"SERVICE ENGINE SOON"
 

The "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" indicator light turned on today when my wife turned on her 2007 X3 ,3.0si with 11K miles on it. The light remains illuminated and has not gone off since then, except when the cars is turned off. There is no difference on engine performance, yet, that I can tell when driving it. What can the problem be at 11K miles? A sensor or an exhaust valve issue? The owner's manual states "exhaust values are deteriorating". The light is always on and not flashing. Have anyone had this problem before and around the same milage? And what was the diagnostic? And how many miles would it be safe to drive it before I could take it to the stealer for a diagnostic without doing any damage? I know is hard to know exactly what the problem is without having it connected to a diagnostic code reader, but I'm just curious on what other peeps have experienced with their X3s at around the same milage. I hate taking it to the dealer. The techs at my dealer have no idea on what they are doing. I had my experience with them just programming my alarm the way I wanted, not to mention getting the sirius to work right. Is a good thing they don't work with airplanes. BMW dealers need to get their act together when dealing with maintence/service requests from their customers. They need real techs,well trainned and with lots of experience that love working on BMW cars. Is a shame because BMW is a great driving machine, but a great driving machine could only remain in such way as long as the techs performing the schedule maintenace and repairs are true professionals and love what they do.

autozone will scan it for free before you take it to the dealer. or pay a mechanic somewhere $5 to scan and read the code to you. thats what i do all the time. before you take it to the dealer make sure you know whats wrong with it or they will just rob you, but in your case your car still has warranty on it, why not let the dealer scan the code?

I will end up at the stealer, eventually. I was just wondering who else had the same problem and what the diagnostic was. I want to see if this is a common problem at around that milage on the 2007 X3s.

The single most common cause of the SES light is the gas cap being loose. It can be cross-threaded, or just not tight, and if it doesn't seal there is a fault due to the evaporative emissions system controls sensing a leak. Any chance the vehicle was refueled the day the light came on, or the day prior?

Check the gas cap, tighten it up, and see if the code goes away within a day. It won't go out immediately, but it will self-reset. If not, book it at the dealer.

If it isn't the gas cap, it is more likely to be a sensor than anything internal in the engine.

Good luck.

My wife did fill the tank 3 days prior the SERVICE ENGINE SOON light came on. She hasn't driven the car much after that. Anyway I did removed the gas cap, although it was closed properly, and re-installed it. The light still remains on. Is the resetting of the SERVICE ENGINE SOON light, assuming it could be the gas cap not installed right, by any chance time sensitive or milage sensitive? Also, can the butterfly oF the exhaust valve located at the right exhaust chrome tail pipe cause this SERVICE ENGINE SOON light to come on if defective? I do hear a ratchetting noise about 1 or 2 seconds after the car turns on and the butterfly of the valve almost closes, but not completely. I do notice once the car is off that the butterfly opens completely. Is this the way its supposed to work? Is that noise normal on 2007 X3s? What exactly is the purpose of that valve on the tail pipe?

Update on the SES light. Today I took the X3 to work, about 13 miles drive and about 7 days after the SES light came on. I requested an apointment for today, with the dealer, for the SES issue. I was supposed to have taken it afterwork. After I finished work, I got in the X3 turned the ignition key on and the light illuminated for 2 secs or so and then it turned off by itself. Apperently, it was definetly the refueling that some how tripped the system. And I guess the driving caused it to reset. Anyway peeps thanks to all for answering this thread. Specially JCL! You were right on the money, with regards to the most common SES indicator comming on issue. Hopefully, this helps out other bmw newbies, like me, in the future.

Thanks again!
:thumbup:

Glad it worked out.

Jeff

HMMM.... now there is a "check gas cap" light so the SES doesn't come on when the cap is not on.

On my 06 the cap was bad and that light was on all the time. I took that thing to the deal at least 20 time and each time I told them "I think the cap is bad" and each time all they said was "can't duplicate the problem".

The car was under warranty and they wouldn't give me a new cap no matter what I said.

Finally I wrote a letter to BMW and within a few days the dealer called to ask me to bring the car in. I told them the "I think the cap is bad" they gave me a new one off I went and off went the light forever.

Good catch. I had not seen that light, ever, but I checked our '07 X3 owner's manual and it is listed.

However, it appears that the SES light is also involved. The manual says that the SES light will come on if the cap is opened while the engine is still running, and that the check gas cap light will come on if the gas cap is left loose after the vehicle is restarted.

Seems a bit complicated to me, but I guess it kept another design engineer employed for a few weeks.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the gas cap light is triggered by a mechanical contact on the cap, and that the SES light is triggered as always, by an out-of-range pressure reading in the fuel tank and carbon canister evaporative emission control system, most usually caused by a loose cap or cracked hose. It appears that this may have been the problem the OP had if in fact reseating the gas cap fixed it; if not, I would still go with a sensor as the most likely culprit.

Thanks for the post, DWill.

SES light on again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

It happen again! Yesterday, I put gas and today the SES light came on again. Well, about a week or so ago I bought a code reader (ACTRON CP9180) and decided to to read the OBD codes. It turns out I get the P0326 code which says is a knock sensor. The gas that I put is BP (premium). I was previusly using the premium gas from COSTCO. Anyway, I did a reset and the SES light went out (off). I didn't hear the engine make any knocking noise nor the car felt rough when driven, at the time the light was on. And the light so far has not come on since I did the reset. My questions I guess are, can refueling cause the SES light to come on with a P0326 code generated from the OBD computer, even though I used always the correct fuel octane? And if I do have a bad knocking sensor, how come it doesn't come on after I do the reset? Knocking is the result of detonation, and detonation is caused by improper ignition of the fuel. Any idea guys why I'm I getting the P0326 code when I do the refueling?

If it isn't the gas cap, then I am back to my original second choice, a sensor. Could be a vacuum line or something similar, but in any case, it is time to take it to the dealer. I wouldn't reset it, I would leave it latched so there is something for the dealer to look into.

I had an intermittent SES light on my new 535i. I reset it by restarting the engine each time. It came back several more times. Booked it into the dealer. They found a vacuum line that was collapsing with high vacuum. I asked how they located it; there was a TIB on that specific vacuum line. I would never have found it by poking around. I was just glad it wasn't a fuel pump or something major. Sometimes it is just better to let the dealer do their thing. It is under warranty, just take it in.

Just my $0.02

I know most generic OBDII readers can't read the BMW specific codes. I'm wondering if the scanner is not correctly reading the code???

The thing that puzzels me is, if the fault was a constant one why doesn't it come back as soon as I reset it or at least a few minutes after I reset it? It appears to happen right after I filled the gas tank (about a day later or so). A 2007 X3 with a collapsed vacuum line?.....could happen but very odd.

You gotta just take it in for service and drive a loaner!

Just wondering, how do you know that? The one that I have gets updated via downloads from their site. I would think the software is pretty much up to date.

I agree but I also like to learn about BMW's X3 issues. Sometimes the dealers could reset the light and send you on your way based on the work load that they have or can even screw something else up so you keep bringing the car in for service. Unfortunally, I hate to take the car in to the dealers. Last time I took it in they confused it for one of their loaners and even lost my license plate. They got me a new one, but it was a pain in the ass. On top of that the car had a flat tire when I got it. That was another issue. They gave me back the car with a plugged-in tire and I had to take it back for them to fix the flat correctly. They are very unprofessional. They are nice until you buy them the car. But the idiots that I have dealt with at the service dept. at the dealer where I purchased the car are very unprofessional.

:iagree: I know what your saying Skimo100. Dealing with dealers is a painful process :banghead:

I have purchased, previously, a ford explorer 1998, a honda civic 2002, a ford truck F150 2007 all brand new from the dealers. I never took them in for service. I did all the maintenance. Never had any issues. Sold the explorer and the honda last year and got myself the X3. I still have the F150 and have no issues with it. I'm sure they must have some honest guys working at the dealers, but so far I've had no luck with them.

It isn't a constant fault, that is the point.

A collapsed vacuum line is just as possible on a 2007 X3 as it is on a 2008 535 (for which there is a published fix). I am not saying that it is a vacuum line, just that you are very unlikely to be able to diagnose the problem with an aftermarket code reader. It isn't an F150 (not that there is anything wrong with F150s, just that they aren't as complex IMO).

OBDII is a standard all manufacturers use but they are allowed to go outside that with their own codes as well. OBDII was standardized primarily for emissions and it helps smaller shops diagnose most cars without a different code reader for every manufacturer. The generic readers work great for most domestic and non luxury brands. BMW dealers for example use the GT-1 computer to retrieve every code imaginable from their cars. Take active steering for example.... There isn't a standard OBD code relating to that function of the car so BMW has their own which requires their own diagnostic tool to read.

http://www.peakeresearch.com/

This company makes some great diagnostic tools but as usual they are a few years behind because BMW does not legally have to give up their proprietary info for a period of time.

I use Costco premium all the time without issue. Assuming you do have a knock, most times you'll never hear hear it. The new sensors are very sensitive.

I hear you guys! Thanks for your inputs. I'll keep you guys posted once I take it in and out of the dealer. I'm just going to wait until the SES light comes on and take the X3 in at the dealer for a scan. Hopefully they won't give me some bs and actually "fix the problem right on the first time".

Here is the latest on the SES issue I was having. The light came back on after a while and I decided not to reset it. Took the car in to the dealer yesterday and got the car back on the same day. :) It turns out that my scan reader was correct. It was indeed a faulty knock sensor that was causing the SES to come on. I didn't even mention to my service adviser that I had scan the X3 with the OBDII scan tool nor that I had reset it in previous occasions, just to see if they were going to come up with some other BS. But surely enough, they found the problem and fixed it right on the first time. I hope this thread helps others having this type of problem. A relatively new knock sensor failling intermittently!!???? YES, IT HAPPENS!!!!

Glad it all worked out. Sensors can fail, and early hour failures are why you have a warranty.

Going back over the thread, you first had this problem in December, and decided not to go to the dealer. The gas cap was a good thing to check, but as we said in December, if it isn't the cap, take it into the dealer and get them to read the code. You are unlikely to be able to fix anything with your code scanner, and it is a new vehicle under warranty. You had an ongoing problem for a period approaching 3 months, during which time the vehicle was giving you a message on the dash to go to the dealer. You could have had a failure and they might have seen the history log, with you continuing to drive it. That wouldn't necessarily have happened, but you are adding risk to the situation. Just my $0.02. Again, glad it worked out.

The car behaved fine during that time except for the SES light being on intermittently from time to time since December. It didn't act as a hard failure. I did a reset it one or two times since December and it didn't come on until about a week or so ago, in which I decided not to even remove the fuel cap during this time just to see if it would turn-off by itself, but it didn't. Just for the record, my scanner did read the code correctly. I compared the actual diagnostic report from BMW to what the scanner read and it was exactly the same knock sensor. So it did scanned it right this time, so far so good of a scanner. If the SES light would have been flashing, that would have been another serious issue, but since the dealer told me that there was no reason to take it in inmediately, I wasn't too concerned. That's why I pushed it until my annual oil service date. I'm new at dealing with BMW cars. That's why I'm here to learn and to provide information as I learn from personal experience and to help others that may want to get their hands a bit greasy & know what a torque range is...lol...and those that their warranties have expired. In my case, I would have ended up at the dealer since the car is under warranty with only 13K miles anyway. Is good to have an idea on what is acting up in the car before you go into the dealer, that is one of the reason I bought the scanner. I feel if you are some what knowledgeable they won't take you for a ride. At least that is the experience I've had here in the USA with some dealers like from FORD. I do all my repairs and maintenace services on my FORD F150, as long as is not a major repair requiring special tools. And that truck is still under warranty. So far is working great and very reliable. Anyway thanks for your inputs, specially you JCL, since you've been following this thread since started. I'm glad it worked out right as well buddy!:thumbup: