Imagine yourself driving peacefully on board your Bmw Serie 3 and suddenly an engine warning light appears on your dashboard ! The typically seen response is the fear of risking a critical problem. To know what precisely this light refers to, you will have to learn how to read an Bmw Serie 3 fault codes, you may have previously heard about OBD system, this is precisely what we are going to focus on. Our editors have chosen to publish this article content to enable you fairly quickly locate the origin of this default code and to give you reassurance. To achieve this, we will first take a look at the nature of a fault code on Bmw Serie 3, then how to read an Bmw Serie 3 fault code, and finally how to erase this fault code to be able to turn off the light on your dashboard.
What is a Bmw Serie 3 fault code?
A fault code is a generic or standard code which is identical to all automotive companies , they are also named DTC (Data Trouble Code), the purpose is to guarantee that any diagnostic OBD can interpret them. They will be represented by a standard format, such as example: P0255. Each info will have a precise meaning. Default codes are codes issued by the calculators of your Bmw Serie 3. These ECUs will continuously monitor your vehicle’s emissions, pressures, mixtures and when the values exceed the limits set by the vehicle’s ECU, the fault code will appear. The advantage of understanding how to read a fault code on your Bmw Serie 3 is that you will have be able to access to specific info about your vehicle which will let you to discover what issue you are standing in front of.
How to read a fault code on my Bmw Serie 3?
In this second section we will now focus precisely on what brings you on the website, how to read a fault code on Bmw Serie 3. To gain access to this useful info you will need to to buy a diagnostic tool, also named OBD 2, named after the socket on your Bmw Serie 3 to which you will have to connect. These diagnostic tools are easily available, 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 need to identify the diagnostic plug on your Bmw Serie 3, 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 Serie 3.
How to erase the fault code Bmw Serie 3
Finally, to finish this content page, we are going to describe you the process to carry out to erase a fault code on your Bmw Serie 3. Once you have navigated through the menus, you will access the list of active fault codes on your car. Nevertheless, you will have to ask yourself an essential question, is it really useful to erase this fault code on Bmw Serie 3? Indeed, erasing a fault code without fixing the problem is like burying its head in the sand. Moreover, the computer of your Bmw Serie 3 is made to take decisions depending to the data it records, if a very important fault code is on, it will possibly adjust the engine overall performance to protect it. So if you get rid of the fault code, remember to 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 Serie 3.
To get more tips on the Bmw Serie 3, take a look at the Bmw Serie 3 category.
