Think about yourself driving calmly aboard your Bmw 1 series and suddenly an engine light appears on your dashboard ! The most frequent kind of reaction is the fear of risking a serious issue. To know what precisely this light corresponds to, you will have to learn how to read an Bmw 1 series fault codes, you may have already heard of OBD system, this is exactly what we are going to talk about. Our editors have decided to compose this piece of content to help you quickly discover the origin of this default code and to give you reassurance. To get this done, we will first check out the nature of a fault code on Bmw 1 series, then how to read an Bmw 1 series fault code, and finally how to erase this fault code to be able to turn off the light on your dashboard.

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What is a Bmw 1 series fault code?

A fault code is a universal or standard code common to all manufacturers , they are also named DTC (Data Trouble Code), the goal is to be sure that any diagnostic OBD can understand them. They will be symbolized by a standard format, such as example: P0255. Each data will have a particular meaning. Default codes are codes issued by the calculators of your Bmw 1 series. These ECUs will constantly monitor your vehicle’s exhausts, pressures, mixtures and when the values exceed the limits set by the vehicle’s ECU, the fault code will emerge. The benefit of understanding how to read a fault code on your Bmw 1 series is that you will have be able to access to complete data about your motor vehicle which will allow you to discover what issue you are struggling with.

How to read a fault code on my Bmw 1 series?

In this second part we will now focus precisely on what brings you on this website, how to read a fault code on Bmw 1 series. To gain access to this useful data you will need to to purchase a diagnostic tool, also named OBD 2, named after the socket on your Bmw 1 series to which you will have to connect. These diagnostic tools are easily available to buy, you will be able to find some in Bluetooth version which connects to your phone and some standard versions with a reader associated to the socket, as far as price is concerned, you will be able to find models between 30 and 100 euros. Once you have acquired an OBD2 diagnostic reader, you will need to find the diagnostic plug on your Bmw 1 series, it is located on the left side of your steering column on the lower part of your dashboard, behind a hatch. It is easy to locate because it is triangular shaped and has 16 pins. All you have to do is connect with your diagnostic tool to read the fault code of your Bmw 1 series.

How to erase the fault code Bmw 1 series

Finally, to finish this article, we are going to describe you the manipulation to accomplish to erase a fault code on your Bmw 1 series. Once you have navigated through the menus, you will access the list of active fault codes on your car. However, you will have to ask yourself an important question, is it really good to erase this fault code on Bmw 1 series? Absolutely, erasing a fault code without solving the issue is like closing its eyes to the fact. Additionally, the computer of your Bmw 1 series is made to take decisions according to the data it collects, if a vital fault code is present, it will actually adjust the engine overall performance to preserve it. So if you erase the fault code, remember to fix the problem to which it is associated. Some OBD diagnostic tools do not allow you to do this. You have a dedicated navigation menu on most diagnostic tools that should allow you to clear this fault code on Bmw 1 series.

If you need more tutorials on the Bmw 1 series, go to our Bmw 1 series category.