Newbie; Service Light Question

[Rlo]

Thanks for everyones patience while I ask a novice question

I read through the Service section on the home page, it states the following:
Service Interval Light System
The Service Indicator consists of five green, one yellow, and one red light and the inscriptions: "Oil service" and "Inspection" located on your instrument panel.
Whenever the ignition is switched on, up to five green lights will light up, then depending on vehicle use and driving style the green lights will systematically turn off one by one


My question is, upon start up if none of the green lights populate does the X5 have the pixle issue, and the whole unit needs to be replaced OR has the X5 been fully serviced up to this point in time


I feel all 5 should light up and then dissappear one by one as stated if truly fully serviced

[X5devon]

you should at least have a single red light come on, do you?

[Rlo]

Originally Posted by X5devon

you should at least have a single red light come on, do you?

It's an X that I have an interest in purchasing, so I was being prudent in trying to understand potential issues
I test drove it last week at the dealer, and the though popped into my head after reading through the Service section on the homepage

I do not recall either way if there is at minimum a redlight appearing

[X5devon]

the service lights only indicate from the last service given, not its life history, this should be in its service records, you can take the chassis number and ask your local BMW dealer to seach it on their data base and should be able to give you a service history (BMW Main dealer only)

[DaveNW]

The lights also don't "perform" for you when starting the X. By that, I mean they stay lit in the current configuration, until they go out a few seconds later. The "five lights come on and disappear one by one" concept sounds like it's a moving display. It's not. Whatever lights are supposed to be lit will stay that way each time you start the X. Over time, fewer lights will be lit, until it's time to do something about them.

On my 2003 4.4i, when I started it this morning, one green light came on, and the display said "Oil Service." So I know it'll soon be time for another oil change.

(On a side note, I believe this is the 2002 X with 87k miles you're thinking of buying for $19k. Right? If so, you might want to shop around a bit. I bought my 2003 X a few months back for $25k, and it only has 37k miles on it. At 87k you're not too far away from some expensive service costs. There are enough of these vehicles for sale, you can probably do better. Especially if your potential X has the dead pixel issue. That can be an expensive repair for you. Just my 2¢.)

Dave

[Rlo]

ex-jeepguynw

what happens upon starting, if no lights at all appear on the left side of the cluster ? No greens, yellow or reds populate when you turn the key

[DaveNW]

Good question. I'm going to have to defer to someone who has greater knowledge about this than I do. My X has only shown "Oil Service" and a few green lights since I bought it.

I just tried to Reset the lights to see if they'll go out, per instructions found on the X5World homepage for the e39, but it didn't do anything. That tells me I haven't exceeded the service interval yet. You might try that. (Don't know if you know this, but the e53 has the same computer and dash display as the e39, so most/all instructions are interchangeable.)

See the bottom of this page: http://bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/reset-plug/reset.htm

Dave

[wilson]

When the X was newly service for oil or inspection and the service lights are reset, all of the green lights should comes on for a few seconds and disappear when you start. On the long run depend on your driving mileage, slowly each green lights disappear. ( Again it will comes on and disappear but instead of five green lights, it will be four and three and .... depend on your mileage.)

But if you didn't see any red pixel, that means, there is something wrong. X's (2002 4.4i) are famous for this problem. I had mine replaced when it was still under the warranty period.

good luck

[Rlo]

Originally Posted by wilson

When the X was newly service for oil or inspection and the service lights are reset, all of the green lights should comes on for a few seconds and disappear when you start. On the long run depend on your driving mileage, slowly each green lights disappear. ( Again it will comes on and disappear but instead of five green lights, it will be four and three and .... depend on your mileage.)

But if you didn't see any red pixel, that means, there is something wrong. X's (2002 4.4i) are famous for this problem. I had mine replaced when it was still under the warranty period.

good luck

Thanks, I plan to pick up the SAV at the dealer today. The X has been serviced for its stanard 60k mile checkup, so from what your saying, when I turn the ignition the greens should light up for a couple of seconds and then all dissappear.
Over time each green light will appear as a get closer to a service interval

Much appreciated for all the help and clarification, I believe to have it...

[sprocket1200]

you have a better understanding but here is more help.

http://peakeresearch.com/silights.htm