Service Engine Soon Light

[LarryE]

My Service Engine Soon Light came on yesterday (2004 325XI). I do have an outstanding recall notice for the ignition coils on my car ... but was going to wait for my next service to have it take care of. They could not get me in before next Wednesday.

I need to drive about 120 miles tomorrow and about 200 miles on Monday. My service advisor said this shouldn't be a problem as long as I am not actually experiencing any symptoms other than the warning light.

Opinions? Can I make these trips with the Service Engine Soon Light on?

Thanks for any replies!

 

[codex57]

Could be. The idiot light doesn't mean much anymore. Could be anything. If the car seems fine, you can risk it. I've had it go off before and it turned out to be something small and retarded.

 

[TheBry]

Similar thing happened to me last year, Larry. Not only did my "service engine" light come on, but the car started getting extremely sluggish on the freeway. So much that I had to pull over and call BMW Assist. When they towed my car into the dealer, my advisor said I should have simply switched the engine off then re-started the car. They did that right before my eyes, then road tested the car -- no problems. Said they saw an ignition fault when they ran a diagnostic, but couldn't determine the cause. Of course, the recall came several months after that and I've since had my coils replaced. Long story short -- if they say you can drive the car, you should go for it, but get it in as soon after as possible.

 

[LarryE]

Thanks guys! Wouldn't you know it? The indicator light was on for about a day, and I get into my car yesterday, start it up, and now it's off.

 

[LarryE]

Took car in today. I had received the recall notice, yet the ignition coils checked out to be the new ones. The service engine soon light turned out to be caused by a bad thermostat which they replaced.

 

[TheBry]

Right on! Now get that car back on the highway and enjoy "The Ultimate Driving Machine"

 

[zman]

I have had my service engine light turned on 3 times since I owned my car. On the last incident the dealer said that they replaced all of my coils.

When I heard about the coil recall, the dealer told me that there is no recall on my coils.

Several times my RPM "jumped" up and down between 900 and 600. Once it went up as high as 1500. Every time it occurs in the morning. This morning my engine shoke so bad and the engine died. I turned it on again and had to hold down the gas to keep it from dying. But, the check engine light didn't go on. It was this way for at least 3 minutes and everything went back to normal.

Do you think these are symptoms for coil recall?

Do you think if I bring it to the dealer they would trust what I say? or, are they going to say as always: "what kind of crack are you smoking, jack? the car is fine."

Thanks!

 

[Section_8]

Could be a ICV, or Cam sensor, many things can cause it to run 'rough' then mysteriously fix themselves once it's warm.

Have you tossed a SES as well?

 

[sosinsur]

funny....my SES light came on today at 32K and 9K until inspection....I guess this is a common problem...going to the dealer this week to see what it could be...since I have a 2001 not sure if I have similar issues as the 04...any thoughts anyone?