[Dixie Dawg]

went to have my first oil change done yesterday, and the morons at the BMW service center did not put my oil plug back in. I drove the car 30 miles to my house, let the car sit for about an hour, went back out to drive it and my oil light was on saying I only had one qt of oil in the car! I had a HUGE puddle of oil underneath.

What responsibility does the dealership have on this, other than the obvious new oil change? The car obviously was leaking oil the whole way home, and I could have engine damage as a result of this. So, what should I do?

[txusa03]

not good, no quality control check at your dealer shop. I would be upset too. Not sure what long term damage this will do to engine (if any). But I would have a long serious talk with the dealer manager.

[742]

From what you describe it sounds like a slow loss of oil and the car never ran with no oil/no oil pressure. If that is correct then there should be no damage.

Make sure they not only refill the oil, but also clean up the mess that probably exists under the car. You don’t want to be dripping oil all over the place for the next year, and you want to be able to tell if you have a new leak down the road.

I would try to get the dealer to foot the bill for an extended warranty on the drive train. That, besides fixing the immediate mess, is probably the best that you can achieve.

[ward]

if you were actually driving 30 miles with no oil, you would know it

the car was telling you to add one quart, not that you only have 1 quart left.

it's bad, but not nearly as bad as you think it is. let them fix it

[RichP]

its HIGHLY unlikely there was any damage whatsoever. Face it, dealer service people are general foolz.

[Nalod]

Plug might have fallen on the way home.

Big puddle is a good thing, means you did have oil in the engine!

I'd ask for a 335 replacement.

[canucklion]

no, aim high and shoot for the stars, get the new M3 as a replacement vehicle, they will have to do it

Originally Posted by Bargamon

Plug might have fallen on the way home.

Big puddle is a good thing, means you did have oil in the engine!

I'd ask for a 335 replacement.

[Neurorad]

Could the engine run on synthetic oil for 30 miles, with the oil plug out?

[canucklion]

hmm, why not? the oil was slowly leaking out, still got oil left

Originally Posted by Neurorad

Could the engine run on synthetic oil for 30 miles, with the oil plug out?

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by Neurorad

Could the engine run on synthetic oil for 30 miles, with the oil plug out?

No way. It would only take a minute for the oil light to come on and the engine to be totally drained. The drain plug was probably in finger tight and it worked its way out.

[thekewl1]

make sure you document what happened and make the dealer acknowledge in writing that they fucked up, just in case anything happens a few months/yrs down the line.

[SoYank]

Originally Posted by Neurorad

Could the engine run on synthetic oil for 30 miles, with the oil plug out?

I doubt you'd be able to get five miles with the plug completely out. It doesn't take that long to drain the oil pan during an oil change. From the description, I'd say the plug is still there, just not tightned down and if left unchecked, you can expect the plug to fall off to the side of the road in due course. If this were the case, then you'd have been informed. As ward and RichP said, there was probably enough oil in the engine to satisfy its craving without damage.

Take it back to the place that didn't do a complete job (that sounds wrong, doesn't it -- to get more of the same?) and have them finish it. And the jobs not going to be finished until the paperwork, i.e., towels and degreaser over the entire bottom of the vehicle, is done. The dealer should also spring for the cleanup of your driveway; it's a chemical powder that absorbs the oil and can then be swept up.

[742]

Originally Posted by Neurorad

Could the engine run on synthetic oil for 30 miles, with the oil plug out?

Engine life with no oil pressure is, at best, measured in minutes. And then very few of them.

It is pretty amazing when you think about it. Without oil an engine will turn itself into scrap in minutes, or even seconds if there is no residual oil. With proper oil it will run a quarter of a million miles.

[Dixie Dawg]

Just had the car towed to the dealer, and they checked it out and said it was a seal on the oil filter that had a crack, thus spewing oil everywhere. They washed/waxed the car, and will clean up my driveway. I will try and get them to put all this in writing also, and see if they'll order me a 335 for invoice

And the car only had one quart in it according to the guage, not needed a quart as someone mentioned above. Scary!

[742]

Originally Posted by Dixie Dawg

Just had the car towed to the dealer, and they checked it out and said it was a seal on the oil filter that had a crack, thus spewing oil everywhere. They washed/waxed the car, and will clean up my driveway. I will try and get them to put all this in writing also, and see if they'll order me a 335 for invoice

And the car only had one quart in it according to the guage, not needed a quart as someone mentioned above. Scary!

All well and good, but as has been mentioned--make sure they clean up the engine bay and underside of the car.

[jojogargoles]

thats bad they probably forgot to really tighten things up well reality bites SHIT HAPPENS! they'll probably do another oil change and clean up the the mess they did!

[E90Brian]

Sorry to hear about what happened. If you do not get satisfaction from the dealer, call BMW NA and tell them what happened. If you get a call from the third party that surveys customer satisfaction (it's called CSI and the score impacts the service department's compensation), ding them. Hard.

Makes me think that this could be the next thing after run-flat tires--think of the cost/weight thay'd save by designing an engine that didn't need an oil drain plug. It would be designed to simply leak oil until the next oil service.

[ward]

Originally Posted by Dixie Dawg

And the car only had one quart in it according to the guage, not needed a quart as someone mentioned above. Scary!

how'd it tell you that? mine doesn't tell me that I have 7 quarts

[Ghunger]

Originally Posted by Bargamon

Plug might have fallen on the way home.

Big puddle is a good thing, means you did have oil in the engine!

I'd ask for a 335 replacement.

Good point on the big puddle being a good thing. Also, the car does not need to be full of oil to stay properly lubricated. If you were driving moderately and the oil pump was never starved for oil you're likely just fine, minus the mess and hassle of making them fix their mistake. Since you really have no way of knowing how much was left or how fast the leak really was, I'd err on the safe side and get them to at least pony up an extended drivetrain warranty. I mean, it was their negligence.

[Kyoshi71]

If they left the drain plug out, it wouldnt have been a slow leak and the car would smoke like a bitch because oil would hit the exhaust pipes. Not to mention, the red oil light would be on. I would hope that you would know to never run a car when that happens; not even for 2 minutes. If it is a slow leak, no biggie. As long as the RPMs werent too high, you'd be amazed how little oil a car needs to operate without doing any damage; not to mention, you have synthetic in there. What I would do it call the dealer, yell alot, make them tow the car in, clean the shit out of the undercarriage, flush the engine and check one of your main bearings.

That's what I would do!!!

[18LLC]

running 1 qt for e90 is way to little. if you keep driving with the oil light on, the repair fees will count by seconds, if there is any damage. 1 second will worth $100 to repair. Said by BMW technician from BMW san francisco.

[BlackLemon]

My buddies father has a mercedes benz and the same thing happened to him, only he seized the motor. Long storey short, MB replaced the engine....good luck