[starmonkey77]

Hi Everyone,

I hope you can help/assist with my query.

Less than two weeks ago I put my 318is through a full service at my local garage and have been happy with the performance of my car there after.

Now they reset the service lights however I have now lost two green lights one after the other several days apart since the reset.

My question is should I be overly concerned about this and go back to the garage with my concerns?

Hope you can advise.


Regards

StarMonkey77

 

[xXNealXx]

It really depends on the mileage done by the car. Higher miles means sooner service intervals. How many miles has your car covered?

 

[starmonkey77]

Hi NealP,

Thanks for the swift response.

The car has done 132,000 miles and since the last service only about 500 miles.

Starmonkey77

 

[xXNealXx]

That is a high miler, and don't forget...it also depends on the way you drive as well :thumbsup. Your ECU has settled down monitoring the service interval, so what you have said sounds normal.

 

[Joe9087]

I think the first two seem to much quicker than the others so I wouldn't worry too much. But don't be too surprised due to the mileage like neal says

 

[starmonkey77]

Bit more info for you, thanks for the replies by the way.

The ECU was repaired approx about 7 months ago due to water damage.

I have done approx 12,000 miles in the last 12 months.

I think the first two seem to much quicker than the others so I wouldn't worry too much

Ok understood thanks.

 

[starmonkey77]

Is 132k high mileage for a 15year old car, on average that's 11,000 miles per year.

 

[Joe9087]

No its not high mileage for a car of that age!
Mileage doesn't matter too much these days, a better judgement is how well its been looked after and how regularly its been serviced etc

 

[starmonkey77]

Thanks for all your comments guys!

 

[GordonJ]

Hi Everyone,

I hope you can help/assist with my query.

Less than two weeks ago I put my 318is through a full service at my local garage and have been happy with the performance of my car there after.

Now they reset the service lights however I have now lost two green lights one after the other several days apart since the reset.

My question is should I be overly concerned about this and go back to the garage with my concerns?

Hope you can advise.


Regards

StarMonkey77

That is a high miler, and don't forget...it also depends on the way you drive as well :thumbsup. Your ECU has settled down monitoring the service interval, so what you have said sounds normal.

Really Neal? 2 lights in 500 miles? That seems damn quick to me. I've done probably between 1000 and 2000 miles since my last service and there's still only 1 light out, and I boot the hell out it! 2 in 500 seems a bit out there, does it not? My car's on 112,000 miles, FSH.

 

[xXNealXx]

Really Neal? 2 lights in 500 miles? That seems damn quick to me. I've done probably between 1000 and 2000 miles since my last service and there's still only 1 light out, and I boot the hell out it! 2 in 500 seems a bit out there, does it not? My car's on 112,000 miles, FSH.

Different style of driving will also do that G-man....he probably boots it more :hihi...seriously, the more you drive your high miler, than the service interval will shorten. He may still have about 8000 miles left.

 

[starmonkey77]

I don't think I drive the car that hard however as you say it is quite high mileage so may be its to be expected.

I'll keep my eye on how it goes on and report back my findings in a couple of weeks.

 

[starmonkey77]

This morning a third green light has gone out, thinking I best call the garage and discus the issue.

 

[GordonJ]

This morning a third green light has gone out, thinking I best call the garage and discuss the issue.

For the price of a phone call, I certainly would. In the end, I bow down to Neal's obviously superior knowledge, but that definitely seems like a problem to me. Seems excessive.

 

[xXNealXx]

Ok, I think I might know what the problem is. The SI lights are powered by NiCad batteries built into the instrument panel. Once they go weak and not charging properly, then it will start showing symptoms such as yours.

 

[starmonkey77]

Ok, I think I might know what the problem is. The SI lights are powered by NiCad batteries built into the instrument panel. Once they go weak and not charging properly, then it will start showing symptoms such as yours.

But wouldn't all the lights have problems rather than them going one at a time?

I have spoken with the Garage and am dropping it off tomorrow AM for them to check it over.

 

[Ian S]

The service lights are not that advanced and I completly ignore mine anyway! It's based on the number of cold starts / time spent over 4krpm etc.

How quickly was it getting through the lights before?

 

[starmonkey77]

Before the service over the passed year the lights had been going down gradually as expected.

number of cold starts / time spent over 4krpm etc

Very interesting do you have any more info on the above?

 

[SteveyBoy]

Hi Everyone,

I hope you can help/assist with my query.

Less than two weeks ago I put my 318is through a full service at my local garage and have been happy with the performance of my car there after.

Now they reset the service lights however I have now lost two green lights one after the other several days apart since the reset.

My question is should I be overly concerned about this and go back to the garage with my concerns?

Hope you can advise.




Regards

StarMonkey77

It doesnt sound right to me m8,
Ive got a 318i, it had an Inspection 1 carried out at a BMW Indy at 118946 miles, its now at 120533 miles and Ive still got all my green lights lit up.
Maybe yours needs servicing more regulary as it makes more power, but it still doesnt sound right to me.

 

[Ian S]

Before the service over the passed year the lights had been going down gradually as expected.



Very interesting do you have any more info on the above?

How about:

"What Causes the SII (service interval indicator) lights to come on?

The SII lights are not "event" triggered. What that means is that they are not reporting a component failure or warning of imminent failure. Rather, the SII light computer "estimates" miles traveled. Once it estimates you have gone a certain number of miles it illuminates one of the SII lights (i.e. Oilservice- 7,500 estimated miles, or Inspection-15,000 estimated miles*). Mileage is estimated based on a formula:




Technical details of the service reminder lights:

Mileage is estimated based on the following formula:

e= a(1+t+r)

e=Estimated mileage
a=Actual mileage traveled
t=1 if engine temperature is below operating temperature, else t=0
r=.5 if engine is above 4500 RPM, else r=0

Example: If you traveled 5 miles with a cold engine running at 5000 RPM, the SII computer would actually "estimate" 12.5 miles traveled:

Solving for e:


a=5 (the actual miles traveled)
t=1 (because the engine was cold)
r=.5 (the engine was exceeding 4500 RPM)
e=5 X (1+1+.5)=12.5 estimated miles (from a trip of only 5 miles)"

From http://www.peakeresearch.com/silights.htm