forums can be handy sometimes.... X5 parking brake!!
Discussion
earlier this evening, leaving a lunch invite, in the x5 with family in toe, the electronic parking brake decides to go into failsafe mode for no particular reason... locking the handbrake firm on.
after several attempts to release & a few calls, it looked as though we were out of luck! tried disconnecting the battery, hoping the module in question would reboot afresh. why can't they just stick with a manual handbrake??!!....
with the handbooks at home, i thought it likely that there must be a manual release (a.k.a previous experience with e34 twin-sunroofs!).
checking on the iphone, i found a useful link in a forum detailing both the issue and the solution.... back on our way in no time (and judging by the number of hits on the search, this is not an uncommon problem).
however... what if this had happended when I wasn't in the car? or when we're picking up children, been somewhere in the sticks... etc etc
assuming we're not the only people who find the x5 glovebox small enough, without having to make space for the handbooks, why doesn't BMW give an option to display info like this on the idrive, once the fault code registers?? surely not hard to do??
anyway... just for the benefit of readers, there is a t-shaped plastic tool in the tool-tray. Remove the left hand boot side panel, the first aid kit and warning triangle. In the far corner, at floor level, you'll find an upstanding cable end. Locate the end with the tool and give it a good yank... should release the handbrake ok!!
after several attempts to release & a few calls, it looked as though we were out of luck! tried disconnecting the battery, hoping the module in question would reboot afresh. why can't they just stick with a manual handbrake??!!....
with the handbooks at home, i thought it likely that there must be a manual release (a.k.a previous experience with e34 twin-sunroofs!).
checking on the iphone, i found a useful link in a forum detailing both the issue and the solution.... back on our way in no time (and judging by the number of hits on the search, this is not an uncommon problem).
however... what if this had happended when I wasn't in the car? or when we're picking up children, been somewhere in the sticks... etc etc
assuming we're not the only people who find the x5 glovebox small enough, without having to make space for the handbooks, why doesn't BMW give an option to display info like this on the idrive, once the fault code registers?? surely not hard to do??
anyway... just for the benefit of readers, there is a t-shaped plastic tool in the tool-tray. Remove the left hand boot side panel, the first aid kit and warning triangle. In the far corner, at floor level, you'll find an upstanding cable end. Locate the end with the tool and give it a good yank... should release the handbrake ok!!
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