BMW 325 coupe, engine emmissions warning light

Please refer to the owners manual for red light warning, it can be low oil pressure or hot engine or emissions system. If you don't have an owqners manual you can find used ones on eBay Motors.

The "EML" warning light in a BMW indicates a problem with the "drive by wire" throttle control system."

"EML" is an acronym for "Elektronische Motorleistungsregelung". Loosely translated from the original German for the BMW owner means Electrionic Engine Power Control.

"EML" is BMW's system name for electronic throttle management. The "EML" system, in it's most basic sense consists of an accelerator pedal (with an electronic position sensor), a computer module (usu. integrated with the main engine computer), and an EDK (Elektronische Drosselklappe or Electronic throttle valve). The EDK is also known as a "drive by wire" throttle. "EDK" throttles use a computer controlled stepper motor rather than a purely mechanical linkage (usu. metal cable attached directly to the accelerator pedal) to control the opening and closing of the throttle plate.

"Drive by wire" throttles are very common on modern vehicles starting in the late nineties up through the present day. "Drive by wire" technology enables very precise throttle control to improve drivability and vehicle emissions, as well as many convenience features like electronic cruise control, traction control & stability control.

BMW first implemented "drive by wire" in very limited quantities on the most expensive & sophistocated BMW models starting in 1988.

The latest generation of advanced vehicle features to take advandage of "drive by wire" technology are radar guided cruise control, accident avoidance control, autonomous-driving, and autonomous-parking systems.


Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_eml_warning_light_on_a_bmw_mean#ixzz1OnBNssKH

Its the steering lock. A common fault. Here is how to fix it by stripping down the steering lock, and/ or just doing a software reset

You need a dealer to scan this.

Hi Angela,
It sounds like it could be a problem with the catalytic converter. If it is this, as well as the continued loss of power you may also notice that the exhaust emissions start to occasionally haves quite a strong and horrible smell.

If your local mechanic has an OBD lead he/she will still be able to plug it into the car and read the fault code from the cars ECU (computer thingy!). You don't need to wait for the light to come on again as the fault code should still be in the memory of CPU.

If your local garage does not have the correct OBD software for your car, you can still go to the stealership, ahem I mean BMW dealership (hehe..!) as reading the fault code is quick and very cheap to do. At least you will know if it the catalytic converter at fault, (I hope it is not as this one can be expensive to replace, sorry). Good Luck Angela.

oxygen sensor

you need to get it scanned, i assume "emissions light" is your check engine light, or the "visit emissions workshop" message, which means, go to a shop and get it checked. The coolant disappearing means you probably have a leak. Another reason to check it,

Have your battery checked to make sure it does not have a bad cell, have your alternator checked to make sure it is putting out a full charge to your battery. Sometimes the ASC light is activated wen there is an engine issue that does not have it's own code.You may also wish to have your parking lamps checked to make sure your lamp connections do not have worn wire covers that may be grounding out.

I may want to get an OBD-2 code reader it does run scans on the emission sensors( fumes capture, evap, ehxaust recirculation....). there are too many things going on at once to really pinpoint the exact problem. I tried.

The last comment added to thread should work OK.