Amber Engine Symbol
 

Just had an amber engine symbol illuminate on my dash. The manual says that it is caused by a deterioration of exhaust emission control values. Has anybody had this trouble. Is it serious / expensive ?

Take it to the dealer and get them to check the codes. It can be simple, like a sensor, or expensive, depending on what the problem is.

You don't give you location so it is not clear to me what your warranty terms are, but in most countries there is an emissions system warranty that runs longer than the vehicle warranty. If so, it may be covered by the emissions warranty even if the vehicle is out of the full warranty coverage period.

Could also be a loose gas cap. Considering it's the weekend and you might not be able to get to a dealers on Monday, retighten the cap and see if the warning light disappears during the weekend. If not, head to the dealer and have them pull the codes as JCL suggests.

Thank you for your replies.

Codes indicate that there is a leak in the manifold somewhere. I have been told it is not urgent to fix it and as i have guests coming I have put it off for a week. However here is something that is slightly confusing to me. After they ran the diagnostics the light cleared which I guess is normal and makes sense. But then I drove home the whole way and no light reappeared. I would have thought that as the problem had not been fixed the light would reappear on the drive home any suggestions.

The sensor is triggered when a certain negative condition is attained. Perhaps on your drive home, that condition was not produced. It doesn't mean the problem has disappeared. If you drive long enough, the warning light will probably come on sooner or later.

Yep, you were absolutely right. Light stayed off for 2 days but is now back on again. Thanks for your responses.

I had this occur to me on my first X5 - due to cheap petrol! Since then I have only ever used premium fuel and never had a recurrence of the problem.

Pete,

When you say cheap petrol how do you classify it as such (apart from the price obviously!). Was it the octane level that was low ? I use 98 octane fuel.

98 octane should be fine. It's more likely the loose gas cap. If it reoccurs which hopefully it doesn't, have the dealer run a code scan.

In the USA 93 is the normal high octane level, where do you get 98?

In Europe, where the poster is from. They are referring to 98 RON, which is basically the same as 92 or 93 in North America. We use the pump octane rating here. It is a different test method, not a different fuel.