inspection question

[innes]

525i 1991 UK car

is my yello and red block on the dash 'inspection' panel meant to come on when the car is first started up, the green blocks don not illuminate althou7gh the yellow and red do for about 3 seconds or so, cheers in advance?

[Paul in NZ]

that means your car is due for a service,now.At the very least change the oil and filter, new coolant and brake fluid too.

[BigKriss]

yep.. or the lights haven't been reset in a while.


that means your car is due for a service,now.At the very least change the oil and filter, new coolant and brake fluid too.

[artemis626]

525i 1991 UK car

is my yello and red block on the dash 'inspection' panel meant to come on when the car is first started up, the green blocks don not illuminate althou7gh the yellow and red do for about 3 seconds or so, cheers in advance?

to clarify, are you saying that the yellow blocks mean immediat atention is required? Are you supposed to see green lights? I bought th ecar used and have only had yellow lights and the occasional "nees inspection" reminder. I figured I had some time. is that not correct?

[stu1]

Yep, if you have Yellow and Red you need a service. When the Yellow goes off the Red will stay lit permanently. When reset you'll have 5 greens, the yellow and the red for about 5 seconds when you first switch the ignition on.

After doing the service, you can either reset the lights with a tools or follow the instructions at
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/electrical/e36_reset_service_lights.html

Stu

[artemis626]

At the risk of sounding stupid I'm going to ask the following but I am very new to BMWs so I hope you'll give me some leeway. Can any shop do this inspection and reset the indicators? I just had my car state inspected, which in PA is a very thorugh event, but the inspection indicator lights are still on. Do I have to go to a BMW dealer to have this specific inspection done? Also, I've run across mentions of Inspection I and Inspection II, again is this something that must be done specifially at a BMW dealer? I sthere a way to tell what's been done before I purchased the car?

[Qsilver7]

I think you do have some misconceptions about the service lights, and service needing to be performed. Do you have an owners manual? If so...you should take the time to read up on it.

In the meantime...here's a link that describes the Service Interval Lights: http://www.bmwworld.com/repairs/maintenance.htm

..and here's another site that describes what the INSPECTION I & II involve: http://www.bimmerzone.com/inspection.htm

Passing a State inspection is not a reason to reset your service lights...and if you choose to change your oil more frequently than what the service indicator light interval suggests...DO NOT reset the lights. This will throw off the INSPECTION I/II intervals. If you are in the camp of those who prefer to change their oil more frequently...then you may be intereseted in performing the "intermediate" oil services recommended at the link above.

I usually change my oil between the time the 3rd green light comes on and before it goes off...then again when I get the OIL SERVICE light (where I then reset the service lights)...which usually works out to around 7.5K..and I use full synthetic oil.