i have a 04 530i and a data transmission fault message keeps on appearing on the computer screen. Does anyone know what this means???????
Yep. I had it happen a couple of times. Essentially your onboard computer control unit (TCU) is not functioning properly.
Your car should uplink service data, etc. to BMW occaisionally or as needed. If for some reason your car cannot "phone home" it will generate a Data Transmission Fault.
I've heard they can be knocked out by using unsupported cell phones such as Palm Treo's (as in my case). I don't know how true this is but after fixing/resetting it once and having it fail again, I switched to a supported Blackberry.
After trying to have BMW Assist unlock my car remotely and having them not be able to accept any signal from my car, the dealership replaced the TCU. This was fine with me since it upgraded my car's software at the same time (WooHoo!).
I also started using a Blackberry that was supported after they replaced the unit. I haven't had any problems since.
This isn't really a big deal, but I wanted the full functionality of my car. As mentioned earlier, the data transmission fault meant my car couldn't communicate with BMW's homebase. So even though they could see where I was at any given time, options like having my car remotely unlocked if I locked my keys inside is important to me. So I requested they fix it.
Hope this helps.
thnks
Bookmarks