Unidentifiable beeping from dash

[JimmyGibbon]

Hello,

First, to introduce myself:

I've just joined, a couple of months ago or something. Bought a Malachite green 325i touring with 120,000 on the clock. Had a californian 318i in the states which was my first introduction to the e30. A nice car but I've got to say it was seriously underpowered in the lower gears —a put this down to the catalytic converter. There was also a rev limiter on it. Anyway, though it was a design classic (exterior, interior and mechanically) and so decided to buy a 325i here.

Day before the money went through a tree fell on the car in London (yes its really true —a I even thought it might happen when the building was swaying due to the high winds). The seller told me the day after when the money had cleared and refused to give me the money back. After threatening him with county court action he agreed to pay half the cost for body repairs (800 in total so he paid £400). Had the work done in camden, they did a really good job, and then had a load of work done by a friends father who is a mechanic. This cost me only £340 —a he did the whole bmw service, put in a new radiator, changed all the belts, fixed the driver side seat (didn't move backwards or forewards) and changed headlight bulbs etc.

So, finally the car is on the road and now I'm trying to get it back to something close to factory spec (with 15" bbs alloys when the time is right). Just did a thousand mile trip at easter weekend up to the scottish borders and back to london —a car ran smooth!!


That's the intro, and my question is this:

every so often my dash beeps —a beep, beep, beep. It's not the check system I know this as it's not the same clang ( a beep) and it happens when driving the car, not when turning the keys in the ignition for the first time or when starting it up. Had it with my E30 in the states. However I've found no info about it anywhere. What is it, what does it mean and does it want me to do anything? The sound comes from somewhere in the dash but I don't know where.

Any help would be appreciated (Brian?) for a newbie member of the burgeoning touring crowd.

[Martinaston]

Do you have an on board computer ? next to the stereo.

[JimmyGibbon]

yeah,

it has a few functions such as hour, outside temp etc but its not the top spec one. The backlight bulb has gone in it and the display has bled so there is a patch of orange that has seeped up from the bottom of the display. You can still see numbers, usually only in daylight, on it and when you press the buttons the numbers go haywire —a dont think they correspond to anything in the outside world anymore.

you think it could be that?

[Simon]

Probably the memo function of the 6 button OBC, it does 3 beeps about 10 secs before the end of every hour, it's purpose was to remind the driver of the hourly news broadcasts, back in the E30's yuppie days.

[Simon]

To switch off the function, press the memo button so the ME doesn't show on the display.

[JimmyGibbon]

that sounds like it could be it —a I couldn't work why it did it every so often.

I'll give it a shot.

cheers simon.

[Dr Firefly]

Ahhh the yuppie days, seems strange to think of all the tatty E30s we see on the roads being driven by yuppies in their heyday! Now it's either enthusiasts who know their cars inside and out, and abusers who'll use them till they drop and then scrap them....