Electronic 'dipstick' on the 2.0l?

G

Georgio

Active member
 Hockley, Essex
Had my Z for 5 months now and even though I 'check' the oil weekly, I'm a little nervous that the electronic oil system always comes up with an ok.
Is there another way of checking the oil level bar draining it and measuring; whoever thought of the dash dipstick was a dipstick imo.
 
No other way that I know of... But mine hasn't let me down. Alpina's drink a lot of oil (but have a dipstick), however mine has only needed 1 litre in 8 months or so.
 
No, none.

The yellow tail tail light that comes on when o turn the engine off that indicates oil needs topping up is common across all z4's though, even ones with dipsticks. That is your belt and braces so to speak.
 
Even when it says add 1 litre there is still loads of oil in the engine I think, as the capacity is 6, is it not ? Doesn't mean you shouldn't. Add a litre though... I quite like it as I know exactly how much to add. With a dipstick I always end up putting too much in...
 
I havent had the oil changed in mine in 3+ years, or 6000miles (which is what it's done in 3+years)... have booked a service for next weekend so hopefully should all be ok. It's electronic too in the 3.0. Bit weird, but the logic, so i hear, was so that BMW could create the perfect sealed unit... myth, lie, or truth.. its a cool reason to not have a dipstick :)
 
dmo said:
I havent had the oil changed in mine in 3+ years, or 6000miles (which is what it's done in 3+years)... have booked a service for next weekend so hopefully should all be ok. It's electronic too in the 3.0. Bit weird, but the logic, so i hear, was so that BMW could create the perfect sealed unit... myth, lie, or truth.. its a cool reason to not have a dipstick :)
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3 years?? :o
 
dmo said:
I havent had the oil changed in mine in 3+ years, or 6000miles (which is what it's done in 3+years)... have booked a service for next weekend so hopefully should all be ok. It's electronic too in the 3.0. Bit weird, but the logic, so i hear, was so that BMW could create the perfect sealed unit... myth, lie, or truth.. its a cool reason to not have a dipstick :)
Click to expand...

Should be serviced every two years, irrespective of mileage, but I guess you may have bought it overdue ?

That aside, I did not know about the sealed unit explanation - cool indeed 8)
 
Don't think it seaed as they have breathers in them, and suck in air by the bucket full if you think about it :wink:
 
Yes, the electronic sensor operates within the top litre of oil, while the total is much more (6, as Bing said). My 3.0si needs a litre after 9 months of intensive urban driving.

There is another safeguard - if the sensor develops a fault, the yellow oil light comes up after starting the engine to inform you about the error. It accompanied by the ERROR message while trying to start the measuring procedure.
 
srhutch said:
Don't think it seaed as they have breathers in them, and suck in air by the bucket full if you think about it :wink:
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Air gets sucked into the combustion chambers though, not where the oil is ? Though your point is valid as there's obviously a hole to get the oil into in the first place :D
 
Ah cool, at least there's a fail-safe for the sensor, that's what I was most worried about to be honest.

corsaire77 said:
Yes, the electronic sensor operates within the top litre of oil, while the total is much more (6, as Bing said). My 3.0si needs a litre after 9 months of intensive urban driving.

There is another safeguard - if the sensor develops a fault, the yellow oil light comes up after starting the engine to inform you about the error. It accompanied by the ERROR message while trying to start the measuring procedure.
Click to expand...
 
Bing said:
srhutch said:
Don't think it seaed as they have breathers in them, and suck in air by the bucket full if you think about it :wink:
Click to expand...

Air gets sucked into the combustion chambers though, not where the oil is ? Though your point is valid as there's obviously a hole to get the oil into in the first place :D
Click to expand...
Quite right! But it does have a gasket of sorts. As do many dipsticks, well, O-rings, same effect. It's still not sealed, there's a rather elaborate system to take gasses out of the crankcase, separate the fine oil droplets, then the remaining gas is fed into the intake manifold, and the oil drips back into the case. So if it takes gas out, there has to be a way for gas to get in. There is no dedicated air inlet, so it can hardly be a sealed system.

I think it's just an attempt to luxuriate the Brand. The stereotypical BMW customer of generous effluence couldn't be bothered to get his fingers soiled by lifting the bonnet and handling a long oily object. This allows him to easily check the level so the engine won't burn up, for BMW would get the blame for that.
 
Bing said:
srhutch said:
Don't think it seaed as they have breathers in them, and suck in air by the bucket full if you think about it :wink:
Click to expand...

Air gets sucked into the combustion chambers though, not where the oil is ? Though your point is valid as there's obviously a hole to get the oil into in the first place :D
Click to expand...

I was just being mischievous with the second comment :evil:
 
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