Engine oil light up

yala603 · 02-07-2009, 02:20 PM

Yesterday,the exclamation sign lighted up suddenly.
I quickly went home and when I turned off the engine the engine oil light came up, so I went to the BMW service dept and got 1 qrt 10W-60 from Castrol and first put 250 mL (one quarter) of it.
I tried recalibrating, but the sign still showed up +1, so just pour the whole thing. Now, the bar is not completly full, but really close to full (the point where the top triangle is pointing the bar in the picture)

my question is should I make the bar full? I made an appoinment with my local dealer, so should I take my car to them to make it exactly full, or just leave it as it is? I don't know if I should really trust the car's calibration since it doesn't seem that precise.

Also, when did you guys have to add more engine oil? Do I have to do this every 4,000 miles or something? I paid close to 12 dollars for 1 quart of 10W-60 from my local dealer. How much do u guys pay?

yala603 · 02-07-2009, 02:21 PM

Sorry about the pic size

southlight · 02-07-2009, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yala603

Yesterday,the exclamation sign lighted up suddenly.
I quickly went home and when I turned off the engine the engine oil light came up, so I went to the BMW service dept and got 1 qrt 10W-60 from Castrol and first put 250 mL (one quarter) of it.
I tried recalibrating, but the sign still showed up +1, so just pour the whole thing. Now, the bar is not completly full, but really close to full (the point where the top triangle is pointing the bar in the picture)

my question is should I make the bar full? I made an appoinment with my local dealer, so should I take my car to them to make it exactly full, or just leave it as it is? I don't know if I should really trust the car's calibration since it doesn't seem that precise.

So the bar is exactly where the upper triangle is pointing to? In that case it is full, higher would mean overfilled.

Best regards, south

yala603 · 02-07-2009, 11:34 PM

I see.
Thanks for the information South

GregW / Oregon · 02-07-2009, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yala603

I see.
Thanks for the information South

Yes, that's perfect, doesn't need to be at the top.

gr8000 · 02-08-2009, 02:33 AM

One thing that the dealer mentioned to me at delivery was to be careful with topping up the oil. He said that the electronic oil indicator scale is not linear (i.e. showing half does not necessarily mean that 500c of oil is missing) so in orer to ensure that oil is not overfilled (which will get you in trouble), the oil level needs to be left to drop to the point where a warning pops up to top up oil with 1lt. Only then he said to top up oil by emptying the entire 1lt bottle in the engine. He discouraged for isnatnce to add half of the bottle when the mark was at half, or 1/4 when the mark was at 3/4.

He also mentioned that for the new quantity of oil to show properly in the indicator a day or so needs to elapse so the new oil moves through the system and ends up in the sump.

I have already toped up oil 2ce x 1lt (my car has 12,500km) and I am close to toping up a 3rd time shortly. I have followed the dealer advice and I've been fine - simple, no overfills, no mess & no other trouble! This is also the recommended advise as per the manual if my memory serves we well.

yala603 · 02-08-2009, 01:42 PM

That is what I exactly did.
When the warning sign came up I topped in 1 quart.
I guess I should just cancel my appointment.

02-07-2009, 02:20 PM	#1
yala603 New Member 1 Rep 8 Posts Drives: M3 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: NoVA iTrader: (0)	Engine oil light up Yesterday,the exclamation sign lighted up suddenly. I quickly went home and when I turned off the engine the engine oil light came up, so I went to the BMW service dept and got 1 qrt 10W-60 from Castrol and first put 250 mL (one quarter) of it. I tried recalibrating, but the sign still showed up +1, so just pour the whole thing. Now, the bar is not completly full, but really close to full (the point where the top triangle is pointing the bar in the picture) my question is should I make the bar full? I made an appoinment with my local dealer, so should I take my car to them to make it exactly full, or just leave it as it is? I don't know if I should really trust the car's calibration since it doesn't seem that precise. Also, when did you guys have to add more engine oil? Do I have to do this every 4,000 miles or something? I paid close to 12 dollars for 1 quart of 10W-60 from my local dealer. How much do u guys pay? Attached Images
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02-07-2009, 02:21 PM	#2
yala603 New Member 1 Rep 8 Posts Drives: M3 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: NoVA iTrader: (0)	Sorry about the pic size
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02-07-2009, 11:34 PM	#4
yala603 New Member 1 Rep 8 Posts Drives: M3 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: NoVA iTrader: (0)	I see. Thanks for the information South
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02-08-2009, 02:33 AM	#6
gr8000 Major 72 Rep 1,171 Posts Drives: E92 M3 - DCT Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Athens, Greece iTrader: (0)	One thing that the dealer mentioned to me at delivery was to be careful with topping up the oil. He said that the electronic oil indicator scale is not linear (i.e. showing half does not necessarily mean that 500c of oil is missing) so in orer to ensure that oil is not overfilled (which will get you in trouble), the oil level needs to be left to drop to the point where a warning pops up to top up oil with 1lt. Only then he said to top up oil by emptying the entire 1lt bottle in the engine. He discouraged for isnatnce to add half of the bottle when the mark was at half, or 1/4 when the mark was at 3/4. He also mentioned that for the new quantity of oil to show properly in the indicator a day or so needs to elapse so the new oil moves through the system and ends up in the sump. I have already toped up oil 2ce x 1lt (my car has 12,500km) and I am close to toping up a 3rd time shortly. I have followed the dealer advice and I've been fine - simple, no overfills, no mess & no other trouble! This is also the recommended advise as per the manual if my memory serves we well.
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02-08-2009, 01:42 PM	#7
yala603 New Member 1 Rep 8 Posts Drives: M3 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: NoVA iTrader: (0)	That is what I exactly did. When the warning sign came up I topped in 1 quart. I guess I should just cancel my appointment.
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