MitchBMW

Hello Everyone,

I just had to share this with you. Last Saturday I went to the gun range to do some shooting, and when I was done, I was in need of some gas, so I stopped at the nearest gas station.. (some unknown name) and I filled up with 93 grade gas.. when I got home I noticed that my SERVICE ENGINE SOON light was on, along with a message of INCREASED EMISSIONS. This scared me. So I was going to make an appointment to have it checked, but then I remembered the need for gas, so I went all week until I needed more gas, and went to a trusted gas station and filled up. Well, I drove it yesterday and after 15 mins of driving, the warning light and message went away.. So I'll keep my eyes on it, but I'm lucky that I didn't have to have any C02 censors replaced or anything like that.
Let's just say.. my wallet was VERY HAPPY!!!! Especially since I'm in the process of buying a house. :-) I need all the money I can get...

Just wanted to share.

Rudy

Most likely the gas cap wasn't 100% secured after that first fill up. Glad everything worked out...

Gilgorm

Rudy hit it bang on. A loose gas cap will trigger both codes. If it happens again, check that the gas cap is very secure. After the second fillup the computer module simply reset once the problem was gone.

NguyenAzn

i dont trust unnamed gas stations man

MitchBMW

That was the first thing I thought of, and I did check that. I took it off and put it back on again, nice and tight. So I don't think it was that.

MitchBMW

Yeah, me either.. never again!

Rudy

Even if the gas cap triggered the light, once you remove and replace it, the light doesn't go out immediately... Sometimes it takes some time for the system to reset on it's own.

kscarrol

Looking at the age of the OP's car, the gasket in the gas cap could be bad as well. I had that happen on my old 545 and would get the engine light periodically. At first my SA would lecture me about properly securing the gas cap but after repeated issues we changed the cap and the issue was never occurred again.

Rudy

I wonder if, on the newer cars, BMW has figured out a way to pinpoint the cause of the warning light. A colleague of mine has an Acura and his car actually told him to check the gas cap. Either they've got an advanced method of detecting things or they just display the "check gas cap" warning automatically with each and every check engine condition...

MitchBMW

The thing is. That was the first time that I put gas in my car from an non-brand named Gas Station, and it's the only time that that warning light has come on, and as soon as the gas was pretty much flushed out with another fill up from a Mobile station, the light goes out. Maybe it's just bad timing. But anyway, I'm glad that it's off and hasn't come back, and I didn't have to take it to the shop.

Thanks for all of your comments.

Peace!