Engine oil minimum level, miles from anywhere!

D

DinosaurEyes

Member
Edinburgh
I drove up to the top of Scotland yesterday, and now I'm 100 miles from Halfords in Inverness, but 20miles from Tesco superstore in Thurso that hopefully sell this http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-5w30-fully-synthetic-oil-vwaudi-2l/593-9257.prd

Do I:
Drive 100 miles without topping up, and buy nice high performance oil from halfords.
Drive 20 miles and put Tesco brand oil in?
 
Minimum is still in the operating range albeit at the low end of it, 100 miles should be absolutely fine, it's not going to do any damage in that distance.
 
You are fine, just buy some of the decent stuff in 100 miles.

.....you might want to check your oil level more frequently in future :wink: - assuming it is as simple to do on a E89 as it is on an E85/86.
 
Surely there must be a petrol station somewhere closer - most of them should sell a decent LL04 oil
 
Nearest petrol station is in Thurso, it's tiny. Nearest Esso is in Inverness!

Manual says this too: Adding engine oil
Add a maximum quantity of 1 US quart/1 liter of
oil only after a corresponding message appears
on the Control Display.
Add oil promptly
Add oil within the next 125 miles/200 km;
otherwise, engine damage could result.

So will see how I get on getting to inverness.

I had checked it before setting off and just beforr. And it was fine. About 40 percent between min and Max... Hopefully it just took a reading on a slope, or something. Don't want to have to deal with a leak up here! Will go check in a bit.
 
I'm not advocating driving below min levels, but the min oil level is more to do with cooling than lubrication. So long as the pump is picking up a supply of oil the engine will be lubricated. Frankly it could on most engines be at 1/2 capacity and work.. All you need to on low levels is not thrash things, tow heavy trailers, hammer it on long bends, etc.

Cars are built to assume you'll be 200 miles out in Alaska or the Sahara with low oil, or folks ignoring lights for weeks.
 
Err , why not just have a ltr in yer boot, bmw do nice carry pouches,
 

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AlienZed said:
Err , why not just have a ltr in yer boot, bmw do nice carry pouches,
Click to expand...
I used to use the BMW pouch but found that the Castrol 1L oil bottles aren't really made to be refilled and, once opened, the caps start to leak after a while - I buy oil in bulk when it's on offer and object to paying ridiculous per-litre prices for the smaller sizes just to get new containers

So, and this is for non-///M E85s only... if you don't have anything in the underfloor area next to the battery (I think some cars have an amp there), 2 x 500ml plastic milk containers (the short stubby ones) fit nice and snugly in there, sitting upright without any chance of coming loose during 'enthusiastic' driving. They don't completely fill the area so there's room for additional bits & pieces as well
 
Considering the amount you seem to be driving, so you not just check the oil on the car from the dash every trip?

I always check my oil, the fact there is no physical dip stick and the fact it's quite easy to check from the dash, as well as being something you should be doing on a regular basis there is no excuse really. It hasn't just gone from max to min and if it has then you've possibly bigger problems like a faulty sensor?

I'm sure going forward you will make sure you check on most, if not every trip.
 
PerryGunn said:
AlienZed said:
Err , why not just have a ltr in yer boot, bmw do nice carry pouches,
Click to expand...
I used to use the BMW pouch but found that the Castrol 1L oil bottles aren't really made to be refilled and, once opened, the caps start to leak after a while - I buy oil in bulk when it's on offer and object to paying ridiculous per-litre prices for the smaller sizes just to get new containers

So, and this is for non-///M E85s only... if you don't have anything in the underfloor area next to the battery (I think some cars have an amp there), 2 x 500ml plastic milk containers (the short stubby ones) fit nice and snugly in there, sitting upright without any chance of coming loose during 'enthusiastic' driving. They don't completely fill the area so there's room for additional bits & pieces as well
Click to expand...

A brilliant idea! :thumbsup:
 
Got some oil from a petrol station in the end, all good!

Must have been all that "enthusiatic" driving I did on Saturday. Checked the level before setting off in the morning and it was just under halfway, figured that'd be fine. After topping it up everything seemed good and it's still at max after the 350 miles on the way home.

Yup first Z4, will definitely be making sure there's a litre in the boot from now on, I like those pouches...

Cheers for all for the words of reassurance anyway, nothing worse than being stuck miles from home with potential car woes, nothing better than when the woes are quashed and the car proves you wrong! :driving:

Here's a picture to say thanks

DSC05168_zps0pfrdcvd.jpg
 
Lovely looking Z! And good result.

I have one of those BMW pouches for 500ml of Castrol Edge LL04, which is currently on sale for £9.00 at my local Tesco! So I have one of those in the boot just in case!

Not such a problem for my E46 325ti Compact as it has a low-level warning light AND a dip-stick, but then it does tend to use more!
 
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