PDC warns for something that are not there

BMWnoob520D · 11-11-2021, 12:09 PM

Hello.

Today I got a problem with my car.
When backing out from the house the car beeps and show that something is close to the car behind.
But could not see any obstacle on the camera and when out.
Sure enough there was nothing there.

But the sensor still beeps. So I continued to reverse and then the cars auto brakes. Was not possible to drive back.
Took some water and cleaned the sensors. And now it worked.
I could reverse. But when driving back from work it still beeps and could not reverse due to the auto braking.

Went in under the settings and unticked the auto brake on the PDC setting.
Now I can reverse with the car but the sensor is warning

/BMWnoob520D

Cabbage · 11-11-2021, 05:41 PM

Try cleaning off the sensors around your car.

TreyWaters · 11-12-2021, 06:00 AM

Yep, occasional problems here, too. Pollen season is the worst, particularly after a light rain where there are yellow streaks in parking lots. The cameras pick those up and the system thinks it's a solid object. The other day, I was backing into a parking spot, and there was a small patch of mud on the pavement that did the same thing. We just joked that the BMW didn't want to get dirty :-)

BMWnoob520D · 11-12-2021, 11:31 AM

Hi Cabbage and Treywaters.
Thanks for you input. Will wash the car tomorrow. Even though it is not dirty.
Just to be safe.

My wife told me when she backed out from the garage that now it warns about the left side. This is really strange.

OmahaDB · 11-13-2021, 02:37 PM

I left the warnings on, but turned off the emergency auto braking. Twice the car slammed on the brakes while I was backing out of my driveway. Noting in the way, nothing close by, no cars coming. All the sensors and cameras were clean. All I can figure is the camera got scared by a tar strip on the road, or the angle between the driveway and street, or something. The first time it happened it scared the crap out of me, it sounded like I had hit something. The second time it happened, I disabled the auto braking. Life's too short to have your car messing with you.

akuwes710 · 11-13-2021, 04:27 PM

+1… first time it auto brakes, i thought i hit something too. Second time it happened, i turned the brake feature off, safety hazard in my opinion

Balster · 11-14-2021, 02:01 AM

Yeah. I get this maybe once in a while. Clean off the sensors and its fine

Dummy Salapa deux · 11-14-2021, 05:44 AM

Just happened to me yesterday for the first time.

540iSUP · 11-14-2021, 10:46 AM

lol I thought I was the only one! The first time it auto braked I thought I hit something in the garage. Turned it off and haven't had any issues, except for making sure the sensors are clean.

5Pilot · 11-14-2021, 11:33 PM

I have this problem, too. In my case I believe it results from the angle of my driveway and the road. Does anyone know if there’s a way to recalibrate the system to be less sensitive?

When those auto brakes come on while backing its like hitting a solid object.

BMWnoob520D · 11-15-2021, 12:45 PM

Seems like more then me are having the same problem with their cars.
You might think that this should not happen on a 3 year old car, But apparently it does.
And no warranty cover this issue I guess. Since the car is so "old"

Well thanks everybody for posting and commenting this.

Best regards

/BMWnoob520D

ejlover06 · 11-17-2021, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMWnoob520D

Seems like more then me are having the same problem with their cars.
You might think that this should not happen on a 3 year old car, But apparently it does.
And no warranty cover this issue I guess. Since the car is so "old"

Well thanks everybody for posting and commenting this.

Best regards

/BMWnoob520D

That's related with how the sensors work. It's not a warranty issue and had nothing to do with the age of the car. It can happen as soon as you leave the showroom if another passing car throw some mud on your sensors or a leaf just sticks to them. It's like having dust on your reversing camera and complaining about the clarity of the image on your screen

ichibanb18c · 11-18-2021, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ejlover06

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMWnoob520D

Seems like more then me are having the same problem with their cars.
You might think that this should not happen on a 3 year old car, But apparently it does.
And no warranty cover this issue I guess. Since the car is so "old"

Well thanks everybody for posting and commenting this.

Best regards

/BMWnoob520D

That's related with how the sensors work. It's not a warranty issue and had nothing to do with the age of the car. It can happen as soon as you leave the showroom if another passing car throw some mud on your sensors or a leaf just sticks to them. It's like having dust on your reversing camera and complaining about the clarity of the image on your screen

It's happen to me several times in parking lots and when it auto brakes, I look like an idiot like I don't know what I'm doing. It's pretty annoying that it happens sometimes and not all the time. I've talked to my service advisor about it but they said they can't do anything if there is no faults stored.

OmahaDB · 11-19-2021, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ichibanb18c

It's happen to me several times in parking lots and when it auto brakes, I look like an idiot like I don't know what I'm doing. It's pretty annoying that it happens sometimes and not all the time. I've talked to my service advisor about it but they said they can't do anything if there is no faults stored.

Well, it's a very simple fix. The feature is not functioning the way you want it to, the manufacturer/dealer can't fix it, so turn it off. Your foot works just fine. We had to do the same thing with the "helpful" automatic lane keeping "feature" on my wife's non-BMW SUV; its idea of the middle of the lane varies, a lot, as you drive, and it's constantly fighting you over it. Turn it off, problem solved.

LogicalApex · 11-19-2021, 08:20 AM

I rarely have issues.

Only leaving my brother's house do I need to turn off the cameras so the system doesn't engage as he's on a very steep incline so the car sees the group and gets spooked.

Even with the sensors less than clean. I need to wash the car after my drive up to upstate NY and the sensors are still working smoothly.

I would clean them as noted by others and if you still have issues with the sensors cleaned then I'd engage the dealer as they could have been knocked around or be faulty.

11-11-2021, 12:09 PM	#1
BMWnoob520D New Member 3 Rep 14 Posts Drives: G31 520D Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: Sweden iTrader: (0)	PDC warns for something that are not there Hello. Today I got a problem with my car. When backing out from the house the car beeps and show that something is close to the car behind. But could not see any obstacle on the camera and when out. Sure enough there was nothing there. But the sensor still beeps. So I continued to reverse and then the cars auto brakes. Was not possible to drive back. Took some water and cleaned the sensors. And now it worked. I could reverse. But when driving back from work it still beeps and could not reverse due to the auto braking. Went in under the settings and unticked the auto brake on the PDC setting. Now I can reverse with the car but the sensor is warning /BMWnoob520D Last edited by BMWnoob520D; 11-11-2021 at 01:09 PM..
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11-11-2021, 05:41 PM	#2
Cabbage Lieutenant 625 Rep 587 Posts Drives: 2021 BMW M550i xDrive Sedan Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: New York iTrader: (0) Garage List 2024 BMW 540i xDriv ... [10.00]	Try cleaning off the sensors around your car. __________________ 2024 BMW 540i xDrive Sedan (G60) (Carbon Black Metallic/Black Veganza)
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11-12-2021, 06:00 AM	#3
TreyWaters Private First Class 82 Rep 136 Posts Drives: 2018 BMW M550i Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Morrisville, NC iTrader: (0) Garage List 2009 Acura MDX Tech [0.00]	Yep, occasional problems here, too. Pollen season is the worst, particularly after a light rain where there are yellow streaks in parking lots. The cameras pick those up and the system thinks it's a solid object. The other day, I was backing into a parking spot, and there was a small patch of mud on the pavement that did the same thing. We just joked that the BMW didn't want to get dirty :-) __________________ ________________________________________ 2018 BMW M550i - Med Blue / Black / 668M wheels [ZCW, ZDA, ZDB, ZDH, ZEC, ZLS, ZPK, 416, 5DV, 6WB] (ED 9/18/2017; PCD 11/30/2018) 2009 Acura MDX Tech - Silver / Grey (2009-2017) 2003 BMW Z4 3.0i - Silver / Red (2006-2009)
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11-12-2021, 11:31 AM	#4
BMWnoob520D New Member 3 Rep 14 Posts Drives: G31 520D Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: Sweden iTrader: (0)	Hi Cabbage and Treywaters. Thanks for you input. Will wash the car tomorrow. Even though it is not dirty. Just to be safe. My wife told me when she backed out from the garage that now it warns about the left side. This is really strange.
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11-13-2021, 02:37 PM	#5
OmahaDB Private 95 Rep 72 Posts Drives: 2018 540i xDrive Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Omaha, NE iTrader: (0) Garage List 2018 BMW 540i XDrive [0.00]	I left the warnings on, but turned off the emergency auto braking. Twice the car slammed on the brakes while I was backing out of my driveway. Noting in the way, nothing close by, no cars coming. All the sensors and cameras were clean. All I can figure is the camera got scared by a tar strip on the road, or the angle between the driveway and street, or something. The first time it happened it scared the crap out of me, it sounded like I had hit something. The second time it happened, I disabled the auto braking. Life's too short to have your car messing with you.
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11-13-2021, 04:27 PM	#6
akuwes710 Private First Class 61 Rep 178 Posts Drives: G30 530i Join Date: Feb 2021 Location: Orange County iTrader: (0)	+1… first time it auto brakes, i thought i hit something too. Second time it happened, i turned the brake feature off, safety hazard in my opinion
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11-14-2021, 02:01 AM	#7
Balster Captain 109 Rep 628 Posts Drives: BMW G30 530d MSport xDrive Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Leeds iTrader: (0)	Yeah. I get this maybe once in a while. Clean off the sensors and its fine __________________ G30 530d M Sport xdrive, Adaptive Drive and with all of the important options.
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11-14-2021, 05:44 AM	#8
Dummy Salapa deux Enlisted Member 11 Rep 31 Posts Drives: M550iX Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Maryland iTrader: (0)	Just happened to me yesterday for the first time.
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11-14-2021, 10:46 AM	#9
540iSUP Captain 704 Rep 803 Posts Drives: G30, E36 Join Date: Apr 2021 Location: California iTrader: (1)	lol I thought I was the only one! The first time it auto braked I thought I hit something in the garage. Turned it off and haven't had any issues, except for making sure the sensors are clean.
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11-14-2021, 11:33 PM	#10
5Pilot New Member 11 Rep 23 Posts Drives: BMW 530eX Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: US Pacific Northwest iTrader: (0)	I have this problem, too. In my case I believe it results from the angle of my driveway and the road. Does anyone know if there’s a way to recalibrate the system to be less sensitive? When those auto brakes come on while backing its like hitting a solid object.
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11-15-2021, 12:45 PM	#11
BMWnoob520D New Member 3 Rep 14 Posts Drives: G31 520D Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: Sweden iTrader: (0)	Seems like more then me are having the same problem with their cars. You might think that this should not happen on a 3 year old car, But apparently it does. And no warranty cover this issue I guess. Since the car is so "old" Well thanks everybody for posting and commenting this. Best regards /BMWnoob520D
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11-19-2021, 08:20 AM	#15
LogicalApex Colonel 2026 Rep 2,946 Posts Drives: 2020 BMW 530xe Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Farmington, NY iTrader: (0) Garage List 2020 BMW 530xe [0.00]	I rarely have issues. Only leaving my brother's house do I need to turn off the cameras so the system doesn't engage as he's on a very steep incline so the car sees the group and gets spooked. Even with the sensors less than clean. I need to wash the car after my drive up to upstate NY and the sensors are still working smoothly. I would clean them as noted by others and if you still have issues with the sensors cleaned then I'd engage the dealer as they could have been knocked around or be faulty.
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