Oil Warning

R

ronk

Lifer
 Durham
The car has just pinged up a warning that it needs oil !
It was reading MAX on the electronic gauge last time it was out and it’s done 100 miles since - I suspect a sensor?
35is with 6k

If a sensor has failed and the oil level is ok then I’m happy
If the previous full levels have not been accurate I’m less than happy as the gauge is now showing red and below minimum!

Oh for a conventional dipstick!
 
As an update to my own post:-

The electronic gauge was on the RED and I wasn’t prepared to drive it unnecessarily so I got BMW assist to come out and he added 1lt of LL 04 - after warming it thro, the level was checked and was back to the MAX

BMW say that the gauge is not an electronic dipstick and doesn’t show the interim oil levels - it gets to the low level and pings a warning - 1lt is the amount required.

I now know that the engine uses 1lt / 6500 miles
 
ronk said:
As an update to my own post:-

The electronic gauge was on the RED and I wasn’t prepared to drive it unnecessarily so I got BMW assist to come out and he added 1lt of LL 04 - after warming it thro, the level was checked and was back to the MAX

BMW say that the gauge is not an electronic dipstick and doesn’t show the interim oil levels - it gets to the low level and pings a warning - 1lt is the amount required.

I now know that the engine uses 1lt / 6500 miles
Click to expand...

That sounds odd, my electronic gauge definitely showed interim oil levels on my si before it got to the stage of a pinged warning, my 20i doesn’t seem to use any oil so far & still displays full :thumbsup:
If bmw are right, then what’s the purpose of the gauge if it doesn’t move?
Rob
 
I agree - i would rather see a gradual level reduction - but the dealer said it was so the user would put in an known amount to bring it back to 100% filled and reduce the risk of overfill - the techie also remarked that top up bottles come in 1 litre containers.
I would rather these were in 0,5l bottles and the iDrive pinged at -0.5l

That’s progress !
 
ronk said:
I agree - i would rather see a gradual level reduction - but the dealer said it was so the user would put in an known amount to bring it back to 100% filled and reduce the risk of overfill - the techie also remarked that top up bottles come in 1 litre containers.
I would rather these were in 0,5l bottles and the iDrive pinged at -0.5l

That’s progress !
Click to expand...

I’m sure they’ve got that wrong, why would they go to the cost of fitting a gauge that doesn’t move when they have a buzzer doing the same job?
They would be no point in it.
Rob
 
I will ask at another dealer !

I can’t think they would have any reason to give me bs tho but why show a scale ? It baffles me. I can only think that older software did show incremental oil use?

The level isn’t graduated on my display - I’ve just had an email from a pal who says that his one series has a graduated scale! I don’t know what graduations they are tho.
 
Mine is late 2016 - does yours show any usage?
Because it’s so easy to check I use it often but the last time I used the car it showed 100% - ive done a 100 mile drive since the check but today I took it from my garage and parked with the nose slightly downhill - then it pinged. The fella put in 1l - it now shows 100% filled.
 
Ah hill, that will do it. If I remember, could well be wrong, the sensor is at the back on the engine. Park nose down on a hill and it thinks its low. A friend I used to give a lift to each day was on a hill and at least 50%of the time my oil would flash 1 litre. Get to work on the flat, its then fine.

I don't have idrive but on mine there are 4 gradients which when full are +1 litre so the maths is there for each one :wink:
 
My 2009 has idrive and the oil gauge is split into quarters from memory. I have an oil service done every 12 months (3 oil changes in my ownership), the second time I had it done (by BMW dealer) after a few weeks it came up with a warning, I checked for leaks (the car had done only 20,000) and it was fine, did gradual top up until level was ok on the display. It did this for awhile and I was concerned that the car seemed to be burning oil. It settled down again and I had another oil change done and the level has stayed constant since (car has just reached 27,000 miles), don't know what was going on there. Also around that time if I parked the car on the drive nose down then I would get an oil warning alert, place the car on the flat, turn it off then restart and it was fine. Park it nose up the drive and no warnings at all, what concerned me was that if you followed the instructions and added 1 litre that you end up damaging the engine by having too much. The car now lives in the garage on the flat and has behaved ever since.
 
I decided that, since I couldn't change it, I was going to learn to love the lack of a dipstick, not least because display-only information is the way the world's going and the car's never going to have one, anyway.

So, having played the 'How much oil is one segment?' game, I made sure there was a litre in the boot and continued to drive my 1,000+ miles-a-month-just-for-fun, knowing from the handbook that when the bong came I'd have 125 miles to transfer it to the engine.

Now, I don't drive a 35iS because of the writing on the side. It's a matter of principle to kick the rev counter above 4k whenever the oil's hot, so having complete faith in the bong is a major step. Anyway, after about 10k miles since the last change, up came 'Add oil' and the bong. Immediately, it was boot open, bonnet up & the whole litre in.

Now I think, 'What's not to like?'
 
I wish I could have the same faith in the oil sensor as some of you do.
On our X6 we have had issues with the oil sensor which has, as far as we know, been fixed now.
The reading on the idrive was showing that the engine had too much oil. Thankfully the engine also has a dipstick and it was reading ok on that but still the cars computer was showing too much oil and visit the garage.
The garage drained and refilled only for the oil to show high again. A faulty oil level sensor was blamed.
The sensor was changed out at a huge cost (£150 + an oil change) and not long after showed too high again. Took back to the garage where it was checked and the sensor recalibrated again.
Touch wood it seems to be fine now but if it can go wrong and show that the level is too high surely it can also read that it is too low when it isn't. The car tells you to add a litre of oil when it doesn't need it and then you have too much oil in the engine which can be just as bad as not enough.
Its difficult to put all your trust in something that can fail.
When the oil light comes on in a mini it can need over 2 litres of oil to get it on the max level on the dipstick. This to me seems wrong and the light should come on when it gets to the minimum level on the dipstick.
 
Smartbear said:
ronk said:
As an update to my own post:-

The electronic gauge was on the RED and I wasn’t prepared to drive it unnecessarily so I got BMW assist to come out and he added 1lt of LL 04 - after warming it thro, the level was checked and was back to the MAX

BMW say that the gauge is not an electronic dipstick and doesn’t show the interim oil levels - it gets to the low level and pings a warning - 1lt is the amount required.

I now know that the engine uses 1lt / 6500 miles
Click to expand...

That sounds odd, my electronic gauge definitely showed interim oil levels on my si before it got to the stage of a pinged warning, my 20i doesn’t seem to use any oil so far & still displays full :thumbsup:
If bmw are right, then what’s the purpose of the gauge if it doesn’t move?
Rob
Click to expand...

My 20i has just moved from max to 3/4 so it does move,, :thumbsup:
 
Nictrix said:
I wish I could have the same faith in the oil sensor as some of you do.
On our X6 we have had issues with the oil sensor which has, as far as we know, been fixed now.
The reading on the idrive was showing that the engine had too much oil. Thankfully the engine also has a dipstick and it was reading ok on that but still the cars computer was showing too much oil and visit the garage.
The garage drained and refilled only for the oil to show high again. A faulty oil level sensor was blamed.
The sensor was changed out at a huge cost (£150 + an oil change) and not long after showed too high again. Took back to the garage where it was checked and the sensor recalibrated again.
Touch wood it seems to be fine now but if it can go wrong and show that the level is too high surely it can also read that it is too low when it isn't. The car tells you to add a litre of oil when it doesn't need it and then you have too much oil in the engine which can be just as bad as not enough.
Its difficult to put all your trust in something that can fail.
When the oil light comes on in a mini it can need over 2 litres of oil to get it on the max level on the dipstick. This to me seems wrong and the light should come on when it gets to the minimum level on the dipstick.
Click to expand...


I agree 100% - Im not convinced that they have sorted mine. To go from 100% filled to a RED line and a warning Boing can't be right.
Ok, the car was on a slight downhill slope but on a few degrees nose down ??????

The car goes in for its first service in September so i will have another chat at the dealer then.

Smartbear made the comment earlier- why put a gauge display if its not an electronic dipstick - if its just a switch to indicate it needs 1l go oil then a warning light with a boing would suffice.
 
Not much to add that hasn't already been said, but mine goes down in sections so this is a "me too!" post.
 
A few have said that their gauges go down in segments - but it was suggested that they "don't do that now sir"
or is that another wriggle?

I’ve asked BMW customer service to confirm.
 
ronk said:
A few have said that their gauges go down in segments - but it was suggested that they "don't do that now sir"
or is that another wriggle?

I’ve asked BMW customer service to confirm.
Click to expand...

Hmm, you could do with getting a reply from someone who has an E89 as new as yours.

The ones on my E86 and E91 definitely go down in segments - there are 4 markings from one end of the scale to the other.

If what you are being told is correct that seems a pretty cr*p "update" to an already pretty cr*p system! :(
 
Busterboo said:
Well, unless someone can devise an after-market dipstick, we're stuck with 'Bong & Add oil', aren't we?
:idunno:
Click to expand...

So did your electronic dipstick not move at all & all you got was the bong?
Rob
 
Morning, Rob.

Yes, the e-dipstick moved, but I never found it a good enough indicator, even though the car's parked on spirit-level-flat concrete, so measuring liquids should be easy.

I experimented: hot engine, park, read indicator, add oil, drive to re-heat engine & oil, park, read indicator and so on. A right pita and the indicator responded poorly.

The 'bong and add a litre' is easier and avoids the danger of over-filling.

(I had a 911 with an e-dipstick. Each segment was 125ml and it was accurate. The car also had a proper dipstick, so you could avoid over-filling.)
 
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