I almost lost my appetite... check engine light came on...

[SharkmanBMW]

Hi guys, coming home tonight, everything was fine, then I went down a hill, stopped at a red light and then got my own red "check engine" light.
The car drove normally after, pulled hard up the hill, everything was smooth... it has been raining here for a week almost...
Turned off for 30 seconds and restarted but it was still there! bastards!

where do I start??
I guess I will go see my mechanic and see what he says.....
any advise is appreciated!
Chris

[ukm5]

means a sensor is advising a fault with something, you could do a stomp test if you car is capable of showing the code. Otherwise its a dealer test to tell you whats wrong.

[Interceptor]

Hi guys, coming home tonight, everything was fine, then I went down a hill, stopped at a red light and then got my own red "check engine" light.
The car drove normally after, pulled hard up the hill, everything was smooth... it has been raining here for a week almost...
Turned off for 30 seconds and restarted but it was still there! bastards!

where do I start??
I guess I will go see my mechanic and see what he says.....
any advise is appreciated!
Chris
Man, if I were you, I would sell your car to me, at the lowest price possible - you will save a lot of $$ in repairs! :)

j/k

Hope it will be a cheap fix, but it's probably an O2 sensor.

[JAlfredPrufrock]

I had the check engine light come on this weekend after I thoroughly washed my engine bay.

Whenever the check engine light comes on next, see if mashing the throttle will eliminate the light... my engine bay is still sort of wet after a day and is still drying out, that might be your problem if you have some bad exterior seals that are letting water in from the rain.

[632 Regal]

Chris can you do the stomp test?

[SharkmanBMW]

Ok... today I started the car, the light stayed on... then about 5 minutes in it went out, the car runs great!
Even after num,erous restarts today the light is off....
so does that mean my problem is fixed???

for the stomp test... will it work on a 540?
I vaguely remember trying to do it when I got the car but my memory is toast, I don't remember if I got it to work or not.
I would appreciate any guidance on that topic before I try it tomorrow!

and by the way Interceptor... it is for sale! 8k usd

[CheapCheap1]

Ok... today I started the car, the light stayed on... then about 5 minutes in it went out, the car runs great!
Even after num,erous restarts today the light is off....
so does that mean my problem is fixed???

for the stomp test... will it work on a 540?
I vaguely remember trying to do it when I got the car but my memory is toast, I don't remember if I got it to work or not.
I would appreciate any guidance on that topic before I try it tomorrow!

and by the way Interceptor... it is for sale! 8k usd
Huhhh, I thought I'm the only one who couldn't do the stomp test on my '95 540i.
Just wonder if 540i has a different method to dump the OBD code... Appreciate, if anyone could share the info.

[danzee]

The light will go off if the fault clears after some number of restarts. Typical of these kinds of faults is a loose or improperly seated gas cap. There area others. Hope it was simple. If it's an intermittent fault that persists you will eventually see it a long enough to diagnose.
Z

[digitaldragon03]

I cant do the stomp test on my 540 either. My Check Engine light comes on in the mornings, usually when its idle is rough, when i get on the gas it goes away. The light goes off after ive been driving the car for about 10 minutes or in the afternoons.

[SharkmanBMW]

I got rid of that cold start up rough idle by changing the PCV plate at the back of the intake

I hope the light never comes back on!
where do I get details on the stomp test, I will try it again...