Engine oil

B

bras0782

Member
My engine oil telltale light comes on in yellow when I switch the engine off. Checked the dip stick and the level has fallen just below the minimum :| .

Since my service is due in 2750 miles (the car will be 4.5yrs old and have done ~40k miles by then) I was thinking of just topping up with a bit of oil for now to get me to the service, during which I assume they will clear and re-fill the oil anyway (right?)

The manual suggest some BMW oils and ACEA A3 (European standard), but the only oil I have lying around is ACEA A1/B1-98 (API-SL/CF), 5W/30. I found this useful link which says A3 is for performance cars and A1 is fuel economy oil.

Do you think it'll matter if I top up a little with the ACEA A1/B1-98 I have at home until I go for the service in 2750 miles?
 
As far as I know any fully-synthetic 5w/30 should be fine (wait for someone else to confirm though). Failing that a litre of Castrol is <£10 I think, that should do you til service time.
 
dont BMW recommend BMW Longlife 01 specification for our cars? which is I think 0w/30 Castrol Edge, ~£15 a litre.
 
gannet said:
dont BMW recommend BMW Longlife 01 specification for our cars? which is I think 0w/30 Castrol Edge, ~£15 a litre.
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From the manual:

Preferred: BMW Longlife-01
Alternatively: BMW Longlife-98, BMW Longlife or ACEA A3

I don't don't what viscosity, etc they are.
 
I could always go ask for another quart and send it too you :P I really think I just caught the guy on a nice day. Or he may of thought my car was under warranty and as such oil is free then.
 
gannet said:
dont BMW recommend BMW Longlife 01 specification for our cars? which is I think 0w/30 Castrol Edge, ~£15 a litre.
Click to expand...

LOL £15 a litre at their prices maybe, even halfrauds sell 4 litres for £42. I have a can of it sitting in the shed ready to go :)

Can save a small sum by providing your own oil at servicing time :thumbsup:
 
I only buy 4/5 litre cans of oil, thats quite a markup for the convienience of a smaller bottle. :o
 
Agreed, but I had a full boot and a long journey & it just flashed the yellow light at me, so bought a litre for piece of mind! Then didn't need it :o
 
Better safe than sorry :thumbsup:

BTW can someone give me advise on reading the dipstick. DSC00793.jpg

I currently wait a few mins after switch off and then check the oil level (so the oil is at temperature and has been circulating), the dipstick seems to be quite tricky to read but am I correct in thinking that the small notch is the minimum mark and the top of the big notch is the max mark? its not clear to me.
 
My understanding is you're supposed to check the oil when the car is cold. So if you've been on a journey you want to wait a while before checking.

Remove the dip stick and wipe off the oil. Then put the stick back in fully and remove again.

The dip stick has two notches. The one closest to the end is the minimum level, the other one is the maximum. The oil level is fine if it's between these notches.
 
Thought the manual said a few minutes after turning off... I'll check it and report back later :thumbsup:
 
I think it's warm up the engine to it's normal operating temperature. Shut it down. Wait 5 minutes. Check oil.
 
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