Dreaded Service Engine Soon (SES) Light Illuminated

[we350z]

So I was driving a client around last night in the city here and all of the sudden my SES light came on (solid not blinking). I have never seen it come on before so it startled me. Nothing seemed strange about the way the car is running. Plenty of power, check control OK, and engine temp normal. I should have checked the digital temp on the cluster diagnostics tho.

So after driving a short distance to our destination the car sat for a couple of hours. I was hoping the light might reset when I started the car again but no luck.

When I got the car home I poked around in the engine compartment - seemed a little hot but nothing I can see out of the ordinary. No leaks, strange sounds or anything. No wierd burning smells or anything, just the normal smell of warm rubber hoses and such. I will check the coolant level today, but there were no check control messages concerning this.

The manual states:

Service Engine Soon. If the indicator lamp lights up continuously or intermittently, there is a fault in the exhaust-relevant electronic systems. Although the vehicle remains operationhal, you should have the systems checked by your BMW Sports Activity Vehicle center at the earliest possible opportunity. For additional information:

An illuminated lamp informs you of the need for service, not of the need to stop the vehicle. However, the systems should be checked by your BMW Sports Activity Vehicle center at the earliest possible opportunity.

That's from the 2004 manual, my (2000) manual was similar verbiage but mentioned that damage could occur to the catalytic converter with continued use with SES light on. After searching around on the forum it looks like a fault code could indicate and issue with something other than emissions control system.

I did read the post regarding SES in the How To section.

I think I am going to try and reset the ECU by unplugging the battery for a while to see if that will clear the light, but of course it may come back if there is some persistent problem.

I ordered a ScanGauge II OBD Scanner to check the codes and it will reset them as well if it's something minor. Is there a way to pull codes from the onboard diag?

So - my question to you all is. My pops is coming into town and I need to drive around a little bit. How safe is it to drive the car?