Engine Warning Light Feedback

So tonight I go out to my car and start it up. Everything seems fine but I see a yellow engine warning light right above the oil temperature gauge (in the manual this is referred to as the "Emissions" light - p.68). I then go into "Vehicle Status" and find that everything is listed as "OK." There's nothing in "Messages" to indicate what this may mean. Remembering that the engine warning light sometimes can mean that you don't have your gas cap on tight enough I (craftily ;-)) shut the car off and made sure the gas cap was tightly secured. I start the car up again and (of course) the light is still on. The owners manual merely identifies what the light means but provides no insight into what may have caused it or what the recommended next step is (thanks, BMW).

So I was wondering if any of you have gotten this warning light and might know what is going on. Is this something I should immediately bring in to the dealer? The car runs perfectly and there's no other indication of any problem other than this idiot light.

Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

The quickest answer to this is that if you know someone with an OBDII reader, have them plug it in, (somewhere under your dash on the drivers side I think), turn on the accessories without starting the car then have them read the fault code. Sometimes you can clear the fault and there are no other issues. I bought an OBDII reader finding it on sale one day. One of the best things I got for my car. The fault codes can be translated though a quick google search. I had the same thing happen in my 2007 328xi Coupe. It was very cold that day and my son had been using mid-grade gas. Knock sensor warning was the code (translated). As it warmed up, I filled the tank with premium and it went away. I may have cleared it, I can't recall.

I also have the same issue with my 2011 550xi with Dinan S2. It happened for the first time today.

This happened on my car for about a week and went away. It is related to your gas:air mix ratio. You are either running too rich or too lean. Loose gas cap can give a false reading, but most commonly it's a bad sensor or dirty air filters. A major issue would be an vacuum leak on the engine (gasket failure). Running like this for a while will foul your motor. The car would shutter at that point. If you have a mild real issue you may see a difference in your gas consumption.

It's usually BS, however, if its a real problem you can really mess up your motor running it like that for extended periods, so unfortunately I would not recommend ignoring it.

Originally Posted by PsychDoc1

So tonight I go out to my car and start it up. Everything seems fine but I see a yellow engine warning light right above the oil temperature gauge (in the manual this is referred to as the "Emissions" light - p.68). I then go into "Vehicle Status" and find that everything is listed as "OK." There's nothing in "Messages" to indicate what this may mean. Remembering that the engine warning light sometimes can mean that you don't have your gas cap on tight enough I (craftily ;-)) shut the car off and made sure the gas cap was tightly secured. I start the car up again and (of course) the light is still on. The owners manual merely identifies what the light means but provides no insight into what may have caused it or what the recommended next step is (thanks, BMW).

So I was wondering if any of you have gotten this warning light and might know what is going on. Is this something I should immediately bring in to the dealer? The car runs perfectly and there's no other indication of any problem other than this idiot light.

Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

How many miles on your car? Is this the first time?

I just had this happen to me, too. The manual is useless, giving no information whatsoever to help. I took the car in, and it was a sensor that went out, which probably took the service department all of 30 minutes total to correct.

I DO wish there was some way to tell if it is safe to drive the car, or if this is an imminent disaster. Just no way to tell from the manual.

If its a yellow light, its usually safe to drive the car and have it check out later. If a red warning light comes on, then I would worry.