Reset Inspection Indicator

Hello - I have '99 323i Convertible (52K miles) that's in extremely good
condition and runs excellent. I recently had a little work on it and now it
runs like brand new. A week ago my inspection light went on so I called the
dealer. They want $525 - $850 for the inspection (depends if it's a I or
II) and won't reset the indicator unless I do the inspection. Since I know
the car is running great I'm not going to pay someone to tell me what I
already know.

The bottom line/question is does anyone know of a way to reset the
Inspection indicator. Otherwise I'll just let it go on for the 5 seconds
every time I start the car.

Thanks, Bob

There is a way ot reset this at home. Please let a few others reply because
I am winging it here, and I might not have the procedure down right.

Get a 470 ohm resistor form Radio Shack, and some 14 guage wire and an
aligator clip. A banana clip or probe would be helpful, but is not
mandatory.

Assemble the wire, aligator clip and resistor. Strip the other end of the
wire and tin the end (about 3/4" or so), or attach the banana plug or probe.

Locate the data port in the engine bay, and remove the cover. This should be
a round plastic connector that is about 2.5" in diameter. Inside the
connector are female pins, you need a probe or banana plug that fits these
pins, or you can simply tin the end of the wire and stick it in. In any
case, you want Pin 7.

Have somebody turn the key to ON, but not Start, then attach the aligator
clip to a ground source in the engine bay. The engine itself has several
bolts that will suffice as a suitable ground.

The Service Indicator will go out after about 7 seconds.

There is a write-up somewhere that suggests that you can use a momentary
push button and a film can to make a reset device that lets you do this job
on your own. In this case, the resistor will live inside the film can, and
the push button will be affixed to the can as well. You insert one lead into
the Pin 7, and connect the other lead to ground. Then you get inside the car
and set the ignition switch to ON, but not start, then press the push button
and hold it until the display resets itself.

If I remember correctly, the Oil Change Interval lights and the Service
Interval I and II are all reset the same way. The Service Interval
indicators are reset after the Oil Change indicator. So, you can watch the
Oil Change lights go out - or turn from red to green, or whatever they do,
then continue holding the button depressed to reset the Service Indicator.
If you release the button as soon as the Oil Change interval is reset, then
the Service Interval will not be disturbed.



"Test" > wrote in message
...
> Hello - I have '99 323i Convertible (52K miles) that's in extremely good
> condition and runs excellent. I recently had a little work on it and now
it
> runs like brand new. A week ago my inspection light went on so I called
the
> dealer. They want $525 - $850 for the inspection (depends if it's a I or
> II) and won't reset the indicator unless I do the inspection. Since I
know
> the car is running great I'm not going to pay someone to tell me what I
> already know.
>
> The bottom line/question is does anyone know of a way to reset the
> Inspection indicator. Otherwise I'll just let it go on for the 5 seconds
> every time I start the car.
>
> Thanks, Bob
>
>

"Jeff Strickland" > wrote
> There is a way ot reset this at home. Please let a few others reply
> because
> I am winging it here, and I might not have the procedure down right.
>
> Get a 470 ohm resistor form Radio Shack, and some 14 guage wire and an
> aligator clip. A banana clip or probe would be helpful, but is not
> mandatory.

That's the procedure for older non-obdII cars. Not sure about the
'99, but look at http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/reset-plug/reset.htm
down at the bottom.

Floyd

Here is the important parts,
1) If you have a reset tool then turn your car key to Position II but do not
start the car.
2) Turn the cap counter clock wise on the Data Link Connector and insert the
Reset Tool
3) Follow the instructions of your reset tool, different models may have
different fuctions however they all create a short in PIN 7 to PIN 19 for a
given amount of time.

OIL Service Reset requires pin 7 and 19 to be closed for 3+ seconds
INSPECTION Service Reset requires pin 7 and 19 to be closed for 10+ seconds

4) Once done, remove the reset tool and close the cap .
5) Your dash should light up with green lights at this point.
If the light did NOT reset after the above steps then you might be reseting
Oil Service however an Inspection Service is needed.



Please note, Pin 19 is ground. So my description of taking Pin 7 to ground
was accurate. I use exposed metal on the engine block to get ground, this
avoids the possibility of plugging Pin 7 to the wrong pin and not getting
the desired results.

According to the link you provided, this works up to 2001.




"fbloogyudsr" > wrote in message
...
> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote
> > There is a way ot reset this at home. Please let a few others reply
> > because
> > I am winging it here, and I might not have the procedure down right.
> >
> > Get a 470 ohm resistor form Radio Shack, and some 14 guage wire and an
> > aligator clip. A banana clip or probe would be helpful, but is not
> > mandatory.
>
> That's the procedure for older non-obdII cars. Not sure about the
> '99, but look at http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/reset-plug/reset.htm
> down at the bottom.
>
> Floyd
>

"Dave Plowman (News)" > wrote in message
...
>
> If you did the work yourself, any manual or site that gave you the service
> requirements etc would also include details on how to do this too.
>

This isn't true. The Bently manual will tell you how to do all of the
service, but it does not say a thing about resetting the service or oil
change indicators.

In article >,
Jeff Strickland > wrote:
> > If you did the work yourself, any manual or site that gave you the
> > service requirements etc would also include details on how to do this
> > too.
> >

> This isn't true. The Bently manual will tell you how to do all of the
> service, but it does not say a thing about resetting the service or oil
> change indicators.

And they don't recommend you buy a code reader or service indicator re-set
tool? I've no experience of Bentley since they're not sold in the UK, but
thought they were generally quite good?

--
*Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Jeff Strickland > wrote:
> > > If you did the work yourself, any manual or site that gave you the
> > > service requirements etc would also include details on how to do this
> > > too.
> > >
>
> > This isn't true. The Bently manual will tell you how to do all of the
> > service, but it does not say a thing about resetting the service or oil
> > change indicators.
>
> And they don't recommend you buy a code reader or service indicator re-set
> tool? I've no experience of Bentley since they're not sold in the UK, but
> thought they were generally quite good?
>


They are very good at what they present, they just do not present the
information needed to reset the codes or service indicators. There is a tool
one can purchase, but when one can accomplish the same objective - resetting
the service indicators - with a jumper wire fitted with a resistor and an
alligator clip ...

In article >,
Jeff Strickland > wrote:
> They are very good at what they present, they just do not present the
> information needed to reset the codes or service indicators. There is a
> tool one can purchase, but when one can accomplish the same objective -
> resetting the service indicators - with a jumper wire fitted with a
> resistor and an alligator clip ...

You can indeed. Assuming 'you' are capable of making such a device. Others
use paperclips. I wouldn't even try.

I can make most simple things electrical or electronic, but would
recommend those who can't to buy a cheap service light re-setting tool for
less than the cost of the oil and filter - or more so to buy a Peake
Research code reader which will do not only what it says on the box, but
re-set the oil and inspection lights as well.

--
*If at first you don't succeed, avoid skydiving.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
> In article >,
> Jeff Strickland > wrote:
>>> If you did the work yourself, any manual or site that gave you the
>>> service requirements etc would also include details on how to do
>>> this too.
>>>
>
>> This isn't true. The Bently manual will tell you how to do all of the
>> service, but it does not say a thing about resetting the service or
>> oil change indicators.
>
> And they don't recommend you buy a code reader or service indicator
> re-set tool? I've no experience of Bentley since they're not sold in
> the UK, but thought they were generally quite good?

They are sold in the UK (E30, E36, E28, E34, E39, and E32), although some of
them are listed as being published by Brooklands Books rather than Robert
Bentley Publishers (but they are the Bentley books). The newer ones (eg.
E46) haven't made it over here yet. I have the E36 service manual at home.
The book retailer I work for sells them, amongst others.

http://www.bookfellas.co.uk/scripts/...+brooklands%29

Dan

"Dave Plowman (News)" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Jeff Strickland > wrote:
>> They are very good at what they present, they just do not present
>> the
>> information needed to reset the codes or service indicators. There
>> is a
>> tool one can purchase, but when one can accomplish the same
>> objective -
>> resetting the service indicators - with a jumper wire fitted with a
>> resistor and an alligator clip ...
>
> You can indeed. Assuming 'you' are capable of making such a device.
> Others
> use paperclips. I wouldn't even try.
>
> I can make most simple things electrical or electronic, but would
> recommend those who can't to buy a cheap service light re-setting
> tool for
> less than the cost of the oil and filter - or more so to buy a Peake
> Research code reader which will do not only what it says on the box,
> but
> re-set the oil and inspection lights as well.

While I am quite capable of making a fancy reset device (I am an EE),
I have always been quite successful at just shorting the proper pin to
ground directly (no resistor). There is no danger of damaging the
ECU unless you screw up and short the wrong pin.

YMMV,
-Fred W