[jhowmah]

Hi! Can i ask what are these warning lights? Car (97 M3 Evo) didnt come with an owners manual and my previous 316 didnt have these.

I did a little google-ing found that the one in the red circle is the oil level, mine flashes 9 times at startup then goes off. The one in the blue circle also goes off at startup. Are these normal?

Also checked for the oil level under the hood, stick says its ok.

Thanks!!!

 

[ZeGerman]

The red circle is oil pressure. It should go out fairly quickly after starting the car. If not, you are either low on oil, your oil is too thick, or your oil pump is on its way out.

I have no idea for the blue circle. I don't believe our US instrument clusters have that symbol.

 

[Killjoy]

The blue one indicates that your bacon is ready.


















Seriously though, that is not a US light. It looks like it indicates something overheating, is your car SMG?

 

[johnf]

That's a curious pictogram. My German 8/95 3er owner's manual also shows nothing at that position.

 

[E36 Phantom]

Reminds me of the catalytic overheat symbol on some cars.

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[Jakobie1086]

Looks like the red circle is oil level, not pressure., I thought oil pressure was up by the battery light. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[E36 Phantom]

Looks like the red circle is oil level, not pressure., I thought oil pressure was up by the battery light. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I've never heard of separate lights on the e36. Most cars just have the one light which is pressure activated. Low pressure trips the switch, which is usually caused by very low oil level. If the level is fine and you still get the light, you know there's a pump problem or blockage before the switch.

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[ZeGerman]

Correct. Most older cars, including the E36, do not have oil level sensors. Whether or not that light is illuminated is dependent entirely upon oil pressure, which is also influenced by oil level (among other things).

 

[drivinfaster]

i dunno....'floating genie bottle', and 'time to get a haircut' lights would be my guesses....:dunno:





df

 

[jhowmah]

The blue one indicates that your bacon is ready.

Seriously though, that is not a US light. It looks like it indicates something overheating, is your car SMG?

Its a manual.

i dunno....'floating genie bottle', and 'time to get a haircut' lights would be my guesses....:dunno:

df

Im pretty sure i dont need a haircut :rofl:

The car is running fine by the way. The lights are just bugging me.

Just found out that the 2nd is the catalytic converter overheat warning and the first is the oil level sensor.

Now im not sure if its normal that they go on at startup then go off after a few seconds.

 

[drivinfaster]

i believe all warning lights are designed to do a self check (illumination), but then go out after a few seconds.

i doubt that the cat is 'overheating' on initial start up...but is it a heated cat?? :dunno: not sure if they had them on the e36 or not, but nothing like that in north america. i believe the 7's were one of the first to market with that sort of thing, though, or at least i had seen some talk of that on the various car sites i stalk...


i would think that if there were an issue, the light(s) would be on constantly.




df

 

[jhowmah]

Nope its not a heated cat. I think you're right though, if there was an issue the lights would be on constantly.