[Nickco43]

Tonight I pulled into a parking lot and immediately got a low oil pressure message on the dash, quick pulled into a parking spot and shut the engine off.

After a engine bay inspection I found no puddles of oil and on a quick fire of the engine all sounded normal.

I limped the car home in eco pro mode, no warnings once the car restarted and did a scan with ISTA.

I got codes 1C0102 "Oil-pressure control: Pressure too low" and 1C2002 "Oil Pump: Pressure too low".

My car is a 06/17 build date so it should have the metal oil pump instead of the plastic one on most 18 MY cars.

Ran the diagnostic tests and was getting 35 PSI of oil pressure on hot idle, oil pressure increased when engine RPM increased.

Is this a fluke or is there something wrong with my car? All ISTA test came back fine. The car has received 5k oil changes since new with it's last one only 300 miles ago.

[Warp Ten]

Hopefully it is just a sensor failure but might be worth a tip to the dealer or indy to test pressure just in case. 35 psi at hot idle is a fine oil pressure. Back in my British car days we would kill for 35 psi at 5,000 rpms and not worry until idle oil pressure was below 20. --Bob.

[aerof16]

I see around 37 psi at idle on both my B58 cars and (I think) upwards of 80 psi at full throttle.

As long as you’re close to that, and pressure increases with RPM, I think you’re probably fine. I’d reset any codes it threw and just see if it comes back. Could be a sensor, could just be a fluke.

[Nickco43]

I found the issue:




Defective Mahle Oil Filter

The plastic tabs on the Mahle filter seem to have cut up the bottom O-Ring on the filter causing the O Ring to become scattered around the engine.

I got an oil change around 200-300 miles ago with last night being the first longer (20 mile drive) since the oil change.

[aerof16]

Nice work finding that! The fact that this happened shortly after an oil change did raise hairs.

I bought my G05 (X5 40i B58) from the first owner. He had his oil changes done at Jiffy Lube or something. When I went to perform the first oil change under my ownership, the filter fell apart as I pulled it out and the plastic piece on the bottom was stuck to the oil filter housing where it seats.

Needless to say, I was lucky to get it all out with no missing pieces. For that reason alone, I will never use anything but factory BMW oil filter.

I’ve only used BMW parts on my 2017 540i and have had zero issues doing oil changes over 115k miles now.

[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by aerof16

Nice work finding that! The fact that this happened shortly after an oil change did raise hairs.

I bought my G05 (X5 40i B58) from the first owner. He had his oil changes done at Jiffy Lube or something. When I went to perform the first oil change under my ownership, the filter fell apart as I pulled it out and the plastic piece on the bottom was stuck to the oil filter housing where it seats.

Needless to say, I was lucky to get it all out with no missing pieces. For that reason alone, I will never use anything but factory BMW oil filter.

I’ve only used BMW parts on my 2017 540i and have had zero issues doing oil changes over 115k miles now.

1/2 of the O-Ring is still MIA. My mechanic is coming back over at some point to try and vacuum the rest of it out. Is that doesn't work I will end up having to replace the OFH at a minimum.

Both my mechanic and I were shocked this happened. Mahle is considered a high quality brand in the aftermarket and is OE on many BMW parts. I reached out to Mahle through their website to see if they will cover any of this.

[aerof16]

Originally Posted by Nickco43

1/2 of the O-Ring is still MIA. My mechanic is coming back over at some point to try and vacuum the rest of it out. Is that doesn't work I will end up having to replace the OFH at a minimum.

Both my mechanic and I were shocked this happened. Mahle is considered a high quality brand in the aftermarket and is OE on many BMW parts. I reached out to Mahle through their website to see if they will cover any of this.

Well I wish you the best of luck with that, really hope it’s an easy find but that’s a big ask. I’d probably drop the oil pan if it’s easy enough (haven’t looked at it yet). I’d also take a look in the old oil filter you just pulled out (between the folds and what not).

Two other things to consider:

1. It could have been an old filter that has been sitting around for a while, causing the O-ring to deteriorate. Consider the source of the filter (EBay/etc).

2. Not blaming anyone but I look carefully at O-rings before I install them and always lubricate them with oil or what not before the install to reduce the risk of tearing one. Was this a missed step by your mechanic?

Could be a faulty part but unlikely.

[lnxguy]

Those *should* make their way out the oil drain hole during a change, if not I'd probably drop the pan.. You don't want those clogging the oil pickup

[Nickco43]

If anyone is wondering the issue is all fixed now.

Today I replaced the OFH and the Oil Cooler in the apartment parking garage.

The OFH was out in just under two hours. I didn't drain any coolant or oil before removing it so it all flooded out as the OFH came out. Pig mats on the floor and a few pie trays caught most of the fluids. I also used the hose pinching pliers that really reduced the coolant loss. The biggest issue was the two coolant lines connected to the intake manifold. For anyone doing this at home just pry on the hoses against the intake manifold with a flat head and they should pop out.

Getting the OFH was not as hard as I was expecting. Three out of the six bolts could very easily be removed with my 1/4 E10 and extension. The other two have little "slots" in-between the Oil cooler that all I needed to do was fit my socket and extension on the head of the bolt I could fit my electric ratchet on and zip the bolts right off. The other one was more difficult as it was a blind fishing expedition to get the socket on.

After pulling off the Oil cooler I found two separate oil filter O-Ring bits that were lodged into the fins. The Oil cooler ended up saving the engine but I didn't order a new one. For all the Denver owners out there Schomp BMW in Highlands Ranch has a huge parts inventory and they had a new Oil Cooler in stock for the low price of $400~ retail. At the counter I told the guy I had an wholesale account then gave them the name of the shop that I go to and sure enough they did and I got the cooler for $200 out the door.

Everything got assembled with a torque wrench, sunroof grease on all the PCV and coolant O-Rings in another two hours. Oil Cooler, OFH and intake manifold bolts are all 10NM or 88 In LB.

Make sure when you do this you remove DME connector 6B (Closest to the fire wall) and give the car three 16 second cranks with 20 second breaks to build up oil pressure again. If you don't you run the risk of spinning a bearing.

I put 20 miles on the car so far with no issues.

I saved the OFH, Oil Cooler and Filter. The shop and I have a case number with Mahle and they are sending out someone to inspect all of the parts. Fingers crossed they do the right thing and reimburse me. With all the parts, shop supplies and the rental car I am out $1000. Honestly I am not even that upset since the OFH was starting to leak anyway.

[lnxguy]

Oil pressure it almost instant and remember the engine isn't dry I wouldn't worry about spinning a bottom end bearing.

[d4700]

Originally Posted by lnxguy

Oil pressure it almost instant and remember the engine isn't dry I wouldn't worry about spinning a bottom end bearing.

It's always a good idea to prime the oil circuit when it's been broken on these cars. There are tons of anecdotes about N55s locking up tight just minutes after having the oil filter housing gasket replaced without priming the circuit afterwards. It's a step that I'd never skip!

[bwdellorf76]

Originally Posted by d4700

It's always a good idea to prime the oil circuit when it's been broken on these cars. There are tons of anecdotes about N55s locking up tight just minutes after having the oil filter housing gasket replaced without priming the circuit afterwards. It's a step that I'd never skip!

Agree with this...