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  #1  
Old 09-20-2011, 04:18 PM
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RAWR. Service Engine Soon Light

So about an hour ago, I got out of class and walked to my car, turned on the engine and the Service Engine Soon light came on.

It wasn't on when I turned off the engine this morning after driving to class, and I haven't filled up any gas since Saturday or Sunday so I don't think it's the gas cap. I did open and closed it again to make sure. Any other ideas as to what it could be? Something simple?

I'm just hoping it's nothing big and I don't have anytime to take it to the stealership yet. I haven't noticed any performance issues....
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  #2  
Old 09-20-2011, 05:09 PM
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This is impossible to tell without getting the codes read. Could literally be anything...
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Old 09-20-2011, 08:05 PM
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well i guess i can find time tomorrow to take it to autozone and see if they can tell me what it is if its a generic code
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Old 09-20-2011, 08:25 PM
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Has any work been done on the car lately? Get the codes read.
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Old 09-22-2011, 04:34 AM
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Nope, no work besides an oil change was done about 6000 miles ago. I drove to class this morning and the light was still on. I left class to go home and pickup something, and the light disappeared.... So i couldn't get the codes read by autozone. v_v

*edit* about 1000 miles ago i put in a quart of oil, the oil light came on and was yellow
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Old 11-13-2011, 04:03 PM
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Obviously, as you already know, you will need to get those codes checked at autozone or similar place, any update yet on that? What year of X3 do you have and how many miles? Often, the codes are from emissions issues. The X3's are notorious for having intake/vacum leaks, due to sub-standard plastic/rubber being used on the intake boot and other hoses. After about 40K on most X3's the intake boot and such starts to deteriorate and will get cracks around the bends. When the temps start changing, this stresses the plastic even more. This is more often the problem, than not, with the engine light, but obviously could be other things as well. The hoses and boot are not covered under the maintenance, federal emissions, or extended warranties, as they are considered wear and tear items. If you throw codes like P0171 or P0174 (too lean, etc) it is an intake leak problem, hopefully not an emissions valve. Replacement boots/hoses are relativlely inexpensive, but there is a lot of stuff to remove to get to where you need to get to replace the boot and hoses, so the dealership charges a huge price tag for labor. There are lots of great deatailed DIY's out there though on forums, not massivly difficult to do, just lots and lots of stuff to move out of the way. I replaced the boot myself a little bit ago in a "Hurricane", hah, and it took me and my buddy about 4 hours to complete and instead of costing $800, it cost me $100 for the diagnostic $57 in parts and a 12 pack of beer. I recommend paying for the diagnostic from bmw or trusted local bmw mechanic, then deciding if you want to do the work yourself.
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Old 11-13-2011, 04:25 PM
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Car is now almost at 107.5

The light has been gone for awhile. Will the codes still be there even though the light is gone? I think it went away a couple days after I tightened the gas cap
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Old 11-13-2011, 04:33 PM
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The gas cap was probably your problem then, the more serious codes that trigger the service engine soon light need to be reset with the code reader and the light won't go off on its own like it did in your case. Which it did because it needed to run "x" amount of miles and/or start "x" amount of times before the computer decided that it was no longer an issue. Just be aware of the other info I gave for the future.
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Old 11-13-2011, 07:45 PM
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Yup, thanks for the info. I read about the intake boot problem on bimmerfest. Is there any way to premptively check the boot without removing the brace and what nots?
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Old 11-13-2011, 08:05 PM
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Yes, but I would suspect that the replacement may have already been done on your car since it is at 104k, maybe not though, hopefully BMW upgraded the material on replacemt part either way. You can remove the air filter and shine a flashlight in to the boot, you will see light if you have cracks. The codes will be thrown fairly quickly after a crack/tear develops, so this technique would essentially be used to diagnose the problem after the light comes on. Also, you can reach in after the engine cools and inspect the boot using touch.
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