On my wife's BMW there's a warning light in the shape of an engine - it's been on for over a week now and I take the car to the garage to have it investigated on Tuesday. Her friend's car also a BMW regularly displays an engine light.
There will be a rudimentary computer that collects data and lights the various warning lights - the software will have been developed with the best of intentions but it will still be bug-ridden nevertheless.
The trouble with a system of this sort - and I suspect that all modern cars will suffer from it - is that you just can't be sure. The warning may be real (something wrong) or imaginary (software glitch). The only way to discover which - and be sure - is to have the computer's data store interrogated and that will cost money...
Peccavi, February 2010
