Hello,

I was driving uphill in San Francisco yesterday and had to use the e-brake to start. During one of the starts (brilliant idea to put a stop sign at the very top of a hill ), the EML light illuminated then stayed on. I pulled over and stopped the car. When I restarted, the EML light was off and the SES light never illuminated. My OBD reader doesn't return any code.

I'm a bit puzzled, every time I start the car I see all lights the SES and EML lights are on for about 3 seconds after the engine started. I have to admit I never really paid attention, is that normal?

 

If you get an OBD cable and INPA you see that not all codes are stored in the OBD computer, others get stored in the instrument cluster which has a separate memory. OBD isn't showing anything because either the issue is not present all the time or will not cause the car to "exceed 1.5 times EPA guidelines for emissions".
Or, if you speak nerd, SES gets it's data from the EMS2000, the error you're seeing is stored in the KOMBI50/2/3F. They do talk to each other, but not all Electronics Malfunctions Lights cause Service Engine Soon lights or vice-versa which is as it should be.
Edited to answer your last question, in my R50 the EML and SES stay lit for the same time frame, yes it's normal.

 

Could just be a bit of a gremlin with the oil sensor. My X3 tells me it needs 1L of oil if I park it on a steep downhill grade. The fault will be stored and can be retrieved with BMW grade software.

 

I spent 30 min playing around with INPA, resetting multiple modules. Good to know that the lights behavior is normal. I was going crazy...

Thanks