Check Engine Light (750il)

[Migibizzle@hotmail.com]

Hello everyone. I seem to have a problem. Driving to class i noticed my "Check Engine" light on. As i was driving i could smell the scent of gas. When i parked i popped the hood and noticed smoke comming from the fuel pressure regulator area. I came back later in the day and took off the cover covering the fuel rails for a better look. I am not seing any more smoke and i cant seem to pick of the smell of gas yet. The check engine light tunrs on as i push down the accelerator and turns off when i release the pedal. Acceleration seems to be fine. I have only driven it for 5 minutes after noticing this problem though. I noticed a minsucle amount of moisture (gas) on the hose connecting to the fuel pressure regulator. Any help would be much apreciated. Thank You.

( i can smell gas while in the car but have not noticed a strong smell form the engine bay yet, i have recenlty rep;aved both fuel pumps as well.)

[shogun]

Have the fuel hoses ever been changed? By very careful, that would not be the first 750 to have the engine room burning. Early models even had a recall.
http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/leersmd/SI%20%20Replacement%20of%20Fuel%20Pressure%20Hoses .pdf
I changed the ones on my 750's all, some were hard like stone and I could easily break them by hand, although they are just made of flexible reinforced rubber.
As for the check engine light, do a stomp test and see what signals come out. It is described on my website below.
In any case you have to solve the gas smell problem first immy.

[Migibizzle@hotmail.com]

Thank you for the reply Shogun. I took the car out again. I could not get the car to smoke from teh engine bay again. I can no longer smell gas, but the check engine light continues. I did the stomp test and i get 1231. That is voltage battery voltage. My second question is what if there are multiple errors. Lets aas my battery is weak and i get that reading. does that mean i cant get a second code? thank you.

[Migibizzle@hotmail.com]

I just read that it has something to do with the alternator? On a note when i went to get the car afetr the incident the batteries were dead. All lights were off. My mother has driven the car a few times and it has falied to start because of the battery draining. Perhaps the smoke was caused by somethign else? it came from the middle area but it seemed like it was coming from the fuel pressure regulators. This of course could be wrong. what is troubling is the strong smell of gas. (have not been abe to smell since) I checked the hoses they seem in good shape (not dry).

[shogun]

If it smells like fuel, there must be a small leak. Sometimes only a few drops are enough and one can only smell it when the car has been stopped for a longer time. When engine gets hot to operating temp, the material expands and drains/leaks could be closed. Or the fuel disappears while driving from the wind. Check all connections on the fuel system when the engine is cold.

On the other case of draining of the battery you have to check. There is a lot written on the boards, use the search engine on top and type in
battery drain or similar, you will find something like this
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=12517&highlight=voltage+drain

[Migibizzle@hotmail.com]

Thanks Shogun. I will check all the connections just to make sure. I disconnected the battery while the car was running so it appears the altenator in not the culprit. I still get that light. And the smoke i saw that i can no longer replicate has to be the problem. If it is the fuel regulators or the sort can i damage the fuel pumps by using the car? if so i wil not use it since it was an expenisve fix.

[Migibizzle@hotmail.com]

I have left the battery disconnected to reset the car codes. Maybe this will cause the car to display another code. I will leave it disconnected and connect it back up tomorrow.

[shogun]

Defective fuel regulators cannot damage the fuel pumps. The fuel pumps always produce more fuel than actually is needed. That is why there is an return line system where the excess fuel goes back into the tank.
NEVER disconnect the battery while the car is running. This can damage your electric system=alternator. For a short time might be o.k., but generally not.

To check the battery and alternator:

Find a digital multimeter and stick the probe into the cigarette lighter socket in the center console. That means ONE into the socket and the other to ground=the outside metal of the lighter. Or use the battery post(+) under the hood and the other probe on metal from the chassis.

The following are the detail figures I use for my own evaluation:
With key out of ignition switch, should see 12.4V or above. 12.0 V is getting low.
With key inserted and turned to position 2 (don't start car), should see 12.0V or more. 11.6V would be too low.
Crank car, catch the lowest voltage reading during that couple of seconds. Should see 10.0V or above. 9.5V would be marginal.
The above just consider the health of battery itself.
Car running at 1500 RPM or more, should see 13.7 to 14.3V, 13.6V or below means the charging system=alternator is weak.
But that can vary depending on the age of the battery and the temperatures, Bentley has it more in detail what should be read.

But the easiest is to just unlock the OBC and then you can check the voltage even while driving all the time. If you do not know hot to do the unlock:
http://home.iae.nl/users/bts/obc.htm

I suggest you to buy a Bentley repair manual. If you do not have one, have a look here
http://www.e32underground.com/read.php?TID=656

Let's see what comes out after the reset. But in any case check the battery and charging voltage, a too low voltage will make the E32 run very bad, sometimes the 750 will even not start although the starter is cranking.

[Migibizzle@hotmail.com]

Hi shogun. I got the computer to reset. I checked the codes gave me the 1444 no failure. I started up teh car and did teh stomp test again. I again got the 1231 code. I am having another problem now. My door ajar bell keeps ringing even after i close all the doors. I have disconnected teh batteyr for an entire day and it is still doing it. Thanks for your help i will unlock the obc as you instructed.

[shogun]

One of the microswitches in the door is not working properly. Check them. Not easy to see where they are. Look at the B-pillar where this part locks in, there they are.
http://bmwe32.masscom.net/sean750/doorlockMechanism/doorlock.jpg

on each door of course.

[Migibizzle@hotmail.com]

Thank You Shogun.