computer setting?

[PaulR]

When I bought X5,2004, dealer said he finished general service the day before and just had no time to fix computer(five green lights). The next day of delivery, my brother(previous mechanic) came and checked engin oil, and air filter only and said they didn't do anything for them.
Is it possible to fix computer without service?

[Nik]

You can reset computer without changing oil.

[PaulR]

Interesting. That means the computer has some problem in the view of checking car condition?

[JCL]

Originally Posted by PaulR

Interesting. That means the computer has some problem in the view of checking car condition?

There are many different triggers for vehicle condition regards servicing.

Some items are simple date reminders on more recent models with iDrive. The vehicle doesn't know the work was done. When you complete the work, you just reset the date for another year or two years. If the tech didn't do it, you can do it. Brake fluid flush on E70s is in the category.

There are condition-based warnings, such as oil service. Those depend on driving history, oil condition, etc. You reset it manually when you change the fluid. The vehicle monitors your driving, and varies the interval from a preset baseline. An example would be the algorithm that starts off at 15,000 miles to change the oil, but varies up or down according to fuel consumption which indicates easier or harder use.

Then there are monitored items such as brake pads and bulbs burnt out. For those the vehicle monitors systems and a trigger such as a brake pad sensor or an imblance in a lighting circuit triggers a warning.

So the computer doesn't necessarily have problems checking the car, it has limitations.