'94 E38 740 Reseting Service lights - shorting Pin 7 to 19 doesn't work?

[ianh755]

Hiya all, I've just serviced the 740 and want to reset the lights but the "short pin 7 to pin 19 (grounding the indicator)" doesn't work for me. As my E38 is one of the 1st there's lots of things that are in different places or work differently (OBD port is next to the power steering not the brake manifold like most E38's, changing 'c to 'f can't be done without the laptop etc) so will this make a difference to the shorting procedure?

Cheers.........................................IAn H

[Qsilver7]

It depends...what instructions are you using? You need to tell us your exact procedure...because there is a slight difference in procedure depending on model year and/or model.

For instance, using the method of shorting pins 7 & 19 on my e34 525iT (OBDI) is different than shorting the pins on my 97 e38 (OBD II).

Give us a step by step of what you did...or you can look at the procedure for OBD I cars by searching one of their boards...then go to www.e38.org and look at the procedure there for the e38.

[ianh755]

I used these from e38.org called "Oil and inspection service light reset" and "Oil and inspection lights reset using a simple wire" in the Maintenance section

The OBD port is on the other side on car to the ones in those pictures so maybe I've got OBD1 not OBD2 but here's exactly what I did - "Key to position 2, short pin 7 to pin 19 for 15secs for the inspection" This had no effect (got inspection on yellow and red!)

Do you know what the OBD1 procedure at all?

[Qsilver7]

Step by Step Instructions to reset Oil SERVICE light:

1. Open the data link cover under the hood (bonnet).
2. With the ignition off, put a wire between pins 7 and 19. (double check that you have the correct pins...those numbers are rather small next to the pins)
3. Turn the ignition to position 2 (Do not start the engine & make sure you're not in position 1)
4. OIL SERVICE reset = 3~10 seconds...INSPECTION reset = 10~15 seconds: remove the jumper wire... (with the ignition still in position 2) ... then REMOVE the wire and close/replace the data-link cover...then go back and turn the ignition off.

Hopefully, when you turn the igntion back on again, you should see all 5 green lights illuminated and the OIL SERV/INSP light off. As I mentioned earlier...the procedure for the e38 was slightly different (at least it was in my case) than what I did on my e30, e32, and e34. I believe the lights would reset as soon as I pulled the wire out on the older BMWs...but on the e38 I think I had to close the cover and turn the ignition off. It's hard to remember exactly what I did...so you may have to fiddle around with various scenarios (like I had to) when doing a reset. It's easy now on my e38 because I got one of the "goodwill" replacement instrument clusters which allows me to perform the reset using the trip odometer button on the cluster...which is sweet...cause no more digging thru the toolbox for my wire or needle nose pliers!

ALTERNATE RESET PROCEDURE: for some models
If the "wire" procedure still doesn't work...perhaps in Europe you all can reset the lights thru the instrument cluster...here's a direct link to how to do it: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...41&postcount=1

[Old525i]

Is it possible to reset the oil service indicator if you have one green light left?

[shogun]

Yes, even if 1 light is still on. See above instructions. Just avoid that you contact other pins, otherwise you might destroy something expensive. Easiest and safest way is to use for example my Airbag / SRS Light/Service/Oil Reset Tool - all in 1 tool
http://s71.photobucket.com/user/shog...BOA-1.jpg.html
That cannot be inserted wrong as the center pin has a 'pacman'.

Only the time or clock signal in the cluster cannot be reset before time elapsed and the sign is ON. Clock signal = annual or bi-annual swervice light for brake fluid change. This runs by time. The oil and service lights have different criteria.