120d - engine light has come on - any ideas?

[MitchT]

120d. E87. Feb 2005. 86,000 miles.

Set off in the OH's 120d today. 0.4 miles into the journey the engine light illuminated amber so we turned round, went back home and swapped cars.

A few potentially relevant facts:

• Engine was behaving normally for the short drive home after light came on.
• Car was serviced (oil & brake fluid) last Wednesday and other than the 12 mile drive home has only done a couple of miles since.
• I checked the oil and it appears to be over-filled. Maybe the level would be higher anyway if it's just been running - I'll check it again in the morning. It's worth noting that I once had an oil service done on my E36 by the same place and that was over filled too, though with no ill effects.

If it has been over filled, could this cause the engine light to come on? What else might it be? Should we refrain from using the car?

The OH's breakdown cover (somewhat unhelpfully) doesn't class an illuminated engine light as a breakdown, so quite how we'll get it to the garage if it shouldn't be driven, I don't know!

ETA: pic



ETA: I had the mileage down wrong.

Edited by MitchT on Tuesday 28th February 08:35

[smashy]

may help http://eurosportautomotive.com/the-top-7-reasons-y...

plus google engine light came on 120d..a lot of babybmw forum stuff comes up

[Gunk]

It's probably just a coil pack that's failed, common fault and cheap to fix, however if one has gone you might as well replace all four. Any decent garage will be able to diagnose the fault.

[E-bmw]

If, as you say "the engine behaved normally" it won't be a coil pack, as a coil pack down would yield a noticable misfire.

You need to get the codes read as anything here would be purely guesswork & likely irrelevant/misleading guesswork at best.

[E30M3SE]

You guys going on about coil packs have obviously missed the bit where the OP has said the car is a 120d???

Over fill with oil would not illuminate the EML.

If it drives OK then drive back to the garage get them to remove the excess oil and code read the EML, if you're not comfortable driving it then get them to recover the car in at their expense.

Edited by E30M3SE on Sunday 26th February 09:51

[keo]

If its not a coil pack, could be spark plugs? You know these modern fancy (compression ignition) diesels...

Sorry op, if it is driving as normal it should be fine to take a short trip to the garage. Get it plugged in.

[MitchT]

The engine still sounded normal. The warning light came on with a chime so I stopped and turned round in a nearby junction and drove back. Perfectly normal sound and behaviour from the engine. The oil thing was what immediately came to mind as I remember my E36 being over filled on the one occasion that I took it to the same place. I've checked the oil this morning and it's about a quarter to a third of a litre over, so not enough to cause and issue I would have thought.

E30M3SE said:

if you're not comfortable driving it then get them to recover the car in at their expense.

I doubt they'll recover it at their expense unless they believe they're responsible for the issue. I've read enough threads on here about faults mysteriously cropping up right after service to know that garages prefer to whistle and look the other way even when something is blatantly down to something they've done, and they'd put this down to a coincidence if confronted.

The car also had an MOT at the same time as the oil and brake fluid. Could the MOT process have disturbed something?

[E30M3SE]

No, the EML is probably coincidental, but they are responsible for the over fill of oil.

[RichardM5]

Could be any number of sensors, but other common causes include the EGR valve, injectors and thermostat. Best get the codes read as that will give a very good indication, but still may not pin point the cause.

[MitchT]

It's going back tomorrow to be diagnosed, but in the meantime here's a pic of the dipstick showing the extent to which it's been over-filled. Is this enough to be an issue in itself?



ETA: Better pic.

Edited by MitchT on Tuesday 28th February 08:52

[MitchT]

They've done a diagnosis and it turned out to be a clogged EGR valve which they've cleaned. Fingers crossed that's it!