ABS sensor

minimad1970

Hi, My Mini needs a new front abs sensor. To have a genuine mini one fitted will cost £150 + vat. If I get it fitted at an independent garage with a generic sensor it will be about half that amount. I'm not able to fit it myself. Do you think it would be a false economy to use the cheaper one? Thanks.

Tetley_the_Cat

When you sat a generic one, do you mean a pattern part such as one for your car from an aftermarket parts store or any old one that can fit the hole/mounting that has the same connector?

A pattern part one theoretically makes no difference but they are in subtle ways so you might not get the durability of an OEM one. If the vehicle is outside of any warranty and is over 5 years old then I would go for the pattern.

Strider590

They're hall effect sensors, they're not wearing mechanical parts (nothing ever touches them), the non-oem part should be fine.

minimad1970

Tetley_the_Cat wrote: »

When you sat a generic one, do you mean a pattern part such as one for your car from an aftermarket parts store or any old one that can fit the hole/mounting that has the same connector?

A pattern part one theoretically makes no difference but they are in subtle ways so you might not get the durability of an OEM one. If the vehicle is outside of any warranty and is over 5 years old then I would go for the pattern.

Thanks. My car's a 2003 plate so pretty old. My knowledge of cars is pretty rubbish so I just looked on Ebay for an ABS sensor for a Mini One, so I don't know what category of the two you mentioned that comes under.:o
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?LH_ItemCondition=11&LH_BIN=1&_pppn=v3&rt=nc&Placement%2520on%2520Car=Left&_nkw=ABS%20sensor%20mini%20one&_dmpt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&_fln=1&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m1539

Tetley_the_Cat

As strider says, they are what they call hall effect transducers. The problem with pattern parts are that from introduction they are "technically" copyrighted so pattern parts cannot by definition be legally exactly the same. However, all the supplier has to do is make some minor changes to the part and it is different. Generally this means producing it outside of the OEM tolerances slightly or doing something different to the insides which still means it works correctly but it will not have done the testing that the OEM does. The good bit is though that all these parts have to meet an EU standard so you can be rest assured that what you buy in the EU should comply.

If you can change the wheel, it's more than likely you can also change the sensor. Usually it's a 7 or 8mm bolt head which you undo, pull out the old, push in the new, gently tighten until it feels firm and reconnect the sensor. Obviously they have told you which one.

The ABS light will still show but you need to do a few start, move over 15mph, stop and repeat to clear the code.

The main thing is that your brake system will not fail. You can have all 4 sensors faulty and the brakes will be ok.

Hope that helps.

Tetley_the_Cat

Sorry, also missed the your gist of reply, get the £15,99 one. Should be fine.

jase1

<cough> HOW MUCH?!?!?

I thought Daewoo parts were supposed to be "higher than BMW"? So why did mine only cost £41 plus half an hour's fitting? From a main dealer?

And I thought that was daylight robbery.....

minimad1970

Thanks for all your replies. I've just googled OEM so the posts make alot more sense to me now.:o I'm not able to do the repair myself but there's a really good mobile mechanic locally so I'll get him to do it. Thanks again.