor front wheel rotation and steering wheel angle, yaw sensor and speedometer reading. If the system senses over- or understeer, it modulates engine power and can apply brakes individually to help keep the vehicle under control and going in the intended direction.
Hope this helps![[:)]](/images/smilies/smile.png "Smile [:)]")
Yes, it flashes when it is being used.
No, when the light stays on permanently that means that you have deactivated DSC and activated DTC. In order to completely deactivate DSC, DTC, and DBC you must press DSC button once to turn off DSC and then press and hold the button again for 3 seconds. In addition to the yellow trangle light a red "Brake" light will come on on the dash to let you know they have both been activated.
Dynamic Stability Control contains DTC (traction control) and DBC (brake control). Here is a description of DSC from Bmw's website.
Dynamic Stability Control provides remarkable tenacity on slippery road surfaces. Sensors monitor front wheel rotation and steering wheel angle, yaw sensor and speedometer reading. If the system senses over- or understeer, it modulates engine power and can apply brakes individually to help keep the vehicle under control and going in the intended direction.
Hope this helps
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Tweet227 said:
No, when the light stays on permanently that means that you have deactivated DSC and activated DTC. In order to completely deactivate DSC, DTC, and DBC you must press DSC button once to turn off DSC and then press and hold the button again for 3 seconds. In addition to the yellow trangle light a red "Brake" light will come on on the dash to let you know they have both been activated.
Dynamic Stability Control contains DTC (traction control) and DBC (brake control). Here is a description of DSC from Bmw's website.
Dynamic Stability Control provides remarkable tenacity on slippery road surfaces. Sensors monitor front wheel rotation and steering wheel angle, yaw sensor and speedometer reading. If the system senses over- or understeer, it modulates engine power and can apply brakes individually to help keep the vehicle under control and going in the intended direction.
Hope this helps
DBC (Dynamic Brake Control) is a subfunction safety mechanism from DSC. The function of DBC is to sense when emergency braking is taking place (When you slam on the brakes) and it applies the maximum braking power possible to the wheels. When the AMBER brake light is lit, it means that DBC and DTC has been deactivated.
TSilver330CI- Please read my post on the first page of this thread for detailed descriptions of the functions of DSC, DTC, and DBC.
*All my info is taken from the 2004 3 series owner’s manual and from www.BMW.com
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First of all, its an honest mistake... I thought the light was red.
Now according to my info which was taken directly from My owners manual (p. 89) there is a whole section on "Deactivating the DSC/activating the DTC". Under that section it states, "Press the DSC button briefly; the indicator light comes on and stays on. DSC is deactivated; DTC is operational. In the following rare situations, it may prove useful to activate the DTC for a brief period." It then goes on to list some situations.
Now for DBC I agree with your explanation of it, however if you look at the manual again you will see that it shows a picture of the brake light and next to it (p. 89 bottom left corner), it says "The DSC, DTC, and DBC have been switched off manually or there is a system malfunction." My interpretation is that DBC can be switched off.
And lastly, in my post I never said that the yellow exclamation light flashes when DSC is deactivated.
I never said that you said the yellow exclamation light flashes when DSC is deactivated. I was just making it clear for other readers so they won't get confused. However, you did mention the following statement:
I was trying to emphasize that these lights mean that you've deactivated these features, not activate- but I'm sure that was just another mistake, so no worries.
Basically, when you don't see any of these lights lit (taking into account that the flashing exclamation point is just an indicator that DSC is actively being used and that there is no indicator that the DBC or DTC is actively being used), then DSC and DBC are activated. In order to activate DTC, you must press the DSC button (thanks for clearing that up for me, Tweet227), which activates DTC and deactivates DSC.
I was trying to emphasize that these lights mean that you've deactivated these features, not activate- but I'm sure that was just another mistake, so no worries.
Basically, when you don't see any of these lights lit (taking into account that the flashing exclamation point is just an indicator that DSC is actively being used and that there is no indicator that the DBC or DTC is actively being used), then DSC and DBC are activated. In order to activate DTC, you must press the DSC button (thanks for clearing that up for me, Tweet227), which activates DTC and deactivates DSC.
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undien717 said:
I never said that you said the yellow exclamation light flashes when DSC is deactivated. I was just making it clear for other readers so they won't get confused. However, you did mention the following statement:
I was trying to emphasize that these lights mean that you've deactivated these features, not activate- but I'm sure that was just another mistake, so no worries.
When it mentions that DTC and DBC are operational when you press (not hold down) the DSC button, it doesn't mean that you have just activated the DTC and DBC. It means that you haven't turned them off and that they are still active even though you have turned off the engine torque control mechanism (DSC). If you don't see the amber brake light lit, then it means that DBC and DTC are still activated. These 2 mechanisms are also still activated when DSC is activated, since the amber brake light isn't lit at that time. Basically, when you don't see any of these lights lit (take into account that the flashing exclamation point is just an indicator that DSC is actively being used and that there is no indicator that the DBC or DTC is actively being used), then all 3 of the functions (DSC, DTC, and DBC) are still activated.
As for being able to turn off DBC, you are right and it was my mistake to mention that you cannot turn off this feature. I'm going to add that bit of info to my previous post. When you think about it, it would make sense to turn it off when you're on the track, where control of hard braking should be left up to the driver. If DBC was active on the track, it would interfere with hard braking during tight cornering (and with drifting![[:D]](/images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin [:D]")
) and would limit the control of the driver.
I was trying to emphasize that these lights mean that you've deactivated these features, not activate- but I'm sure that was just another mistake, so no worries.
When it mentions that DTC and DBC are operational when you press (not hold down) the DSC button, it doesn't mean that you have just activated the DTC and DBC. It means that you haven't turned them off and that they are still active even though you have turned off the engine torque control mechanism (DSC). If you don't see the amber brake light lit, then it means that DBC and DTC are still activated. These 2 mechanisms are also still activated when DSC is activated, since the amber brake light isn't lit at that time. Basically, when you don't see any of these lights lit (take into account that the flashing exclamation point is just an indicator that DSC is actively being used and that there is no indicator that the DBC or DTC is actively being used), then all 3 of the functions (DSC, DTC, and DBC) are still activated.
As for being able to turn off DBC, you are right and it was my mistake to mention that you cannot turn off this feature. I'm going to add that bit of info to my previous post. When you think about it, it would make sense to turn it off when you're on the track, where control of hard braking should be left up to the driver. If DBC was active on the track, it would interfere with hard braking during tight cornering (and with drifting
) and would limit the control of the driver.
Yes, that was a typo/mistake. However when I read my manual I still get the impression that DTC is not activated until DSC is deactivated. In addition to the info on p.89, on p.90 there is a section labeled "Reactivating the DSC". It says, "Press the button again; the indicator lamp or the indicator lamps will go out. DTC is deactivated." The way I understood that was DSC and DTC are not on concurrently.
That is true. I've made a little mistake on the function of DTC and I'll correct it in my previous posts. DTC provides rear wheel vehicles with greater propulsion. In the 3 Series and Z4 Roadster, DTC also plays a role when on bends - it enhances the car’s propulsion and its sports-style qualities. The driver is in full control of their vehicle within a predetermined parameter: the regulatory functions are inactive (taken from www.BMW.com). So it's good to have it on during the track-
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Shit I don't know what happened... I went to try that holding the button thing right, and I held it for about 5 seconds and nothing happened, the yellow ASC light just stayed on. Eventually though, the damn light went out while I was still holding the button, now the light won't even turn ON... what the hell is going on?
The yellow exclamation light should turn on and remain lit when you press the DSC button (you don't have to hold it down). This will deactive the DSC and activate the DTC. You only have to hold the DSC button down for 3 seconds to deactive the DBC, DTC, and the DSC. I'm not sure if the 5 series activates the same way, but it should be similar. Try to ask people from the 5 series forum about why your yellow exclamation light isn't turning on when you press the DSC button- and if they can't help you, notify your dealer right away.
Like I posted a long long time ago, when the RED brake light is on it means there is a problem. It could mean that your brake fluid is low, which will turn off all stability control, including ABS. You cannot do this manually, this only happens when there is a problem. The reason for deactivating the abs in such a situation is as follows. If the fluid was low, possibly because of a leak, and the ABS started to kick in, there is a danger of spinning out. If there is not enough fluid to pulsate all brake circuits, one or two of the brakes may fail to pulsate, making you spin and DIE!
That's not correct based on the owner's manual. Tweet227 can back me up on that. Where did you get your info from?
This is a direct quote that I've found when you search for "ASC" in the search engine in www.BMW.com.
"Automatic Stability Control + Traction (ASC+T) is a subfunction of DSC and prevents the drive wheels from spinning. This ensures optimum traction and driving stability. If one wheel of the drive axle is on stable ground but the other is on a slippery or loose surface, the wheel that is threatening to skid is therefore braked as much as possible until the other wheel can regain its grip. And in order to generate extra wheel spin when required, for example when rocking the car out of snow, you can deactivate the ASC+T function."
If you read your owner's manual where it describes the function of DSC, it essentially states the same thing. DSC and ABS are two separate functions. The function of ABS is to avoid brake lock up when you slam on the brakes by pumping it rapidly (that's when you feel your brake pedal vibrate when you slam on your brakes). It has nothing to do with stabilizing your car. DSC applies the brakes and decreases the torque to individual wheels, depending on which one is spinning.
This is a direct quote that I've found when you search for "ASC" in the search engine in www.BMW.com.
"Automatic Stability Control + Traction (ASC+T) is a subfunction of DSC and prevents the drive wheels from spinning. This ensures optimum traction and driving stability. If one wheel of the drive axle is on stable ground but the other is on a slippery or loose surface, the wheel that is threatening to skid is therefore braked as much as possible until the other wheel can regain its grip. And in order to generate extra wheel spin when required, for example when rocking the car out of snow, you can deactivate the ASC+T function."
If you read your owner's manual where it describes the function of DSC, it essentially states the same thing. DSC and ABS are two separate functions. The function of ABS is to avoid brake lock up when you slam on the brakes by pumping it rapidly (that's when you feel your brake pedal vibrate when you slam on your brakes). It has nothing to do with stabilizing your car. DSC applies the brakes and decreases the torque to individual wheels, depending on which one is spinning.
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