Hello everyone,

Every now and then I get a warning light which is a steering wheel with an arrow. I thought that related to the cruise control since the cruise becomes inoperative when that warning sets. It goes away after restarting the car a little while later. Today I check the codes in every module and I found what I believe is the code left in its wake, but I cannot find anything on it in my Alldata or the Bentley manual. I have a code A871 for the Pitch sensor. Is this the Yaw sensor? I also have a code A872 for Passenger Compartment Sensor. I have no idea what this is as I cannot find any info on it either. But have an A871 and A872 make me feel they are related to the same fault.

Any information or thoughts is appreciated!

Ivan

 

My 2013 Cooper is showing this code too.

 

A search of the two codes finds they are rare! One owner had the A871 (tilt sensor) and A872 (interior protection defect (airbag?) codes along with about a zillion others. But these arose after when trying to jump start the car he reversed the jump starter cables.

Tilt sensor? Well, a tilt sensor is just a sensor and sensors can fail. Or a connection/wiring problem can arise.

There can be a problem if the car is on a ferry and the ferry moves too much. The sensor uses a drop of mercury in a basin and too much movement can mercury move about and momentarily activate the sensor. This can run down the battery if allowed to continue too long. When the car is parked on the ferry the tilt sensor (which is I believe is there as a theft security feature) has to be disabled. If this is possible then how to do this would be covered in the owners manual.

(Pretty sure it has to be disabled at least during transport from the factory to the dealer. This can involve (in no particular order) sea, truck, train transport.)

Interior protection defect? Since both errors appeared (at least in the OP's experience) that could arise from the tilt sensor acting up.

Or it could be an airbag fault or maybe a seal belt connector sensor or if fitted a pre-tensioner fault. But I would expect the airbag light or seat belt light would be on.

To get any further info would I think require a tool that could more intimately interact/interface with the car's electronics. I'm talking about a BMW/MINI factory diagnostics computer. There may be an aftermarket OBD2 code reader/etc. that provides some of the same functions as the factory diagnostics computer but I have no experience with any.

About all I can offer is check for signs of moisture/water at the engine controller module and body controller module.