E36 service lights, ignition "on" beeping sound

[joshnz 2]

Afternoon all,

Thought you guys would be the most in the know about this, in my 1995 320i all the green "service" lights are lit up, does this mean it needs a service? or do they count down from full green to nothing and is that when it needs a service?

Also, when I turn the ignition on/start the engine, the car beeps half a dozen times, is this normal? No faults are showing on the OBC .. I don't have a service manual yet, or operators manual.

Hope you guys can help me out.

Cheers.

Josh

[my_e36 43]

If you have all green, that means you don't need a service for a while. It goes down to 1 green then yellow and finally red. If you've just bought your car new from a car yard, they might have just reset it rather than actually servicing it. Check your oil to make sure.

As for the beeps, it could be seatbelts. Does it beep if you put on seatbelt before you turn the keys?

[joshnz 2]

Quite hard to tell how much oil is, so I'm going to give it a change this weekend.

Yeah, the beeps aren't on if I plug my belt in before I start the car, sorry for the f**king dumb questions, I'm just new to the BMW scene 'tis all.

Got my PPlate on the way too BEEMIR

[318Touring 40]

You can unplug the speaker that produces the annoying beep quite easily. Just find out where it's coming from. On my compact it was from the underside of the steering wheel. One for seatbelt and one for reversing.

[Docile 64]

hey anyone know what the lights stand for? any website that deciper the lights? and how the whole coutdown thing works... i saw it somewhere before but forgot to save the site..

mine says inspection and yellow and red light only..

[joshnz 2]

From the BMW/Bentley service manual

[Docile 64]

ahh poos.. thats bollocks.. i inspect and service my car every weekend or whenever im free and its sunny..

what does it mean by inspection anyways? spark plug checks and so on??

[Yuen 16]

ahh poos.. thats bollocks.. i inspect and service my car every weekend or whenever im free and its sunny..

what does it mean by inspection anyways? spark plug checks and so on??

Yup, spark plug check is a part of the Inspection. There's Inspection 1 and Inspection 2, one is more important than the other (more things to check), you alternate them I believe... to do an Inspection at Team McMillan I was quoted $600+ and that was not including any parts, which you can be sure will need to be bought because they will find something in our old cars that needs replacing. Suspension etc are part of the Inspection as well.

[my_e36 43]

Quite hard to tell how much oil is, so I'm going to give it a change this weekend.

I mean see how good the condition of the oil. If they look fresh, all good. If they are dark, do a service anyway.

hey anyone know what the lights stand for? any website that deciper the lights? and how the whole coutdown thing works... i saw it somewhere before but forgot to save the site..

mine says inspection and yellow and red light only..

There are different view on how the lights are count downed. On mine from 5 green to 1 green takes about 12000km, some reckons it goes down quicker if you drive the car hard.

If it says "INSPECTION" + yellow and red, that means a inspection is due.

They goes from OIL SERVICE -> Insepction 1 -> OIL SERVICE -> Inspection 2 -> OIL SERVICE -> Inspection 1 again....

This is a simply list the turn up from a quick Google search...

http://www.bimmerzone.com/inspection.htm

Could find the proper one from BMW TIS if anyone need the info.

Apart from that, there's a clock symbol as well. That's annual service for brake, coolant (every 3 yr for non-M, 2 year for M) and timing belt (4 years if there's one in your engine) and O2 sensor (where needed). The thing is, the clock countdown get reset everytime you disconnect the battery.

[Docile 64]

oo mine is showing that small clock thing as well beside the inspection..

but have done / checked most of the inspection thing already..

[my_e36 43]

A reset tool will come in handy (Trademe/eBay/Peake Research), or drop by to a dealer/good BMW garage for a reset. They might charge you though.

[MADBMA 0]

or you can use that:

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/electrica...ice_lights.html

i use it and it doesnt seem to cause any issues.

[Docile 64]

hmm what car did you use that for??

kinda looks a bit risky.. my dad has mechanic m8 who has a reset tool (free of use).. but the thing is i dont wanna depend on him to reset my lights all the time..

Edited November 14, 2006 by Docile

[Gus 5]

haha its fine..a wire works and does the same thing the tool does..just doesnt look as pretty

[Docile 64]

hey, do you need to buy that bmw pin thing as in the instruction? or can you just buy any other pin that would fit into the hole?

[MADBMA 0]

just use anything, ive used it on my e36, i used one piece of thick speaker wire, just strip off the ends and hold one into pin 7 and one to a suitable ground, piece of piss, no blown fuses no adverse side effects that ive heard of or seen in my car.

[MADBMA 0]

The lights and program associate , oil, inspection 1 & inspection 2 are a service regime designed by BMW for their cars, they have pretty good idea of what needs to be done. And when you hear stories of guys getting 400,000 km from a car without taking the head off there is a clear validation to the program.

Contrast this with the shitters that come in from countries where sevicing culture consists of getting around what the manufacturer has put in place to give you the best indication of what to do.

Your choice - service it properly or turn it into a shitter.

yeah but you dont have to pay the stupid prices that bmw has to offer, in the bently manual it has all things that have to be checked while doing inspection 1 & 2, so why not build up your tool collection and start doing it your self, i paid for a service once when i bought the car, wont be doing that again, i do it all my self, when time permits, good for learning how your car works to.

[Docile 64]

So its hole 7, to take off the inspection light i will ground the speakre wire ( i have tons left from my sounds installation) for about .. 11 secs?? with the ignition turned to "on position (not accessories)"?

The lights and program associate , oil, inspection 1 & inspection 2 are a service regime designed by BMW for their cars, they have pretty good idea of what needs to be done. And when you hear stories of guys getting 400,000 km from a car without taking the head off there is a clear validation to the program.

Contrast this with the shitters that come in from countries where sevicing culture consists of getting around what the manufacturer has put in place to give you the best indication of what to do.

Your choice - service it properly or turn it into a shitter.

Like i said before man, im a DIY dude.. i will never ever sump so low that i would turn my car into a shitter..

I know most of the stuff i can do myself apart from the major ones like wheel alignments and wheel balancing, and cam timing etc.. but for the price they charge at dealers (yuen i believe got quoted for 600 bucks to have the inspection done). i mean cmon.. all they do is lift up the car and do some spot checks and replace where necessary at 200% the cost. i can do that all in one day and cheaper !!!! depending on parts and funds LOL... all i need is my TIS or bentley manual, the right tools, some experience, some troubleshooting, a nice cold drink, something to eat and fine weather..

money dont grown on trees in our backyards for some of us

even before my inspection lights came on i already did a few of the spot checks already and replaced some parts even when they can still be used ( brake pads, new ngk spark plugs, changed oil, change oil filter etc)

Edited November 15, 2006 by Docile

[Docile 64]

SWEET IT WORKED !{PHAHAH!! !! cheers guys..

my 1.20 per metre wire did the job

[Gus 5]

So we now have another shitter out there, money does not grow on trees out here either.

The checks are very thorough and worth the money Jerry Claytons charge and unless you are travelling zillions of kilometres you only do one or two a year so why so much drama. Next you will be singing about second hand tyres because they are cheap.

Done the car DIY thing still do it on occasions and have very good mechanical knowledge, but at the small money that SOME dealers charge I would rather use my time to have fun surfing, sailing or playing with the kids than waste a whole day to save 150 bucks, when they will do it in 3 hours.

so are you saying using another way to reset service lights makes a car a shitter?

how exactly?

BMW snobbery strikes again....

[Mavrick 0]

No

I am saying stick to the service regime and have it done by people who have all the skills, tools and knowledge to do the work properly.

If you cut corners and hack things to suit then you make it into a shitter The easiest way to PROVE the quality of a car is a Full service history which incidently adds value to a car.

Would it have been Toyota snobbery when I had a flat deck land cruiser or Navara snobbery because I have one of those or is snobbery just reserved for certain makes?

Alot of people on here are students or are under the age of 23 or so, how do you expect them to fork out $500 dollars for a regular service. While it may be okay for you 'mature' residence on here that have had a full time job for a number of years it really isn't feasible for alot of people to pay that much for just a service, when it can be saved then spent on betterthnigs i.e. some badass rims or lowering your car (shocks and springs)?

When i first purchased my car i took it to JefF Gray in P. North here and they quoted me for stupid things that didn't even need doing such as, battery clips $25, a new gearknob $475 a bent windscreen wiper (thats absolutely fine), i could get these items for my car to make it mint but i just dont have the money to spend on things like this when theres an easy no expense way around it.

I usually stay out of these things but i felt compelled to say something as it seems you are degrading peoples car because they wont justify paying/cant afford to pay for a $500 service.

rant over

[MADBMA 0]

Done the car DIY thing still do it on occasions and have very good mechanical knowledge, but at the small money that SOME dealers charge I would rather use my time to have fun surfing, sailing or playing with the kids than waste a whole day to save 150 bucks, when they will do it in 3 hours.

also i think most of us here would rather spend i nice day at home working on the car, i find it fun, gives me somthing to do, i learn about my car and save me money aswell, i dont see the day wasted, and by the way not a student, do have the money but prefer to do the work my self

[Docile 64]

yeah, some of us do enjoy tinkering around with their cars. I never believe that a day has been wasted with me spending a few hours or the whole day checking, maintaining and cleaning my car. as we all know if u bring ur car to shitter status, its your life on the line. oh that reminds me gotta rotate my tires around.. DAMN WEATHER !!

Edited November 15, 2006 by Docile

[MADBMA 0]

DAMN WEATHER !!

second that, its driving me nuts, have to try get everything done in the the one day of sunshine we seem to be having a week, my girlfriends crapped out valiant is in the garage, ive given her till jan to have it running (complete engine rebulid) i did suggest a V8 that i would help pay for, but she wants it original

[Mavrick 0]

So it sounds like you actually can not afford to run the car so you cut corners so you can stooge around a beemer, is that snobbery??

Suggest you get something you can afford to run like a bicycle

Define the term 'run', if its going and theres nothing mechanically wouldn't that be considered running?

You'd be hard pressed to many people on this forum who don't own a 'shitter' then because 95% of people on here at one time or another will have done some sort of service to their cars by themselves.