Expert: Tino Villa - 12/4/2006

Question
320 T Dec 2001 E46 Touring - Intermittent problem of heater coil dash light coming on with simultaneous inoperative accelerator. When light goes off and I apply pressure to accelerator pedal it becomes inoperative again. Perhaps an electrical problem but due to no fuse box diagram I cannot check fuse.

Answer
Hi Howard!
My initial advice is to have the vehicle scanned by at least an OBD2 scanner (you can have it scanned for free at Autozone) then tell me what faults are present. This is the fastest way to initiate diagnosis. The usual trial and error mumbo jumbo of yesteryears no longer apply on cars like yours that are highly computerized.
Also, I am a little unsure of what you mean by the heater coil dash light. Please tell me where it is located in the dash/instrument cluster and how it looks like. You are absolutely right that this is an electrical/electronic
problem and because of this I would require that you tell me  the last 7 digits of your VIN (this would help me identify
the components of your car and thus the relevant circuit diagrams).
Tino