BMW E36 Blog

Hi,

I read many posts about people asking about special symbols and warning lamps that turn on in their BMW E36 cars and they don’t actually know what they mean. While some warning lamps are self explanatory, some of them are mysteriously weird and I honestly don’t know how the car designers chose them.

Today, I’ve prepared a legend of all (well, I’m not sure if I’m missed something or not) the symbols that you may see in the dashboard of your BMW E36. Below you will find the symbol (indictor) lamp a long with possible reason why it’s turned on.

BTW, I took these from the BMW E36 owners manual, you can refer to that post and download the whole manual if you like.

	Turn signal left/right, green Flashes when the turn signals are in operation.
	Battery charge current, red Goes out after the engine has started. If the lamp comes on during normal vehicle operation: The battery is no longer being charged. Indicates a defect in the generator drive-belt or the charging circuit. Tony: Maybe the alternator has a problem too.
	High beam, blue Lights up when the high beams are switched on or the headlamp flashers are activated.
	Engine oil pressure, red Goes out after the engine has started. May come on briefly at idle when the engine is hot, but must go out again at higher engine speed. If the lamp comes on during normal vehicle operation: stop vehicle and switch off engine immediately. Check engine oil level; if necessary, add oil. If oil level is correct: contact your BMW Retailer. Tony: Maybe your car is leaking oil, check for that too
	Foglamps, green Lights up whenever you switch on the foglamps.
	Airbags, red This lamp turns on for an operational check when you turn the ignition key to position 1. If, at the operation check, it does not go on, or goes on while driving, have it checked at your BMW Retailer.
	Automatic transmission, yellow Goes out after the engine has started.
	ASC+T (Automatic Stability Control plus Traction), yellow Goes out shortly after the ignition is switched on: System OK.
	ABS (Antilock Brake System), yellow Goes out after the engine has started. If the lamp comes on during normal vehicle operation: ABS has been deactivated in response to a system malfunction. Conventional braking force remains unimpaired.
	Brake pad wear, yellow Lights up when starter is actuated and goes out when the engine is started. If the lamp comes on during normal vehicle operation: replace brake pads immediately.
	Brake hydraulics, red Goes out after the engine has started. If the lamp comes on during normal vehicle operation: low brake fluid.
	Parking brake, red Goes out after the engine has started. Comes on when you engage the parking brake.
	Emissions-related systems Lamp goes out once engine starts. If this indicator lamp lights up during normal vehicle operation, either continuously or intermittently, this indicates a fault in one of the emissions related electronic circuits. Although the vehicle remains operational, you should have the systems checked by a BMW Retailer at the earliest possible opportunity. Tony: This indicates that you’re having a problem and you should check it as soon as possible
	Please fasten safety belts, red (With acoustic signal if the driver’s belt is not buckled). Lights up briefly when the ignition key is turned, and then goes out (in some models it goes out after you fasten safety belts).
	BMW Convertible Rollover Protection System, yellow Goes out shortly after the ignition is switched on: System OK.

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate BMW E36 M3 information source.

To be honest with you guys, I’ve never been a fan of cars books or service manuals as I think they will not help you much to understand how your car works or even help you fix a problem inside it. I always thought that it is simpler to find what I’m looking for on the web (mainly forums) and so on. However, I think I’ve just changed my idea about these books or at least about a specific book that I heard a lot about. The book is the Bentley BMW E36 Service Manual. I’ve been told that this book is very good and it’s a real gold mine for BMW E36 owners but I was suspecting that it’s being over estimated until I ordered that book from Amazon and started reading it. Well, I didn’t finish reading yet, but I decided to check how I can solve a problem that is happening to my car using this manual and see if it goes well.

My car started hesitating in the last week and the problem seems to be getting worse, so I tried to check it and I know that I have problems in both Oxygen Sensor and Knock Sensor because I’ve tried to clean my ICV (Idle Control Valve) already with no success in resolving this problem. I’ve started reading the section about fuel injection in the Bentley BMW E36 service manual and to my surprise, the book is really awesome. You won’t believe how precise it is when describing the procedure to check your whole fuel injection system starting with the main relay testing and ending with the ICV (Idle Control Valve) testing.

I’m really impressed with this one and I strongly recommend this book to every BMW E36 owner. So even if you’re not into the car do-it-yourself stuff. I think it will help you understand how your car works and even help you trace some of the problems in your car without the need to pay big $$$ for BMW mechanics.

I’m listing below the content of this book so, you can see what does it offer:

If you don’t have this book, just get one. It will definitely help you.

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate BMW E36 information source.