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topping up oil

Discuss problems you have had or are having with your Z4
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rjhl64
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topping up oil

Post by rjhl64 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:13 pm

Just checked the oil level on the dashboard display and am trying to work out the amount of oil I need to add. I haven't figured out the scale on the dashboard, anybody able to offer an idea as to roughly how much I need based on the pic?

Cheers :thumbsup:
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BMW Z4 SI SPORT Automatic / E86 coupe

Pbondar

topping up oil

Post by Pbondar » Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:51 pm

Usually on most of these systems from empty to full is one litre

So if you are in doubt add half a litre and see what it then says..

They are not perfect even on an E89 most of the time it says it is full but occasionally I get a 3/4 full reading! :thumbsup:

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enuff_zed
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topping up oil

Post by enuff_zed » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:08 pm

Pbondar wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:51 pm Usually on most of these systems from empty to full is one litre

So if you are in doubt add half a litre and see what it then says..
Oh, I thought that was showing 1/4 empty?
Not the clearest symbology.
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Pbondar

topping up oil

Post by Pbondar » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:19 pm

enuff_zed wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:08 pm
Pbondar wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:51 pm Usually on most of these systems from empty to full is one litre

So if you are in doubt add half a litre and see what it then says..
Oh, I thought that was showing 1/4 empty?
Not the clearest symbology.
It may be..I’m not a 5th Dan on E85s..but I think the 1 litre from empty to full is correct :thumbsup:

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rjhl64
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topping up oil

Post by rjhl64 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:21 pm

enuff_zed wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:08 pm
Pbondar wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:51 pm Usually on most of these systems from empty to full is one litre

So if you are in doubt add half a litre and see what it then says..
Oh, I thought that was showing 1/4 empty?
Not the clearest symbology.
Hi, thanks for the updates, will add quarter of a litre and see it registers, don't really want to overfill :thumbsup:
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enuff_zed
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topping up oil

Post by enuff_zed » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:23 pm

Pbondar wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:19 pm
enuff_zed wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:08 pm
Pbondar wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:51 pm Usually on most of these systems from empty to full is one litre

So if you are in doubt add half a litre and see what it then says..
Oh, I thought that was showing 1/4 empty?
Not the clearest symbology.
It may be..I’m not a 5th Dan on E85s..but I think the 1 litre from empty to full is correct :thumbsup:
Ah yes, Mr 4.9 Dan, I agree with that much. :D
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topping up oil

Post by JamesClements » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:42 pm

I'm pretty sure its 1 litre. Like Pbondar says I just tend to add 1/4 or 1/2L at a time in my E85 to be sure and keep topping up until its happy :driving:
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topping up oil

Post by fredej » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:43 pm

I don't think you need to add oil at that read out.
This is what it says in the manual.
Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 14.37.04.png
Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 14.37.04.png (265.83 KiB) Viewed 417 times
I would only add oil when it is actually telling you to do so. To reduce the risk of overfilling it.

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topping up oil

Post by enuff_zed » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:47 pm

fredej wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:43 pm I don't think you need to add oil at that read out.
This is what it says in the manual.
Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 14.37.04.png
I would only add oil when it is actually telling you to do so. To reduce the risk of overfilling it.
You're right.
That is showing you may be down 1/4 litre-ish. But it still says OK and it doesn't show a '+' underneath.
BMW seem to let it get down 1 litre then top it right up.
But whilst it may be 'OK' I think I'd be sticking about a 1/4l in and seeing what it does. Better to be full surely?
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topping up oil

Post by Zedebee » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:07 pm

What fredej says. There is a lot of oil in these cars (>6 litres), so being down 1/4 litre won’t do it any harm, however overfilling it may do.

You need to fill up with petrol instead, that’s looking dangerously low :!:
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topping up oil

Post by rjhl64 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:49 pm

Zedebee wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:07 pm What fredej says. There is a lot of oil in these cars (>6 litres), so being down 1/4 litre won’t do it any harm, however overfilling it may do.

You need to fill up with petrol instead, that’s looking dangerously low :!:
Roundtrip of 150 miles and the petrol light came on 2 miles from home :D , Next outing via petrol station, once I've dripped some oil into the engine :thumbsup:
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topping up oil

Post by Scooba_Steve » Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:20 pm

It says: Oil OK - leave it alone! :lol:
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topping up oil

Post by AveZ4coop » Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:17 pm

I would not add any oil at this point, too likely to overfill and cause an issue within the engine. There is no way of telling if this is a linear scale or not, so why risk it when the engine is still happy with more than enough oil? (just my opinion) :oops:
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topping up oil

Post by Dark Diggler » Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:16 pm

It bleeps and the yellow oil light comes on while you are driving as well as it showing add 1 ltr on the display, it does it again when you switch off. I would wait till then to add what it suggests. The manual says add 1 ltr within 125 miles so it’s a fairly early warning.

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topping up oil

Post by Rucky » Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:54 pm

I recently added 0.6l when the indicator was 3 bars down 3 X 200ml. The indicator did not respond straightaway at idle but a check with the car at speed it was back to "full" ok.
First top up since oil change last July. I topped it off as it is very hot. Getting changed again next month. I actually prefer a dipstick, my X5 still has one as well as electronic. I think the electronic version is for people who probably don't care anyway and couldn't find a dipstick if it poked them in the eye!
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