Hello everybody!
I finally have to ask if anybody has had this problem. When driving at medium to high speeds and hitting a bump stone or hole on the road I get the hdc fault and then the suspension lowered warning, and it only happens when right hand side wheels hit the bump. It's as if the height sensor doesn't like the sudden movement and causes the fault. Then thought it could be a speed sensor since there could be a rotation difference in the wheels when one of them is "in the air" during that solid second. It will only happen when driving above 50-60 km/h I would say.
Restarting and resetting steering wheel fixes it but on these lousy roads out here I can have this happen 4-5 times on my way home sometimes.
Anybody had this happen to then?
Thank you guys!!
Cheers

It could be the steering angle sensor is starting to fail. Do you get the ABS and brake warning lights coming on as well? (The two yellow lights on RHS lower part of dash display)

Yes..., I get the yellow ABS, the headlamps rotation fault symbol next to it, the exclamation mark in the top centre. I have a brake pad cable worn out so the red brake light is always on until I change it.
As soon as I hit the bump I get the 2 pings and " hdc fault , system unavailable", the steering goes stiff ... then 2 seconds later "suspension lowered".
Then I must restart car and do the steering reset so that the faults disappear and to loosen steering toughness.
This usually happens when driving straight and I haven't been able to determine if it's the front or the back wheel that gives the problem. Both end up hitting the bump due to speed.
Sorry for delay in answering, appreciate the reply!

If the faults reset when you do the Lock to Lock with the steering wheel, then it does sound like it's the steering angle sensor is the most likely culprit.
I get similar faults, mine are random though, and was able to check the SAS using the IID Tool, it always resets when I do the lock to lock but have got a new SAS which I'm just waiting to fit.

What I can't understand is how the steering is involved when the fault is triggered... i.e.; driving straight and hitting a bump with right hand side wheels. No faults when curving , or when hiring same bumps at lower speeds... it's as if the high frequency shake of suspension or height sensor is what does it. I could try to get a scan on it to see if any clues too?...

The Steering Angle Sensor sends a signal to the ECUs telling what position the front wheels are pointing in, the most common problem is that the contacts on the rotary sensor get worn and the signal gets lost, when this happens it sends a fault code to the other ECUs which causes them to go into fault as well. It's an annoying cascade effect.
Going over a bump in the road may jolt the contact enough to lose signal with the rotary sensor which causes the fault. Next time it happens, try doing the Lock to Lock without turning off and restarting the engine and see if this clears the faults first. My fault mostly comes up when I start the vehicle and doing the lock turn clears it. I've only had the fault appear whilst driving on a couple of occasions which has needed a restart of the engine prior to clearing.
If you have access to a good diagnostics tool, get the fault codes read and that will confirm what the problem is.
I notice that your vehicle must have the touch screen sat nav system, if you go into the off-road screen you can see the steering position on the screen. Next time it happens, turn the steering a bit left to right and look on the screen to see if the wheels turn as well. If no movement, turn full left to right lock whilst watching the screen and see if the wheels suddenly start turning again. That will confirm that the SAS is faulty.

Ahh yes. I remember the ol' X5 Trifecta. Also affectionately known as the "Christmas Tree."

https://www.google.com/search?client=safar...p;oe=UTF-8 2012 L322 5.0l NA
Santorini Black / Sand