3.0si Oil Full at 5l...?

I would have liked a manual dipstick as well in the situation I was in but next time I know at least. I don't have an issue with the garage as they did at least drain it properly. I guess it's just the difference between a general and a specialist who knows all the quirks. They did reset the service indicator no problem though. At £48 for an oil, oil filter and spark plug change plus CDV delete including bleeding the clutch with new fluid I'm happy enough.

There will be a vacuum if you open the cap whilst running but as already mentioned it's not wise too. Although I seem to remember that doing so was one of the ways to check the breather tube and if it doesn't suck your hand when you cover it there's a blockage.
 
ChrisN53 said:
How easy and/or difficult should it be to open the oil filler cap? There is quite a bit of vacuum resistance when I open mine with the engine running. Also, would you expect to hear any noise with the oil filler cap open from within the engine?
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You should never open it with the engine running. See my earlier post
 
That's pretty cheap but not really an excuse for not checking the fill quantity - it's in the manual and it's their profession. Only 1 plug? What oil did they put in?
 
All six plugs supplied by me as noted earlier in this thread. I gave them Shell Helix Ultra 5w40 to use, it's LL01 and good value at £56 for 12l.

They had the manual and I told him 6.5l so he knew. He explained to me that he'd only put 5l in as he didn't want to overfill it when it was reading full. I said fair enough I'll top it up if it needs it. To be honest I'd rather be the one who drove it until the light came on but next time I'll know that the sensor is slow to update and just stick with quantities.
 
I didn't see that anywhere earlier, perhaps I missed it. Good deal on the oil and at least you know in future. If you can lift the car or have a pit the oil change is easy to do yourself and well worth doing more frequently if you plan on keeping the car.
 
Oops, my mistake I detailed my service costs under another thread about an Inspection 2. I got the plugs for £63.

I agree with doing some work yourself but for £24 I'm happy for someone else to do it. By the time you've jacked up the car, crawled around, wiped up all the oil and disposed of it at the tip it's not worth it for me. I will be doing 14,000miles a year so no issues with oil degrading over time and for the most part it will be unstressed driving conditions (commuting) so I'm happy to take less hassle and work on standard BMW intervals.
 
Steve84N said:
All six plugs supplied by me as noted earlier in this thread. I gave them Shell Helix Ultra 5w40 to use, it's LL01 and good value at £56 for 12l.

They had the manual and I told him 6.5l so he knew. He explained to me that he'd only put 5l in as he didn't want to overfill it when it was reading full. I said fair enough I'll top it up if it needs it. To be honest I'd rather be the one who drove it until the light came on but next time I'll know that the sensor is slow to update and just stick with quantities.
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The garage did exactly the right thing to fill until the car said it was full. Had they simply added 6.5l that you say you'll be doing next time (assume they only part drained, filled from barrel not measured container, etc.) then it's highly likely that if that overfilled it by that amount then you'd wreck the engine in a few miles.

Google it if unsure but here's an example explanation:

'if you put a lot too much in, the spinning crank shaft will cause the oil aerate and froth. Then as the crank case (where the crank shaft is) becomes pressured with blowby, it will push the oil froth up into the cylinder walls on their intake stroke and become a burnable part of the air/fuel mixture causing light blue smoke. Severely overfilled engines hydrolock the crank case and break piston rings (which also may be happening here).'

I'm posting this in the thread in case others reading and concerned about under filling filling simply start adding large quantities of oil.
 
Good idea to post as a reference, I was aware of the general problem but that's a really good explanation.

I would be happy adding by volume up to at least 6l if I had done it and could be sure I'd done the drain right. Next time I will trust they can do the same in terms of draining it properly and tell them to put 6l and I'll top up as necessary in case they didn't drain the last 0.5l very well. At the end of the day if they can't drain an engine by 1.5l then they can pick up the tab for the damage as they're clearly not competent, although I know in reality that's not as easy it sounds...
 
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