[S4CH]

I have a 2018 M550 with just under 25K miles. I am guessing I'll probably have to take the car in for this but I have the check engine light on for the past two days. Strangely, the car is running perfectly and there are no other errors or warnings. Vehicle status screen shows all systems ok and it's not due for service. Has anyone had this?

[Phas]

The front flaps are not functioning properly, it needs to be taken to the dealer for service

[SteveinArizona]

or your gas cap is not tightly closed.

[YeaG30]

had the same thing last month and it was the active shutters behind the grill. Part replaced, good as new.

[Qsilver7]

Check Engine Light is one of the most misunderstood warnings...it illuminates when there's an issue with your car's emissions system. Its' all about air pollution.

Like the examples given above...if your grille flaps fail to operate correctly...the amount of air the car needs is affected...thus can cause the light to illuminate because the correct amount of air to fuel specs is off.

The iDrive's check control system has nothing much to do with the Check Eng Light and the CBS (consumer based service) info.

If you have an OBD II reader/scanner...you can hook that up to the OBD II port inside the car and read the DTC (diagnostic trouble codes) to find out what area or sensor set off the fault code. And if you have the 5 digit DTC...you can probably just type it in a google search box (ie BMW XXXXX) and find out info about why it illuminated and a possible solution. OBD II has been around since 1996 (in the US market)...so there's tons of info about many of the most oft check engine light DTC codes.

{take note of the 3rd & 4th bullet in the info below}

[S4CH]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Check Engine Light is one of the most misunderstood warnings...it illuminates when there's an issue with your car's emissions system. Its' all about air pollution.

Like the examples given above...if your grille flaps fail to operate correctly...the amount of air the car needs is affected...thus can cause the light to illuminate because the correct amount of air to fuel specs is off.

The iDrive's check control system has nothing much to do with the Check Eng Light and the CBS (consumer based service) info.

If you have an OBD II reader/scanner...you can hook that up to the OBD II port inside the car and read the DTC (diagnostic trouble codes) to find out what area or sensor set off the fault code. And if you have the 5 digit DTC...you can probably just type it in a google search box (ie BMW XXXXX) and find out info about why it illuminated and a possible solution. OBD II has been around since 1996 (in the US market)...so there's tons of info about many of the most oft check engine light DTC codes.

[COLOR="Blue"]{take note of the 3rd & 4th bullet in the info below}
[/COLOR]

Thanks. This is all good to know.

I don't think it's the fuel cap as it was locked into place.

I'll check on the flaps. Is there any visual clue if they aren't working. Right now they are closed as the car is off and cooled down but I'll check that they open when the car is running.

I've also booked a service appointment but it's a couple of weeks out. Hopefully there can be no serious damage from using it in the meantime. I am still enjoying the empty-ish roads.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by S4CH

Thanks. This is all good to know.

I don't think it's the fuel cap as it was locked into place.

I'll check on the flaps. Is there any visual clue if they aren't working. Right now they are closed as the car is off and cooled down but I'll check that they open when the car is running.

I've also booked a service appointment but it's a couple of weeks out. Hopefully there can be no serious damage from using it in the meantime. I am still enjoying the empty-ish roads.

Since you don’t live in one of the states that prohibit it (California & Hawaii)...most autoparts stores like Autozone/O’Reilly’s/Advanced Auto/Pep Boys...will read your OBD II codes for free. Just drive in and ask a clerk if they can read your OBD II codes and print them out because your CEL is illuminated.

Liked mentioned above...once you have the 5 digit DTC...you can google it to get an idea of what area or sensor set off the CEL. You can still take it into you dealer to check things out when the appointment time comes...but you can know now what is causing the light (and have a hand up on the dealer in regards to the cause). And you may be able to relax if you know its something like the grille flaps.

If you do stop by an auto parts store...make sure they print out the codes...or at least let you take a pic of them with your smart phone or write them down before they clear their scanner.

[Qsilver7]

Here's a link to a website that will decipher DTC error codes. It will do the generic scanner/reader "P codes"...as well as the "hex codes" that more advanced scanners will give (and I think this applies to the hex codes you see if you unlock the cluster to retrieve any error codes): https://bmwfault.codes/

[S4CH]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Here's a link to a website that will decipher DTC error codes. It will do the generic scanner/reader "P codes"...as well as the "hex codes" that more advanced scanners will give (and I think this applies to the hex codes you see if you unlock the cluster to retrieve any error codes): https://bmwfault.codes/

Great, this is super helpful. I will definitely try to get the codes read.

[b74heavy]

Originally Posted by S4CH

I have a 2018 M550 with just under 25K miles. I am guessing I'll probably have to take the car in for this but I have the check engine light on for the past two days. Strangely, the car is running perfectly and there are no other errors or warnings. Vehicle status screen shows all systems ok and it's not due for service. Has anyone had this?

I have a 2019 540I. Had the same problem twice. Both times it was the active shutters. When I looked at the shutters after it was all fixed this is what I saw.
I looked at the shutters on my car when it was cold before I started it. The Kidney grill shutters were closed and the shutters below the bumper were open. When I started up the car (cold) the lower shutters went closed and the Kidney shutters stayed closed. I drove the car to warm it up and it was on a cool spring day and when I got out to check the shutters the Kidney grill shutters were still closed and the lower shutters were open. It's been hot here now and I drove the car again and checked the Kidney shutters with the car running and now they were open as well as the lower shutters were open also. When I got the first check engine light I took it to the BMW dealer and he said the shutters are not working correctly and I cannot let you drive this car like that. So they gave me a loaner. They had to order the part so it took a few days to get the part in. I think that was the kidney shutters. About 1000 miles later the lower shutters went out and they were able to replace them in about 1 hour since they had the parts in stock. Here is a link I found on the internet about the shutters. It explains why BMW put them on the car and how they work.
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...ind/1VnZE4QuR6 Here is a link to the extended warranty (2nd one down) https://www.aboutautomobile.com/Tech...Body-and-Frame