E36 Coupe Check Control - BMW Forum

Morpheous · 12-27-2003, 08:37 AM

Hi All,

I am driving an E36 323i Coupe with the On Board Computer with Check Control. I have in the past been stopped because I had two faulty lights (one of them being a brake light). I was a bit shocked as to why this did not appear on the Check Control display. It didnt even appear on the dashboard (the brake warning light never appeared).

I have tried testing the system by removing one bulb and pressing the "Check" button. It comes up with the > then a number of blocks then a +<

Is this how it should operate?

El Presidente · 12-27-2003, 01:31 PM

my car is not CC equipped, but that does not sound correct.

Morpheous · 12-27-2003, 03:42 PM

it doesnt does it? i thought so. ok heres something else the car was doing today. There were 3 bleeps that seem to have come from the dashboard area. This happened about 3 times after a reasonably long period (30-40 mins).

Any ideas? Is my car having a nervous breakdown?

FruityOne · 12-27-2003, 03:58 PM

that beeping thing is timer that a previous owner must have set for every 30 minutes or so...like on the hour and half hour it will sound off. and your check thing is having issues with the display. but your computer that checks things like that mayb getting bad as well because my car always tells me my brake lights are out but every single one of them lights up

Furious · 12-27-2003, 05:46 PM

the arrows are letting you know you have a problem with something, the "+" sign is to tell you of multiple problems in the system, however it should tell you that you have brake light faliure to at least specify your problem.

Morpheous · 12-27-2003, 07:48 PM

I think I know what the beeping is now that you mention it. Because the bulb has failed behind the clock part of the OBC, I had to set the clock by looking closely at the dim characters. I do recall hitting the Memo button (or something) which normally puts the chime icon above the clock (as far as i remember).

I think I better try another OBC in the car (they seem pretty easy to pop out) and give it a try. If its the actual computer that is duff, then I guess I have been given a faulty ultimate driving machine

thanks guys for your reply though. its appreciated

Rodrunner1980 · 12-30-2003, 02:56 AM

Hi! The OBC on my 1993 318iS does eactly the same when I touch the check control button. I was told that that '>then a few blocks+<' means that everything is OK. But I always doubted that. Now I'm also going to remove a bulb and see what it says.

But what should the OBC normally say when everything is OK?