Oil Light stays on

C

Cool Z4

Active member
 So. Cal, USA
Ok, I know, first thought, low oil. Well, here is my dilemma. I turn on the car and all is well. I run to work, 40 miles away, mostly freeway. Get to work or home and when I turn off the car, the "yellow" oil light stays on for about 30 seconds, then turns off.
2007 3.0i steptronic.
Any ideas?
 
Could be a dodgy sump sensor. Happened on my 3 series.

1 hours labour plus parts to fix it. C.£200

I'm no expert, so welcome anyone else's thoughts...?


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jamiez said:
This means you are low on oil - top up with 1L - your OBC will say the same
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+2

Stays on Amber, for a time, when you switch off the ignition. Means dont' panic you can still drive the car a short distance, if you have to, but top up to the correct level very soon.

Stays on Amber permanetly, means top up now or you going to wreck your engine pretty soon.

Stays on red means, you have ignored me too long and now you must pay with your enigine and wallet for being a wally.

I may have used some artistic licence in the above. But I'm sure you get the meanings. :D
 
foxy-stoat said:
Have you physically checked the oil level?
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There's no way physically check the oil level on N52 engines. :poke: You must have meant to physically press the check oil level button. :wink:
 
If the oil level is fine, it could be dodgy sensor - if topping up with 0.75l of oil doesn't work, I'd take it to your local Indy


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bcworkz said:
foxy-stoat said:
Have you physically checked the oil level?
Click to expand...
There's no way physically check the oil level on N52 engines. :poke: You must have meant to physically press the check oil level button. :wink:
Click to expand...

What no dip stick?

I guess its progress, no spare wheel, no temperature gauge on 3 and 5 series.....rubbish idea I say!
 
foxy-stoat said:
What no dip stick?

I guess its progress, no spare wheel, no temperature gauge on 3 and 5 series.....rubbish idea I say!
Click to expand...
"Rubbish" is too kind! There's much to learn from an engine by just pulling a dipstick, now no longer available to us. :headbang: I call this something, but it's not "progress" and I'm too polite to write what I'm thinking about this right now. :evil:
 
Did take it to my local Indy and they checked the oil level for me and it is ok.
I found out that one can electronically check the level, which I didn't know until the tech told and showed me how.
So for those of you, like me, that didn't read the owners manual and absorb everything, here is how.
First, he told me that I have a simple instrument cluster, thought they were all the same in the Z4's. I have a 2007 3.0i, BTW.
So, you get in the car, close the door.
Turn the key to #2 position, the one right before actually starting the car. Wait till the system goes thru its check list, about 5 seconds or so.
Then switch the computer to the temp screen. Hold down the right button on the dash, the one that changes the clock for over 10 seconds. Let go and it will tell you "Oil OK" or he said if it is low, say 1/2 quart(sorry,american here), it will say Low -.5
Just turn off the car to get out of it.
 
TBH if your still getting the yellow light I would treat what they say with a pinch of salt as it's using the same sensor. Only real way to tell how much oil there is is to drain it.
 
andysat said:
I thought it had to be at running temp before it can give an accurate reading on the dash?
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Correct. Applies to dipstick measurements as well for that matter. But if it's below the minimum level, hot or cold, you need more oil, but there is a risk of adding too much if the measurement was taken cold.
 
Cool Z4 said:
Ok, I know, first thought, low oil. Well, here is my dilemma. I turn on the car and all is well. I run to work, 40 miles away, mostly freeway. Get to work or home and when I turn off the car, the "yellow" oil light stays on for about 30 seconds, then turns off.
2007 3.0i steptronic.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...


does it not say +1l when you turn the engine on or off??

its definitely low oil because i've had that before.... fill it up before that oil icon turns red!
 
I've got this problem too. Yellow light for 30s after switching off.

The manual check say's OK, and I know the level is fine because it was changed when I collected the car from the dealer. They've assured me they put the right amount in and I've no reason to doubt them given that the manual check is fine.

So, do I chuck some more oil in risk overfilling? That seems silly. I could get the sensor changed under warranty, but surely there's only one sensor and it's working fine on the manual check.

I'm a bit confused, and the idea of draining the sump to see if there was enough oil in the car is farcical. Why no dipstick anyway?
 
There's more to the level indicator than the "OK", there's a bar scale indicating the approximate level. It represents 1 litre span. If it's indicating the level is close to being a litre low, it's probably safe to add half litre to get rid of the annoying light. It seems the light starts illuminating before the level is a full litre low. As much as I hate these sensors, I would trust what it says more than a dealer. Tells you what I think of dealers.

If the bar scale is indicating completely full and you are getting the yellow light on shut down, I don't know what to tell you. If the sensor were defective, the oil level display is supposed to say "error".

Why no dipstick? I've no idea, but I imagine some high level BMW meeting went like this:
"We are getting engine failures because our customers wearing 800 Euro Italian suits are not checking their oil levels. Let's make it easy for them and add a high tech electronic level sensor so they don't risk oil stains on their clothing.

Hey, since we added 500 Euros worth of sensors to a 50K Euro car, we can save 5 Euros by removing the dipstick no one uses anyway."

Brilliant! Someone probably got a huge bonus coming up with that idea.
 
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