Newbie CHECK ENGINE question
 

My '97 ti with 80K miles just turned on its CHECK ENGINE light. I've read through as many posts as I have found, and am still uncertain about how urgently I need to get the problem diagnosed and fixed.

It won't need an oil change/service for months and months now, and I am not at all handy or inclined to do any more than wash it myself, so having the light checked out means making an appointment with the dealer (beaucoup bucks as you know).

So, do I have to take it in today? this week? within the month?

Thanks. By the way, she's a very pretty dark blue and I'll post a picture as soon as the camera battery gets charged.

Susan

Good thing is that you can still drive around with check engine light on.
Dealer charged me $105 labor to reset the light and gave me the diagnosis. In my case, it was failed oxygen sensor, cam sensor and catalytic converter. I did not fix anything. Check engine light came back on after two days. It is still on now almost a year later.

mine has been on since i bought it, though when i put my new cat back on it went off for about 3-4 days...but was soon to come back to play

SJM- A check engine light can mean a whole lot of different things. It would be completely wrong of anybody on here to tell you that you can 100% run your car without worrying about doing further damage. It is very possible you can wait and not have a problem, it is also possible something really wrong could happen tomorrow. With just a CEL there is no way to know for sure...

Do you have a pepboys or autozone around you that will do a CEL diagnostic for free? if you can get the CEL code people can be a lot more help. My independent BMW mechanic will check a CEL code at no cost. He only charges me for repair work, not diagnostic work.

Okay, so I'm gonna be the old lady that I am and take it in to the dealership on Tuesday. The person who made my appointment told me that I only need to be worried in the immediate future if the Check Engine light is FLASHING, that if it is just ON it isn't something that is going to fry me or my car when I'm driving about between now and Tuesday. Let's hope she's right.
Thanks for all your input.
I LOVE this car !!!
Susan

Has anybody ever seen a flashing CEL?

The only time I have seen a CEL blink is when you do the five step to read the code on OBD1 cars.

The other thing to keep in mind is did you just gas up the car right before the CEL came on? If the gas cap isn't completely sealed, or if the car was running when you fueled up it could cause the CEL to come on. Usually just tightening the cap, and waiting a day or two the CEL will go away. That is probably the most common CEL... And BMW makes 100+ a pop to tell people to make sure the cap is locked.