318is inspection

A

arcon

New Member
#1
Messages
19
Likes
0
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
#1
time to join the boards after i've just bought a '96 318is, 152,000Ks. handles much better than other cars I've driven and in body & interior in great condition, excluding the fact that the inspection light is red on startup - and there's a yellow light to the left of it.

however i can't be sure that past servicing was done by BMW so is it possible the lights just havn't been reset? only way to be certain is to take it to them i guess. but i'm reluctant to take it to BMW for anything, after they misdiagnosed a central locking issue which has since been fixed by another mechnic for cheap. is there a way to get the lights reset if i use another shop to do the inspection?

TIA for any info :)
 
selavia

selavia

2
#2
Messages
1,035
Likes
5
Location
Maryland
#2
arcon said:
time to join the boards after i've just bought a '96 318is, 152,000Ks. handles much better than other cars I've driven and in body & interior in great condition, excluding the fact that the inspection light is red on startup - and there's a yellow light to the left of it.

however i can't be sure that past servicing was done by BMW so is it possible the lights just havn't been reset? only way to be certain is to take it to them i guess. but i'm reluctant to take it to BMW for anything, after they misdiagnosed a central locking issue which has since been fixed by another mechnic for cheap. is there a way to get the lights reset if i use another shop to do the inspection?

TIA for any info :)
Click to expand...

The inspection lights should go on by mile markers. Inspection I at 15,000 miles. Inspection II at 30,000. Inspection I at 45,000 miles, and so forth. Too lazy to do your calculations to figure out where you are, but that's a good estimator. Plus, you can probably do most of the mantainance stuff yourself; it's really not anything terribly difficult. A bentley manual will offer great support.

Goodluck.

Sean
 
A

arcon

New Member
#3
Messages
19
Likes
0
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
#3
selavia said:
Inspection I at 15,000 miles. Inspection II at 30,000. Inspection I at 45,000 miles, and so forth.
Click to expand...
so i'm guessing it was due when it recently went over 150Ks... thanks :) a 318i manual arrives next week. about self maintenance.... yeah... computers are something i can build and rebuild, i have to admit with cars i'm not that confident [yet] ;) i'll definitely read up on it though.

the engine in my car is quite noisy - i've read that a worn chain tensioner can cause this - or is the IS model just noisier than most...? Is there something specific that could be replaced to help with this?
 
selavia

selavia

2
#4
Messages
1,035
Likes
5
Location
Maryland
#4
Being in New Zealand, I dunno if you use MILES or KM, that's why I said I'm not sure on your car. Also, most of the mantainence is pretty routine.

And how noisy is noisy, and specifics? Whines? Rough Sounds? Low garbles? Mine is a little noisy, but that's only b/c my muffler is on it's way out. I have always wondered if a I sounded different then an IS. I'm personally not sure.
 
A

arcon

New Member
#5
Messages
19
Likes
0
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
#5
ahh of course you said miles... it could have been quite a while ago then (unless the light wasn't reset).

yeah the noise level itself is not really bad, just sort of a rough rasp sound, only noticeable at idle and low/medium revs, high revs actually sounds pretty cool :)
 
selavia

selavia

2
#7
Messages
1,035
Likes
5
Location
Maryland
#7
arcon said:
ahh of course you said miles... it could have been quite a while ago then (unless the light wasn't reset).

yeah the noise level itself is not really bad, just sort of a rough rasp sound, only noticeable at idle and low/medium revs, high revs actually sounds pretty cool :)
Click to expand...

Mine was a little rough raspy before I did inspection II. Wasn't to the point where it sounded like something was wrong, but it definitely sounded better afterwards. And it drove smoother; actually accellerated smoother.

I think I was like 500-800 miles over for inspection II. So, I would just look into it if I were, but don't loose your mind over it; plus if you take it somewhere it'll probably run $300-500 US. I think mine was done for just under $300.
 
A

arcon

New Member
#9
Messages
19
Likes
0
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
#9
selavia said:
I think I was like 500-800 miles over for inspection II. So, I would just look into it if I were, but don't loose your mind over it; plus if you take it somewhere it'll probably run $300-500 US. I think mine was done for just under $300.
Click to expand...
Funnily enough we don't have Inspection II here in New Zealand, at least not at my local BMW service rep, but just Oil Service and Inspection I. I'll get a quote on Inspection I just for curiosity's sake, but in NZ you tend to get charged much more from elitist companies - they like to pretent the public is stupid and can't use google to find out how much things cost elsewhere. i would guess if nothing was wrong with it the fee would be about NZ$550-700 for Insp I.

the noise is quite hard to describe - in addition to the [slight] rasp, at low revs it sounds a bit like a whining electric car, but that could just be because this is my first european car and i'm ignorant of what a real engine sounds like :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


Top