Think about yourself driving peacefully aboard your BMW 3 Series and suddenly an engine warning light shows up on your dashboard ! The typically seen kind of reaction is worries of risking a major trouble. To know what accurately this light refers to, you will have to learn how to read an BMW 3 Series fault codes, you may have previously read about OBD system, this is exactly what we are going to speak about. Our writers have chosen to publish this document to help you quickly find the origin of this default code and to give you serenity. To achieve this, we will first look at the nature of a fault code on BMW 3 Series, then how to read an BMW 3 Series fault code, and finally how to erase this fault code in order to turn off the light on your dashboard.
What is a BMW 3 Series fault code?
A fault code is a generic or standard code which is identical to all manufacturers , they are also identified as DTC (Data Trouble Code), the objective is to be sure that any diagnostic OBD can translate them. They will be symbolized by a standard format, such as example: P0255. Each data will have a special explanation. Default codes are codes issued by the calculators of your BMW 3 Series. These ECUs will continuously monitor your vehicle’s exhausts, pressures, mixtures and when the values exceed the limits set by the vehicle’s ECU, the fault code will show up. The benefit of understanding how to read a fault code on your BMW 3 Series is that you will have gain access to to specific data about your vehicle which will enable you to understand what trouble you are struggling with.
How to read a fault code on my BMW 3 Series?
In this second section we will now focus precisely on what brings you on the website, how to read a fault code on BMW 3 Series. To discover this valuable data you will need to to obtain a diagnostic tool, also named OBD 2, named after the socket on your BMW 3 Series to which you will have to connect. These diagnostic tools are freely 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 obtained an OBD2 diagnostic reader, you will have to identify the diagnostic plug on your BMW 3 Series, it is established 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 3 Series.
How to erase the fault code BMW 3 Series
Finally, to conclude this article content, we are going to demonstrate you the process to carry out to erase a fault code on your BMW 3 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 essential question, is it really useful to erase this fault code on BMW 3 Series? Absolutely, erasing a fault code without solving the trouble corresponds to burying its head in the sand. Additionally, the computer of your BMW 3 Series is made to take resolutions depending to the data it collects, if an important fault code is present, it will possibly adjust the engine operation to protect it. So if you erase the fault code, be sure you solve the issue to which it is linked. 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 3 Series.
To find more tips on the BMW 3 Series, take a look at the BMW 3 Series category.
