DCS and brake lights on, soft brakes

[Millmoo]

Hi, new member here with only cursory mechanical knowledge. It rained hard last night here in Jersey, and the e39 dash lights lit up this morning- both the yellow D.SC. Light and the red brake light. The pedal felt spongy too. I checked the brake fluid reservoir and that's definitely low, so I assume there must the a leak somewhere. Would it make more sense to take the car to get the rakes checked at a cheap local garage, or should I go to the BMW dealer to get the error codes read first? 

Btw, there's been Grinding/clunking noise coming from the right front wheel when braking. I assumed it was dust or grit between the pad and disk. Could that be the underlying issue?

Thanks, Jezza

[Bimmer Owners' Club]

Hi Jezza...welcome to the Forum

I would advise if there is any grinding noises coming from the brakes to take the car (very slowly!) to a garage...independent garage should be absolutely fine to use.

Let us know how you got on

Cheers   Trevor

 

[Greydog]

Welcome

As Trevor says if you can't DIY then garage ASAP, Brakes, Steering and Suspension are what keep us alive.

My guess (always difficult to diagnose things remotely) would be Pads are way beyond their service life and from your description metal to metal on at least one hopefully the disc isn't damaged. Due to the wear on the pads the brake fluid is in the pistons not the reservoir leading to warning lights on the dash.

Don't wait it wont get better but it will get very much more expensive to fix