First off, new to X5's. I've never even been under the hood of one until the other day, my dad maintains all his own cars/trucks. My father asked me to find out some information for him...so here I am.

Where would one plug in a code reader (like the ones they sell on BAVauto)? I looked and didn't see a port. I figured it be staring me in the face like on an e36 or e46, but no such luck.

My stepmom has a CEL on her '02 X5 4.4 and we're trying to figure it out. Its probably just a scheduled inspection light, but you never know. X5 runs fine though.

Anybody got a pic of where I can find it?

nobody? no DIY'ers in the X5 forum?

just to clarify, CEL has nothing to do with inspection or such. CEL points out to some abnormalities in running the powertrain, though it doesn't have to be something serious (could be as simple as improperly closed gas cap or some temporary problem).

as far as the readers, there are many types of them on the market. there are generic OBDII readers and BMW_only_readers. the latter can have two types of plugs: either typical OBDII "wide" plug (inside the cabin, drivers side), or BMW specific "round" one (under the hood).

all 1996-2000 all BMW carry both ports so most OBDII functions can be accessed through either one, however models starting 2001 do not have round port under the hood any more, thus all diagnostics are done through ODBII port inside the cabin (drivers side dash, at knee level)

you didn't specify what kind of plug your reader came with. if it doesn't have a wide (2 rows of pins) plug then you could go to the auto parts store (like AutoZone) and they will scan for the code for free (and delete the code if you tell them to)

hope it helps

Deleting it won't fix the problem that caused the fault code. On an '02 4.4, I can almost guarantee that there's an issue that needs to be repaired.

First off, new to X5's. I've never even been under the hood of one until the other day, my dad maintains all his own cars/trucks. My father asked me to find out some information for him...so here I am.

Where would one plug in a code reader (like the ones they sell on BAVauto)? I looked and didn't see a port. I figured it be staring me in the face like on an e36 or e46, but no such luck.

My stepmom has a CEL on her '02 X5 4.4 and we're trying to figure it out. Its probably just a scheduled inspection light, but you never know. X5 runs fine though.

Anybody got a pic of where I can find it?

To answer your question, bottom left hand corner of your dashboard. Your owner's manual points this out clearly:D