I've been spending the past few days getting INPA and other programs installed on my laptop. I soldered the 7 and 8 connectors on my cable and finally I was able to read my steering angle sensor status. I was following directions to re-calibrate it but when I hit shift+f4 to display compensation routines, nothing happens! This whole ordeal has been really frustrating and I would greatly appreciate if anyone could chime in and help me out. Thanks!
Need help with steering angle sensor calibration
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Do you have the right version of INPA with the Special Tests?
See this thread posts 8 & 9
Coding ABS Donor Module & Steering Angle Calibration
See this thread posts 8 & 9
Coding ABS Donor Module & Steering Angle Calibration
Thank you for the advice! I guess I don't have the right version. Is there any way I can update my version so I don't have to reinstall it again?
I need to calibrate it. I bought the car with the brake and tc light both yellow. I am not sure how they got that way but the car drives straight. The code says steering angle sensor implausible angle.
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Be careful on the Steering Angle Sensor.
To "calibrate" it, usually you just need to turn the steering wheel lock to lock 2 times. You may need to roll the car slowly in a large, empty parking lot, but more often than not you can "calibrate" the sensor without tools or software by the 2 full turns of the steering wheel lock to lock.
Now what often happens is there may be a problem the ABS module, which the steering angle sensor usually connects to. Often you need to read ALL the module codes to find out of the steering angle is bad or if there may be a problem with the ABS module or cluster.
BMW Scanner 1.4.0 is an easy tool to use that will allow you to program or code a replacement Steering Angle Sensor, will show you Live Steering Angle Sensor data and will read codes in other modules such as the ABS unit and/or cluster.
https://www.amazon.com/Scan-Tool-Di...=1499978744&sr=8-2&keywords=bmw+scanner+1.4.0
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You can scan the ABS/ASC/DSC with PA Soft but it does not have the special SAS calibration routine. I've owned PA Soft from 1.36 through 1.4.9 and it's never had a feature to set the value for the SAS into the ABS system. It is actually very simple with the right version of INPA. It can also be done using GT1 or ISTA but they are less available.
PA Soft/BMW Scanner has the ability to "code" the Steering Angle Sensor which needs the VIN entered so it can understand what the vehicle wheel base is. I know it can show Live data for the Steering Angle Sensor. Not sure it can "Reset" or "Center" the sensor values. But this is often not a solid requirement.
Usually the 2 turns lock to lock of the steering will "center" or "baseline" the Steering Angle Sensor.
I do know my SnapOn Solus Ultra has the ability to "center" or "0" the sensor, but this is just nothing more than writing "0" into the Steering Angle Sensor with the current position of the wheels. I did center the setting to "0" just because I could. I zeroed the sensor, then drove down a long straight road and then kept zeroing the sensor until I was happy it was at "0" while driving straight ahead.'
Did not think this was needed, just something I was able to do and figured I might as wheel zero the steering completely.
Usually the 2 turns lock to lock of the steering will "center" or "baseline" the Steering Angle Sensor.
I do know my SnapOn Solus Ultra has the ability to "center" or "0" the sensor, but this is just nothing more than writing "0" into the Steering Angle Sensor with the current position of the wheels. I did center the setting to "0" just because I could. I zeroed the sensor, then drove down a long straight road and then kept zeroing the sensor until I was happy it was at "0" while driving straight ahead.'
Did not think this was needed, just something I was able to do and figured I might as wheel zero the steering completely.
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First thing to do, mostly because it's free and easy, is to turn the steering wheel to full lock in one direction to full lock in the other, then back to center. This turned the lights off in my X5.
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I agree - chock to chock (multiple times) should be the first try - in the thread I linked this was suggested to me also, it didn't work but worth a try. I was also out of options trying with PA Soft to reset the value in the ABS so I ended up using INPA.
Ok I thought I'd make one more post for anyone else having the same problem. Download the older version of INPA from BMW-North's thread and go to post #32 for the setup instructions. It's really easy to install especially if you've already installed INPA before. In my case, when I went to special tests and selected steering angle adjustment e46, I got an error saying "error in communications to DSC No connection possible." What worked for me is going to e46>chassic>DSC MK60>Shift+f4>f1. But this ONLY worked for me with the old version of INPA. Thank you BMW-North and jfoj, you guys help make this forum awesome!
Nolan, how the heck did you find out that trick?
I had the same issue and your workaround solved the issue! I must have spent 40 hours with different versions of INPA trying to reset the SAS.
Anyway, thanks for posting that!
So here's the deal on this... if 2x turns lock-to-lock doesn't reset the SAS, you have to use INPA. I tried 5.02 and 5.06, but they don't have the ability to reset the sensor, only to turn off the sensor warning. After turning off the warning, it would come back on after about 5 starts, the two yellow lights (DSC and brake).
So I found the older version of INPA 4.x, but it only runs on 32-bit XP. So I went out and bought a Win7 laptop and installed WinXP VM, which runs native 32-bit mode. Then installed INPA 4.x in the XP VM. The first trick was getting the XP VM to grab the serial port, and to do so, you have to disable "wait for modem command to open port", which means the VM is not using the it's own serial port, but going out to the host machine and grabbing that one. This was a quagmire until I figured it out.
Then, after all that, getting INPA 4.x to run on the VM and communicate with the car, I thought I was home free, but the special test, alt-F8, to reset the SAS gave me the "error in communications to DSC No connection possible." This threw me off again and I thought the VM would never work. Well, after another 10 hours of screwing around, I found this thread, and luckily read to the end and saw Nolan's post to try the DSC-MK60 option and damn if it didn't work. Finally! This was the most fubar'd deal I've ever seen in 50 years of auto DIY, bar none.
I had the same issue and your workaround solved the issue! I must have spent 40 hours with different versions of INPA trying to reset the SAS.
Anyway, thanks for posting that!
So here's the deal on this... if 2x turns lock-to-lock doesn't reset the SAS, you have to use INPA. I tried 5.02 and 5.06, but they don't have the ability to reset the sensor, only to turn off the sensor warning. After turning off the warning, it would come back on after about 5 starts, the two yellow lights (DSC and brake).
So I found the older version of INPA 4.x, but it only runs on 32-bit XP. So I went out and bought a Win7 laptop and installed WinXP VM, which runs native 32-bit mode. Then installed INPA 4.x in the XP VM. The first trick was getting the XP VM to grab the serial port, and to do so, you have to disable "wait for modem command to open port", which means the VM is not using the it's own serial port, but going out to the host machine and grabbing that one. This was a quagmire until I figured it out.
Then, after all that, getting INPA 4.x to run on the VM and communicate with the car, I thought I was home free, but the special test, alt-F8, to reset the SAS gave me the "error in communications to DSC No connection possible." This threw me off again and I thought the VM would never work. Well, after another 10 hours of screwing around, I found this thread, and luckily read to the end and saw Nolan's post to try the DSC-MK60 option and damn if it didn't work. Finally! This was the most fubar'd deal I've ever seen in 50 years of auto DIY, bar none.
While everyone likes to try and solve this type of problem themselves, the hours of beating your head on the wall can often be circumvented by finding a decent Indy shop with a professional level scan tool that can do this for probably 1 hour or labor or less.
Torture yourself for hours and months on end or just bit the bullet and get the sensor calibrated for hopefully 1 hour or labor or less.
Funny how even some of the "factory" software is not capable or doing this in some version or the feature is hidden deep in the menus. I can do this will my pro level tool in about 10 minutes after powering up the tool, connecting it to the car and stepping through choosing the proper vehicle and then working through the menus to find the feature in the software.
Torture yourself for hours and months on end or just bit the bullet and get the sensor calibrated for hopefully 1 hour or labor or less.
Funny how even some of the "factory" software is not capable or doing this in some version or the feature is hidden deep in the menus. I can do this will my pro level tool in about 10 minutes after powering up the tool, connecting it to the car and stepping through choosing the proper vehicle and then working through the menus to find the feature in the software.
I went through the whole process, including buying a new steering wheel angle sensor. Was too busy to DIY.
Had the car at my indy for something else and asked him to put it on.
He recalibrated for $35 and handed me back the new part. I'm a loyal customer who sends him business, would guess other shops charge more.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
Had the car at my indy for something else and asked him to put it on.
He recalibrated for $35 and handed me back the new part. I'm a loyal customer who sends him business, would guess other shops charge more.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
CalVol, glad you figured it out! I watched so many videos on resetting the SAS I think I just stumbled upon something that worked. Would it have been easier to take it to an indy shop? Probably yes, but my time isn't really too valuable currently and I learned quite a bit about my car by going through this. Plus there's really no feeling like fixing something yourself after struggling with it for a while. :thumbsup:
Nolan, thanks sooo much for posting that resolution... it was such an obscure menu item, would have never thought to look there.... anyway, like you say, learned a lot, and now have a good running version of INPA with the special tests... now, to learn what else I can do with INPA.
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