My experience with the low oil indicator

[darkalley]

So my oil dropped down today and gave me the "add 1 quart" (maybe liter?) message.

Well based on posts here of over-fills, I only put in about half a bottle and started my car up. The message was still there saying I was at the minimum. I drove 60 miles and the message/level stayed the same. I shut the car off for an hour and when I restarted it I was at the top arrow. I am pretty sure if I would have added the entire bottle, per the i-drive message, I would have overfilled it.

[skierman64]

I think the rule of thumb here is if the oil level doesn't decrease gradually be skeptical of a sudden "add oil" message.

[darkalley]

my was decreasing over the 2-3,000 miles. about 2,000 miles ago i hit the halfway point (my car arrived at the top of the arrows)

[ideliver]

Just check the dipstick................





oh right there isn't one...Thank for nothing BMW...(I think they really goofed on this one)

[alpineweissM3]

Originally Posted by ideliver

Just check the dipstick................





oh right there isn't one...Thank for nothing BMW...(I think they really goofed on this one)

I agree.

Porsche has been going dipstick-less for years, I wonder if the Porsche fanatics have accepted this yet.

[watrob]

Originally Posted by alpineweissM3

I agree.

Porsche has been going dipstick-less for years, I wonder if the Porsche fanatics have accepted this yet.

I don't mind but I just don't like spending an hour looking for it before I realise I don't have one.

[J08M3]

My electronic dipstick finally showed less oil than when I bought the car. Didn't give me any warnings saying it was too low. But the line had dropped from the top full arrow to the halfway mark. So as I was driving by my dealership I stopped in and asked about it. They said "no problem let me get a tech and some oil". I met the guy outside at my car, he had a quart of oil in his hand and he said to pop the hood he was going to dump it in. My first immediate question was How do you know how much it needs? But somehow he assured me that he knew. So he added about a quart and told me to start the engine. Of course the electronic dipstick still reads the same level as when I brought it in. So I figured it was just going to take a while to read the new added oil, since I didn't have any warnings it probably couldn't have been down too much. Of course an hour later after driving a bunch the dipstick finally reads the correct amount and now it says >MAX. So now I gotta bring my car back tomorrow for them to take some back out. I hope it's not bad to have >MAX oil?? It can't be to over filled since it was actually a little less than a quart he added.

[watrob]

Yeh, I have noticed that, drove the car yesterday oil showed full. Drove it today it down by one mark. No warning to say it slowly going down, it just drops.

[SmokeyJoe]

OK hate the fact it does not have a dipstick

But really hate that our cars use oil. I have about 4K, 3K which are pretty hard miles and have used a 1qt.

[ideliver]

Originally Posted by SmokeyJoe

OK hate the fact it does not have a dipstick

But really hate that our cars use oil. I have about 4K, 3K which are pretty hard miles and have used a 1qt.

welcome to the world of ///M....my E46 ate oil like a fat girl eats cake

[inmotion]

it's a way of life with more and more tech into new cars. It took 20 miles before my M had the correct reading

[GT3 Tim]

Originally Posted by alpineweissM3

I agree.

Porsche has been going dipstick-less for years, I wonder if the Porsche fanatics have accepted this yet.

My GT3 had the electronic oil measurement. HOWEVER, there was a dipstick in the oil fill tube! I wish BMW woulda went that route....

I took my car in for the DCT update. Now it says my car is overfilled. They did NOT do an oil service or add oil. My car was at the full level since my 1,200 mile service. They did the DCT update at about 1,900 miles. No idea why it would now think it is overfilled. Strange. I wish there was a damn $2 dipstick in the car so I would KNOW, FOR SURE, WTF the ACTUAL oil level was.

My issue with "sudden addition of oil out of nowhere" goes to prove the electronic oil gizmo is a POS.

[MDCTFTW]

Originally Posted by J08M3

My electronic dipstick finally showed less oil than when I bought the car. Didn't give me any warnings saying it was too low. But the line had dropped from the top full arrow to the halfway mark. So as I was driving by my dealership I stopped in and asked about it. They said "no problem let me get a tech and some oil". I met the guy outside at my car, he had a quart of oil in his hand and he said to pop the hood he was going to dump it in. My first immediate question was How do you know how much it needs? But somehow he assured me that he knew. So he added about a quart and told me to start the engine. Of course the electronic dipstick still reads the same level as when I brought it in. So I figured it was just going to take a while to read the new added oil, since I didn't have any warnings it probably couldn't have been down too much. Of course an hour later after driving a bunch the dipstick finally reads the correct amount and now it says >MAX. So now I gotta bring my car back tomorrow for them to take some back out. I hope it's not bad to have >MAX oil?? It can't be to over filled since it was actually a little less than a quart he added.

That's really annoying right? You knew adding the full quart was questionable and it turned out to be 100% true. Man ... I hate it when service guys think they're so damn smart. Actually it's they think we don't know anything.

[valeram]

This is my third car with no dipstick and the oil level are displayed electronically. The first one was a Porsche and the second one was a 335i. So far both were accurate but the P car will take a little bit longer to display the oil level. It got some timer to show when the oil level will be displayed. Both 335 and M3 will immediately display the level which I guess are less accurate compared with the P car. But the 335 didn't give me any problem and filled it up with specified capacity when the level was low (didn't wait for the warning). The level showed correctly after filling it up. Maybe that is the pros and cons of technology.

[V8MAN]

I also have the "MAX" reading right now, I have had it since my service dept. did the 1200 mile service 10 days ago. I asked my SA if I needed to bring the car back as it's apparently not a good thing, he said that the car would be fine and that there was no need for me to bring it in.

So if something does happen at least I have it in writing that I was told it was not an issue.

Originally Posted by J08M3

My electronic dipstick finally showed less oil than when I bought the car. Didn't give me any warnings saying it was too low. But the line had dropped from the top full arrow to the halfway mark. So as I was driving by my dealership I stopped in and asked about it. They said "no problem let me get a tech and some oil". I met the guy outside at my car, he had a quart of oil in his hand and he said to pop the hood he was going to dump it in. My first immediate question was How do you know how much it needs? But somehow he assured me that he knew. So he added about a quart and told me to start the engine. Of course the electronic dipstick still reads the same level as when I brought it in. So I figured it was just going to take a while to read the new added oil, since I didn't have any warnings it probably couldn't have been down too much. Of course an hour later after driving a bunch the dipstick finally reads the correct amount and now it says >MAX. So now I gotta bring my car back tomorrow for them to take some back out. I hope it's not bad to have >MAX oil?? It can't be to over filled since it was actually a little less than a quart he added.

[MysticBlue]

Originally Posted by valeram

Maybe that is the pros and cons of technology.

Uh, I still haven't seen one single pro. Just the cons. What's better? What's more efficient? What's the reason? Anyone? Anyone? Buhler?

[J08M3]

Originally Posted by V8MAN

I also have the "MAX" reading right now, I have had it since my service dept. did the 1200 mile service 10 days ago. I asked my SA if I needed to bring the car back as it's apparently not a good thing, he said that the car would be fine and that there was no need for me to bring it in.

So if something does happen at least I have it in writing that I was told it was not an issue.

I'll let you know what they tell me after it goes in tomorrow. I know it can't be to far over full since he had a little less than a quart when he came out to my car. But talk about stupid.... I should've known better than to trust a guy who knows how much oil is missing from a car from just standing next to it.

If any of you don't remember my previous repair from the report your problem thread. This is the same dealership that I took my car to from a funny noise on tight slow speed turns. The same dealership that I told them - it makes this sound like the rear is locking up on tight turns, similar to when you drive an older car with a posi-rear. The same dealership that tried to fix that by replacing my steering rack and pump, only to find it didn't fix the problem and all that was necessary was to listen to my advice about the rear. Finally they just replaced my rear diff fluid according to the update and it fixed the problem.

So far I'm 0/2 at the service department. Two problems, two stupid mechanics. Both times they should've listened to me when I dropped the car off. I would've saved them a lot of time doing unnecessary work.

[skierman64]

That is sad, BMW should look into this.

You must have a lot of dealerships in the NYC area to choose from, how many chances are you going to give them before you try a different dealer for service?

[J08M3]

Unfortunately I'm not in NYC and the next dealer is quite far away. I didn't think adding oil would be above the skill level of a BMW tech.

[J08M3]

Finally after my car spent all day at the dealership I just got it back. They emptied all the oil and measured it to be 1/4 - 1/2 quart over full. Best part was they parked it outside in the rain under a tree losing it's leaves. Want to take a guess at how clean the car was when I picked it up? I can tell you it wasn't even close to how it looked when I dropped it off. All because the idiot mechanic insisted he knew how much oil to add without ever looking at the electronic dipstick. I was hoping when I bought this car the high price BMW asks for that it would've included competent mechanics.

[J08M3]

I guess a real dipstick would've eliminated this whole experience.... and who would want to miss out on that

[Hellride]

I must have lucked out. I just had the +1qt indicator show up. It took a day, but bought 1qt. Poured it in. Let the car idle and after a few minutes, oil was at the top arrow and all was normal again. Couldn't have been easier.