Light on dash - bulb with an ! in it?

duckson

Active member
Preston
This yellow light came on today for around a minute or 2 after starting then it went out, it looked like a bulb with an ! in it....anyone any ideas what it is and what it means?
 
Similar to this ?

bnr_ps_tyre_puncture.jpg


If so, tyre-pressure warning.
 
I agree, I think its a lamp fault.
Check the connectors to each of the four clusters.
I had a similar intermittant problem with My E46 and I discovered that in one of the connecter blocks one of the spade connectors had corroded giving an intermittantly dry joint.
Should be easily repairable by an auto electrician if this is the case.

:)
 
Thanks guys, was at work so didnt have the manual to hand, its the "defective bulbs" symbol above.

Right, this was coming on intermittantly on the way to work and now on the way home its stayed on for most of the journey AND the headlights seem to be playing up (the bulb is lit yellow or light orange maybe in colour). I noticed my headlights shining on the back of a car infront started to go up and down now and again and at one point started flashing like a strobe for a few seconds! :!:
Obviosuly i need this fixing ASAP as i'll need the headlights for sure next week in the morning as the clocks change ie it'll be dark again! :(

It seems coincidental the car was in the BMW dealer yesterday to have a headlight washer fixed - the extension tube and cover replaced - and i hadnt had this problem before (admittidly i've only had the car a week).
 
duckson said:
It seems coincidental the car was in the BMW yesterday to have a headlight washer fixed - the extension tube and cover replaced and i hadnt had this problem before (admittidly i've only had the car a week).
MORE than coincidental, chuck the car back at them and tell them to fix whatever they've disturbed!
 
a11y said:
duckson said:
It seems coincidental the car was in the BMW yesterday to have a headlight washer fixed - the extension tube and cover replaced and i hadnt had this problem before (admittidly i've only had the car a week).
MORE than coincidental, chuck the car back at them and tell them to fix whatever they've disturbed!

I will be doing but i'll have a quick look myself later, might just be a connector slightly loose? Are the headlight connectors easy to spot ie they are local to the headlight unit?
 
Hmm had a look and cant see any connectors, all pretty tight down there....light is still lit on the dash though.
 
Frankly I'd drop by the dealer but you can take a look if you wish to see if it's simple.

You can only access the headlight connectors by turning the steering to full lock and opening the access panel (2 clips that need a half turn with a coin). Inside you'll find 2 connectors to the rear of the headlight. One is just a click push fit the other a sliding lock clamp

You could check they are both secure on the dodgy headlight.

If you have xenon DO NOT touch the wiring with the lights on as they are v high voltage
 
Well i think i have Xenon (are they standard on the M?) as they do go up and down, have headlight washers, auto lights option etc? The headlight units themselves look round if that makes any sense.... :D
 
sounds like a loose connection. All the headlights are round on a BMW (even when everyone else was using the square ones). If they ARE xenon, don't mess with them while on--they'll fry you for sure.
 
Look for no manual beam adjuster on the light switch, yellow warning stickers under the bonnet and clear white light with a flicker on start up.
all headlights look the same visually, adjust up and down, etc.

Assume for this check they are xenon and you'll be safe :thumbsup:
 
Well it has 25000V yellow warning stickers on each light and no manual beam adjuster that i can see (just a wheel for the dash brightness) so guess they are Xenon....this not standard on the M then? :?

Just did a quick check while on the driveway in hte pouring rain and the main beam doesnt appear to be working, no difference between normal dipped and main beam though the blue mainbeam light does light on the dash as it should. Are the "inner" bulbs the main beam bulbs? Cus they arent lighting atm.
 
The inner "bulbs" are dummies. Only the outer light up and are both high beam and low (a shutter moves into place over half the beam for low).
 
Oh ok. Well there doesnt appear to be any difference between dipped headlight and main beam, will check when its dark as i'm in a rush cus i'm supposed to be looking to the kids! lol :oops:
 
Well had a play in the rain with the headlights, cant get the panel off to look at the lights....can get the top fixing undone but not the bottom. :headbang: It looked like from the fixing someone has been in there before anyway were as the other sides fixing heads were unmarked.
Anyway the damn warning light had gone out by now, i checked the indicators and they worked fine all way round, the main beam does work ok you just have to have the car running.... :roll:
Went for a drive though it wasnt ideal as it was raining quite alot but i'm not 100% sure the dipped beam is as bright as it should be, someone did flash me coming from the opposite direction but i know i had lights on and not on main beam so maybe the lights had undipped themselves, i say this because when i got back home i had the car on the driveway for a while with the lights on some bushes 15-20ft away and at some points the bushes were lit up as if they were not levelling properly (the warning light came back on before i got home from my 10 minute drive) and at another point there was a slight flickering.
Noticed when locking the car the O/S front indicator now wasnt working, checked it before as i said so i know for sure it was working prior! The O/S is the same side as what BMW fixed my headlight washer yesterday.....
Checked with the left/right indicator stalk and the front O/S indicator light wasnt working at all now, side indicator and rear flashed fast briefly then the system compensated and they went back to normal speed. The front indicators are all one unit with the headlights as well.

I dunno, guess its up to BMW to sort, could be that headlight playing up and screwing both headlights up? Its funny they had been fixing my O/S headlight washer yesterday and it was fine before then AFAIK! :headbang:
 
Sounds similar to what mine was doing. Drivers side Xenon bulb would intermittently shut off and then restart, causing the fault indicator to come on. Have the dealer replace the bulb and you should be all set :thumbsup:(BTW, hope you have that done under warranty :wink: )
 
Back
Top Bottom