The car is an 88'. I follow the Peake instructions, it's blank for about 5 seconds then flashes an "E". The book states something like excessive time for response from ECU. Why can't I read the codes:dunno ? Just wanted to check it during an oil change.

If your car is an e30 m3 I don't think the code reader will work. The peake code reader said the same thing for my 1990 m3.

Our cars DO NOT store codes, so you can't get any, all you have is a expensive SI light reset tool.