ADAPATIVE CRUISE CONTROL NOT WORKING - connected to the Adaptive Headlight recall.

[Aussie-Hoss]

Recently had two instances where my ACC suddenly malfunctioned. On both occasions I was travelling cross country (Queensland to Victoria). On each occasion the ACC suddenly stopped working and later reactivated itself. I was presented with a dash warning light and a message advising to have the unit urgently checked by a technician. On the first occasions, the techs found no fault codes to indicate a problem. About a week later the same incident occurred, this time with the unit reinitiating after a 15 minute hiatus. The tech's on this occasion discovered the culprit. It appears that when the Adaptive Headlight was replaced under warranty that one (1x) retaining clip at the top of the headlight had not been seated correctly [apparently, it's a 2-stage locking clip) and would vibrate loose (easy to do on our fantastic state-of-the-art Australian Roads) causing the ACC radar to throw a "hissy-fit" and shut down.

 

[Star-Lord]

HuH...?? My money is ON the bet, that the problem will happen again and the technician(s) didn't actually do or find anything...

That front RADAR antenna array (the black square thing) has to be free and clear of any accumulated bugs, road grime, etc. or it will generate an error or warning message..

Wipe it clean after each ride...

 

[fleabag]

Recently had two instances where my ACC suddenly malfunctioned. On both occasions I was travelling cross country (Queensland to Victoria). On each occasion the ACC suddenly stopped working and later reactivated itself. I was presented with a dash warning light and a message advising to have the unit urgently checked by a technician. On the first occasions, the techs found no fault codes to indicate a problem. About a week later the same incident occurred, this time with the unit reinitiating after a 15 minute hiatus. The tech's on this occasion discovered the culprit. It appears that when the Adaptive Headlight was replaced under warranty that one (1x) retaining clip at the top of the headlight had not been seated correctly [apparently, it's a 2-stage locking clip) and would vibrate loose (easy to do on our fantastic state-of-the-art Australian Roads) causing the ACC radar to throw a "hissy-fit" and shut down.

I’m not buying their explanation. Two screws on top secure the headlamp. It would not affect the ACC, even if they were both completely missing.

 

[Aussie-Hoss]

HuH...?? My money is ON the bet, that the problem will happen again and the technician(s) didn't actually do or find anything...

That front RADAR antenna array (the black square thing) has to be free and clear of any accumulated bugs, road grime, etc. or it will generate an error or warning message..

Wipe it clean after each ride...

That's correct, the clip secures the array and the headlight and when it vibrated looseit caused a misalignment of the radar which shuts it down. I believe they did find this as the were able to tell me that the fault was recorded by the bike at 300km's before I took it in. They did not know where it had occurred, but some quick math confirmed in my mind that I had ridden that distance.

 

[Aussie-Hoss]

I’m not buying their explanation. Two screws on top secure the headlamp. It would not affect the ACC, even if they were both completely missing.

With the utmost respect for all... the BMW techs assured me that the error codes were recorded by the bike (they even told me when and effectively where geographically the error code occurred) and that there is a 2-stage clip on the headlight assembly which is interconnected with the ACC radar array. If this clip is not pressed home correctly it can (and in my case did) work its way loose thereby causing an alignment misdirection fault with the radar. The fail-safe is to shut down the system. This clip, as readily as it vibrates out of alignment can just as easily be jolted back into alignment and viola the unit boots back into operation. Precisely what happened on my bike. I had initially thought about debris buildup i.e. insects, on the radar reflector cover plate, but I did not stop, nor did I clean it. It came back on line with absolutely no assistance from me. Therefore the problem had to be internal and not external as I did not clean the front of the bike. The purpose of my information post was simply to inform members of one possible reason for the ACC to malfunction. It certainly is not the only possible cause. Having grown up with a Mechanic father I am well aware that seemingly impossible or innoculous things can cause myriad diverse and seemingly unrelatable malfunctions to occur in automotive products. This example simply highlights one of "those things". As Ripley said "Believe it, or not". I do.

 

[fleabag]

Hopefully, they fixed it, but their explanation of a clip does not make sense. I’ve had the front of my bagger apart to install my handlebars. Here are some of the pictures I took when I took it apart. Two screws on the top secure the headlamp, and plastic pins on the bottom that are attached to the fairing. The ACC unit is above the headlamp, secured by three screws. They are not mechanically interconnected.



I do hope it’s fixed.

 

[Star-Lord]

Hopefully, they fixed it, but their explanation of a clip does not make sense. I’ve had the front of my bagger apart to install my handlebars. Here are some of the pictures I took when I took it apart. Two screws on the top secure the headlamp, and plastic pins on the bottom that are attached to the fairing. The ACC unit is above the headlamp, secured by three screws. They are not mechanically interconnected.

View attachment 16327

I do hope it’s fixed. View attachment 16328View attachment 16329

I agree 100% - In the end, I hope Aussie-Hoss wasn't charged for that work... BMW was probably charged for the work under the remaining warranty..