Engine Management Light

[JimBatt20]

Hello,

I have just received a call from my wife (I work abroad) and the engine management light has come on on my M4. There are no other warnings on the iDrive. I have advised her to stop driving and contact the dealer.

The car has 11k on the clock and has been parked up for around a week (i dont think this would matter)

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

[coldfish]

Originally Posted by JimBatt20

Hello,

I have just received a call from my wife (I work abroad) and the engine management light has come on on my M4. There are no other warnings on the iDrive. I have advised her to stop driving and contact the dealer.

The car has 11k on the clock and has been parked up for around a week (i dont think this would matter)

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

re-start the car and see if the code goes away.

Otherwise, u need someone scan the car to get the code to know what is wrong. If you don't have such friend come in handy there, drive to the dealership if it still feels normal while driving. If there is abnormal sound or vibration, call BMW road assistance and tow the car to the dealership.

Finger crossed. Hope it is an easy fix.

[JimBatt20]

Thanks.

She restarted it and it came straight back on.

Still under warranty so she has called the dealer and someone is calling back. I have urged her to get them to come and pick it up rather than drive it with an unknown issue.

[coldfish]

Originally Posted by JimBatt20

Thanks.

She restarted it and it came straight back on.

Still under warranty so she has called the dealer and someone is calling back. I have urged her to get them to come and pick it up rather than drive it with an unknown issue.

Exactly, better safe than sorry.

[JimBatt20]

Wife's just informed me there was a funny shake?

BMW roadside assistance here we come....

[coldfish]

Originally Posted by JimBatt20

Wife's just informed me there was a funny shake?

BMW roadside assistance here we come....

shake when driving or still ?

could be misfires causing rough idling

[JimBatt20]

Originally Posted by coldfish

shake when driving or still ?

could be misfires causing rough idling

Just had BMW Emergency round.

Cylinder 5 misfire, coming back tomorrow to take it to dealer.

What we reckons wrong? Spark plug.

[coldfish]

Originally Posted by JimBatt20

Just had BMW Emergency round.

Cylinder 5 misfire, coming back tomorrow to take it to dealer.

What we reckons wrong? Spark plug.

Most likely it is the plug of cylinder 5. Car only has 11k miles, very unlikely to be coil, injector or other parts.

I had the same issue earlier as well. Cylinder 1 misfired when cold start one day in the morning. Car was good after warming up. My dealer could not duplicate the issue after clearing code and sent it back to me. The code would come back from time to time if I waited till cold start ended. In my case, If I moved the car immediately, there would not be any code.

Probly, they will clear the code and run the diagnosis on ISTA. Hope they could duplicate your issue and fix it for you.

[JimBatt20]

Originally Posted by coldfish

Most likely it is the plug of cylinder 5. Car only has 11k miles, very unlikely to be coil, injector or other parts.

I had the same issue earlier as well. Cylinder 1 misfired when cold start one day in the morning. Car was good after warming up. My dealer could not duplicate the issue after clearing code and sent it back to me. The code would come back from time to time if I waited till cold start ended. In my case, If I moved the car immediately, there would not be any code.

Probly, they will clear the code and run the diagnosis on ISTA. Hope they could duplicate your issue and fix it for you.

UPDATE:
Dealer has had the car for 2 days and said the fault is intermittent. At least they can replicate it.

Told my wife today they have swapped spark plugs about and the fault still comes in, not all the time. (Coil, injector?)

They are going to try it tomorrow morning when it’s cold. I have told the wife to ask if it could be the injector or coil. Frustrating not being able to ask myself!!

[coldfish]

Originally Posted by JimBatt20

UPDATE:
Dealer has had the car for 2 days and said the fault is intermittent. At least they can replicate it.

Told my wife today they have swapped spark plugs about and the fault still comes in, not all the time. (Coil, injector?)

They are going to try it tomorrow morning when it’s cold. I have told the wife to ask if it could be the injector or coil. Frustrating not being able to ask myself!!

if the code comes out right after cold start ends, then just replace the plug of cylinder which has misfires. The quality of BMW stock plug is inconsistent based on my experience. I bought two new sets from dealership. Each set has one "bad" plug causing one cylinder misfiring during cold start. Even though the car still runs good after cold start, the "shaky" cold start always bothers me. The manual said move the car immediately after starting up, if you follow the manual, you may not even have the code if you have the same issue like me.

if the code comes out after cold start and when car is warmed up (like highway cruising), it could something else.

good luck !

[coldfish]

Originally Posted by coldfish

if the code comes out right after cold start ends, then just replace the plug of cylinder which has misfires. The quality of BMW stock plug is inconsistent based on my experience. I bought two new sets from dealership. Each set has one "bad" plug causing one cylinder misfiring during cold start. Even though the car still runs good after cold start, the "shaky" cold start always bothers me. The manual said move the car immediately after starting up, if you follow the manual, you may not even have the code if you have the same issue like me.

if the code comes out after cold start and when car is warmed up (like highway cruising), it could something else.

good luck !

swapping the coils between two cylinders can easily test if it is coil causing the issue.

Injector is very unlikely, because you would have injector error code otherwise and BMW has ISTA which can test the fuel system.

vacuum leaking can be ruled out if your car has stable and good idling after cold start ends.

[JimBatt20]

Originally Posted by Railgun

Why not?

In Africa for the next 4 weeks and trying to get a phone line that works is a nightmare.

I've emailed the dealer though.

[JimBatt20]

Originally Posted by Railgun

Ahh.

If you have any semblance of data, use voip.ms. Super cheap rates and it works perfectly.

/ot

I've ran out of phone data on my Congo SIM. I'm waiting for one of the nationals to bring me some and I might try and give them a call.

Thanks

[JimBatt20]

So.....

Issue has been resolved.

They replaced all 6 spark plugs and the car all good.

So happy, lol