The EML light on the car's dashboard normally comes on briefly whenever the car's ignition is turned on. Recently, however, the same light comes on while I am driving the car. I am then unable to drive the car at any more than about 30 mph. If I stop the car, switch off the ignition and then restart the engine the car will behave normally, that is until the EML light again appears. Prior to the appearance of the EML light the engine rpm usually becomes , on average, higher (approx. 1300 rpm) but also becomes very erratic.

Shaun Ince, May 2009

Am having truble with my 1998 BMW 750il it runs but wont pick up rpm it creeps then picks up speed but not over 40mph and going up hills it creeps any help

Jerry, January 2011

A freind just bought a 1990 750il. The car feels like its running on 6 clyn. It has no power. It take along time for it to get up out of its wieght. I just change to plugs,rotor,airfilter,fuel filter. Both fuel pump is working. It still have no improvement. Its a 12 clyn car. its has no power or improvement after all these changes. can you help

ariel, March 2010

I have a very similar problem with my 90 750il. I took it to a dealer and they said that they are not sure that they would recommend that I buy a new wiring harness. Dealer price is $2000 w/o labor and they can't be sure that this would fix it. They were useless. Sorry Lloyd. A backyard mechanic could have told me as much. I bought a Peake code reader to try to determine what the problem is.

Frustrated Mike, June 2009

Hi shaun i would agree with Lloyd on the limp mode but take the car to any good garage with a diagnostic machine not bmw if you can avoid it,sorry Lloyd but i used to work also for bmw and can honestly say they will try to get every penny out of you,labour costs are very high and parts come at a premium.im not sure how old your car is or the mleage but with older cars you could do what they call a stomp test ,a kind of onbord diagnostic.the 750s are great cars but troublesome when they go wrong.its impossible to say what might be wrong without the diagnostic but your car has gone onto limp mode which is a program in your ecu or dme to allow the car to be driven safely but fuel consumption will be up and emmisions aswell.Also you dont want to risk any damage to your cats,so best to get it sorted asap.usual faults are cam or crank sensors.oxygen sensors or maf sensors,but you need the fault code.

mikec, May 2009

shaun- sounds like the car is in limp mode and should get looked at sooner rather than later. i work at bmw and i would recommend you take it in to an authorized dealer if you want it fixed properly. BMW's, prestige and high performance cars are very tricky and 70% of the time require an authorized workshop to have a look at them. Despite the fact that they can be more expensive in the short term and you might question spending so much on an older car, as i suspect it would be, but i have seen so many bodgy second rate jobs on old bmw's, especially on 7 series in fact, and in the end we have to fix the initial problem as well as those created by joe blows mechanical.

Lloyd, May 2009