Think about yourself driving quietly aboard your BMW i3 and all of a sudden an engine light shows up on your dashboard ! The typically seen kind of reaction is worries of risking a serious issue. To know what precisely this light refers to, you will have to learn how to read an BMW i3 fault codes, you may have already heard of OBD system, this is exactly what we are going to focus on. Our writers have chosen to produce this document to enable you fairly quickly locate the source of this default code and to give you serenity. To do this, we will first look at the nature of a fault code on BMW i3, then how to read an BMW i3 fault code, and finally how to erase this fault code in order to turn off the light on your dashboard.
What is a BMW i3 fault code?
A fault code is a generic or standard code common to all manufacturers , they are also called DTC (Data Trouble Code), the goal is to guarantee that any diagnostic OBD can read them. They will be symbolized by a standard format, like for example: P0255. Each info will have a special interpretation. Default codes are codes issued by the calculators of your BMW i3. 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 appear. The benefit of understanding how to read a fault code on your BMW i3 is that you will have gain access to to complete statistics about your motor vehicle which will let you to figure out what trouble you are standing in front of.
How to read a fault code on my BMW i3?
In this second part we will now focus precisely on what brings you in this article, how to read a fault code on BMW i3. To gain access to this precious info you will need to to get a diagnostic tool, also named OBD 2, named after the socket on your BMW i3 to which you will have to connect. These diagnostic tools are easily available in the market, 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 bought an OBD2 diagnostic reader, you will have to identify the diagnostic plug on your BMW i3, it is based 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 i3.
How to erase the fault code BMW i3
Finally, to conclude this content page, we are going to demonstrate you the process to accomplish to erase a fault code on your BMW i3. Once you have navigated through the menus, you will access the list of active fault codes on your car. But, you will have to ask yourself an essential question, is it really advantageous to erase this fault code on BMW i3? Absolutely, erasing a fault code without solving the issue corresponds to burying its head in the sand. Additionally, the computer of your BMW i3 is made to take decisions depending to the data it collects, if an important fault code is on, it will actually adapt the engine performance to protect it. So if you delete the fault code, be sure you resolve the issue 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 i3.
In the event that you have any further questions about the BMW i3, do not hesitate to consult our BMW i3 category.
