Consumer974
Member
I’ve owned my Z4 (E85 2.2 2003) since September, and apart from the drive home when I bought it, I’ve barely done any trips longer than my 15-minute commute. The car is in great condition, with lots of paperwork showing it’s been well looked after, and just under 100k miles. I’ve noticed 'mayo' on the oil filler cap, which I understand is common with short journeys and cold weather. Obviously hoping it doesn't indicate a head gasket issue, but it wasn’t present until November when the temperature dropped.
Recently, I took it on a longer journey for once. About an hour in, the temp gauge suddenly cut out, with the needle resting at the lowest position, as if the ignition was off. I pulled over, checked under the bonnet (everything looked and smelled fine), and after restarting, the gauge worked again so I carried on.
However, later in the city, at low speeds, the temp gauge cut out again, and this time the yellow Engine Management Light (EML) and engine icon came on for all of 2 seconds, then went out.
After parking for an hour, the car drove fine for the return journey (80+ miles), with no further issues.
I check oil and coolant levels weekly, and today, the levels were unchanged. I also noticed almost no mayo under the filler cap, likely burnt off after the longer drive.
I’ve scanned the car with an OBD reader and INPA, but there are no errors that jumped out at me, just what I assume are old ones that may have been there for years related to minor things. I didn’t clear the codes, just in case.
Any thoughts on what might be causing the random gauge and light issues? Could the burning-off of the built-up mayo have caused these issues? Coming up to 100k miles, should I be looking to replace parts of the cooling system as preventative maintenance anyway? The odd thing is the car behaved perfectly fine throughout - it would have been easy to miss the brief warning lights and not notice anything was apparently amiss. I really would appreciate any advice or recommendations, thank you for reading!
Recently, I took it on a longer journey for once. About an hour in, the temp gauge suddenly cut out, with the needle resting at the lowest position, as if the ignition was off. I pulled over, checked under the bonnet (everything looked and smelled fine), and after restarting, the gauge worked again so I carried on.
However, later in the city, at low speeds, the temp gauge cut out again, and this time the yellow Engine Management Light (EML) and engine icon came on for all of 2 seconds, then went out.
After parking for an hour, the car drove fine for the return journey (80+ miles), with no further issues.
I check oil and coolant levels weekly, and today, the levels were unchanged. I also noticed almost no mayo under the filler cap, likely burnt off after the longer drive.
I’ve scanned the car with an OBD reader and INPA, but there are no errors that jumped out at me, just what I assume are old ones that may have been there for years related to minor things. I didn’t clear the codes, just in case.
Any thoughts on what might be causing the random gauge and light issues? Could the burning-off of the built-up mayo have caused these issues? Coming up to 100k miles, should I be looking to replace parts of the cooling system as preventative maintenance anyway? The odd thing is the car behaved perfectly fine throughout - it would have been easy to miss the brief warning lights and not notice anything was apparently amiss. I really would appreciate any advice or recommendations, thank you for reading!
