[007_e350]

I changed my oil last night, it took 5 Qrts went for a test drive to check oil level, it showed max -

this morning driving to work I checked and its 1 bar east of Min... REALLY?? arrived at work while parking it gave ADD 1 QRT of oil message & showed oil at MIN ... Is this normal ?? I dont think I have a puddle anywhere underneath

I know the car take 6.5 Qrts, I didnt add more coz there might be oil in the cooler, block etc that didnt drain... maybe I was wrong

[ECSTuning]

The N54 in your MY08 335i takes just under 7 quarts of oil for a proper oil change.

[E90Company]

Originally Posted by ECSTuning

The N54 in your MY08 335i takes just under 7 quarts of oil for a proper oil change.

+1. 5Qts is not enough.

What they said. Try adding the proper amount of oil to the crankcase after an oil change to avoid this issue in the future.

[ZROFCKSGVN]

the oil level display on the dash isnt always accurate, sometimes it will change depending on the position of the car or the oil and such so always check after an oil change and on a flat surface. But like these guys mentiones 5qts is def not enough

[BoostedE90]

Also... (in my experience) the oil display has a big delay in showing the actual oil level. I was showing about a quart low on the display, added a quart, and drove around for a good 5-7 mins. The display still showed it was a quart low. After close to 10-12 mins of driving it finally showed that it was at the max level. From what I have seen the car has to be completely warm before it gives an accurate reading of the oil level.

what ever happened to the good old dipstick?

[007_e350]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

What they said. Try adding the proper amount of oil to the crankcase after an oil change to avoid this issue in the future.

you cant throw in 7 Qrts just like that .. oil level is supposed to tell how much to add after 5 Qrts

[Bimmer305]

Originally Posted by 007_e350

you cant throw in 7 Qrts just like that .. oil level is supposed to tell how much to add after 5 Qrts

[j1gilles]

Probably should let the "pros" handle your oil changes from now on... Changing your own oil really does not save a ton of money anyway and you have to get rid of the old oil. I do most of my own car maintenance/repairs myself and I still take my car to an indie shop for oil changes. You can usaully bring your own oil and filter with you.

[longliven54]

if you have non-sport, that takes 6. i keep the7th for top-ups for later.
i think with oil running towards oil coolers in sports package cars, it holds 7.
all this is just based on my personal experience and not based on any facts. i cud be wrong, but it is true for my car atleast

[007_e350]

I bought 7 Qrts, will add more when I get back ... I like doing my own oil change, get to know what came out the engine, crawl under look for anything sticking out just me

[007_e350]

Originally Posted by Bimmer305

[j1gilles]

Originally Posted by 007_e350

I bought 7 Qrts, will add more when I get back ... I like doing my own oil change, get to know what came out the engine, crawl under look for anything sticking out just me

Next time you change your oil (if you continue to do it) let it drain completely and refill it with the recommended 6.9 qrts. When I was a GM tech and changed my own oil at work I would also let all of the oil drain and then pour a quart in with the drain plug still removed to "flush" out any remaining old oil.

[boostaholic786]

I would def take the general instructions or call the dealer and give them your vin to find out if your car has an oil cooler or not. Because if you put only 5 quarts of oil in your car when it requires almost 6-7 quarts, you def need to add the correct amount or do the whole thing over again and just like ^ said, 5 quarts seems way to low to be in our motors, with or without an oil cooler. In fact I have never heard of anyone putting only 5 quarts of oil in their N54....

Originally Posted by boostaholic786

In fact I have never heard of anyone putting only 5 quarts of oil in their N54....

No way dude...u cant throw in 7 qts of oil just like that. Youre only supposed to put in a little bit and then the car tells you when to add more lol bone dry

[j1gilles]

Originally Posted by boostaholic786

I would def take the general instructions or call the dealer and give them your vin to find out if your car has an oil cooler or not. Because if you put only 5 quarts of oil in your car when it requires almost 6-7 quarts, you def need to add the correct amount or do the whole thing over again and just like ^ said, 5 quarts seems way to low to be in our motors, with or without an oil cooler. In fact I have never heard of anyone putting only 5 quarts of oil in their N54....

Sometimes people do some crazy sh$t...
When I was a tech (1998) we had a guy bring in his car after attempting a DIY oil change. The car was smoking and knocking in the service drive and the oil and check engine lights were on. He had drained all of the oil and added the correct amount of fresh oil per the owners manual (5 quarts) and changed the filter during his weekend warrior DIY oil change. He started the car and a minute later he said "the car started knocking and the oil light came on". He shut the car off and checked the dipstick, it showed no oil???? He was baffled!! Thinking maybe the owners manual was wrong and his Quad 4 needed more than 5 quarts, he had his wife drive him to Pep Boys to buy 5 more quarts (didnt bother to ask them the capacity). He added them and started the car, same issues, no oil on the dipstick??? He then decided the dipstick must be "broken" and drove to the dealership which was 7 miles away.
I added a few quarts to the car in the service drive and checked the dipstick. I now read min so I added 2 more quarts which brought the level up to the max mark. I then restarted the car which to my amazement no longer knocked (smoked a little)... We let the car run for 30 minutes and it seemed fine except the water temp was almost to the boil-over point so I again shut off the car. I removed the coolant res cap (Quad 4's had a seperate tank) and guess where the customer had added his oil?????? The Quad 4's were notorious for having leaky water pumps and his was no different. His coolant was so low that the coolant tank and the radiator were nearly empty so all ten quarts fit in the radiator and the tank.
I replaced the water pump and cleaned out all the cooling parts, flushing them with water and Dawn dish. We then refilled the coolant and would you believe the car ran great! The sure don't build em like they use to.
Moral to my extremely long drawn out story is do your research before tackling any job, even one as simple as an oil change...

[douwe22]

Originally Posted by j1gilles

Sometimes people do some crazy sh$t...
When I was a tech (1998) we had a guy bring in his car after attempting a DIY oil change. The car was smoking and knocking in the service drive and the oil and check engine lights were on. He had drained all of the oil and added the correct amount of fresh oil per the owners manual (5 quarts) and changed the filter during his weekend warrior DIY oil change. He started the car and a minute later he said "the car started knocking and the oil light came on". He shut the car off and checked the dipstick, it showed no oil???? He was baffled!! Thinking maybe the owners manual was wrong and his Quad 4 needed more than 5 quarts, he had his wife drive him to Pep Boys to buy 5 more quarts (didnt bother to ask them the capacity). He added them and started the car, same issues, no oil on the dipstick??? He then decided the dipstick must be "broken" and drove to the dealership which was 7 miles away.
I added a few quarts to the car in the service drive and checked the dipstick. I now read min so I added 2 more quarts which brought the level up to the max mark. I then restarted the car which to my amazement no longer knocked (smoked a little)... We let the car run for 30 minutes and it seemed fine except the water temp was almost to the boil-over point so I again shut off the car. I removed the coolant res cap (Quad 4's had a seperate tank) and guess where the customer had added his oil?????? The Quad 4's were notorious for having leaky water pumps and his was no different. His coolant was so low that the coolant tank and the radiator were nearly empty so all ten quarts fit in the radiator and the tank.
I replaced the water pump and cleaned out all the cooling parts, flushing them with water and Dawn dish. We then refilled the coolant and would you believe the car ran great! The sure don't build em like they use to.
Moral to my extremely long drawn out story is do your research before tackling any job, even one as simple as an oil change...

Wow that's some crazy sh$t

[carlsontheflyer]

Originally Posted by j1gilles

Sometimes people do some crazy sh$t...
When I was a tech (1998) we had a guy bring in his car after attempting a DIY oil change. The car was smoking and knocking in the service drive and the oil and check engine lights were on. He had drained all of the oil and added the correct amount of fresh oil per the owners manual (5 quarts) and changed the filter during his weekend warrior DIY oil change. He started the car and a minute later he said "the car started knocking and the oil light came on". He shut the car off and checked the dipstick, it showed no oil???? He was baffled!! Thinking maybe the owners manual was wrong and his Quad 4 needed more than 5 quarts, he had his wife drive him to Pep Boys to buy 5 more quarts (didnt bother to ask them the capacity). He added them and started the car, same issues, no oil on the dipstick??? He then decided the dipstick must be "broken" and drove to the dealership which was 7 miles away.
I added a few quarts to the car in the service drive and checked the dipstick. I now read min so I added 2 more quarts which brought the level up to the max mark. I then restarted the car which to my amazement no longer knocked (smoked a little)... We let the car run for 30 minutes and it seemed fine except the water temp was almost to the boil-over point so I again shut off the car. I removed the coolant res cap (Quad 4's had a seperate tank) and guess where the customer had added his oil?????? The Quad 4's were notorious for having leaky water pumps and his was no different. His coolant was so low that the coolant tank and the radiator were nearly empty so all ten quarts fit in the radiator and the tank.
I replaced the water pump and cleaned out all the cooling parts, flushing them with water and Dawn dish. We then refilled the coolant and would you believe the car ran great! The sure don't build em like they use to.
Moral to my extremely long drawn out story is do your research before tackling any job, even one as simple as an oil change...

Many many years ago, a friend of mine tried to pour 6 bottles of oil down the carburetor of his '72 Nova. He succeeded with 2 bottles...
Fortunately for him, cars were much simpler than today. He disconnected the spark plug wires and cranked the engine until it swallowed the oil and spat it out the exhaust. When he finally finished the oil change properly and managed to start the engine, the car was sh*tting oil for a few minutes.

[froop]

Originally Posted by 007_e350

I bought 7 Qrts, will add more when I get back ... I like doing my own oil change, get to know what came out the engine, crawl under look for anything sticking out just me

Just do the 6.9 quarts like everyone says. You gotta look at the amount of oil you drop not estimate what's still in there based on the recommended fill. I'd find it quite unlikely that you only dropped 5 quarts of used oil, if drained properly, unless your car was telling you it was very low on oil to begin with.

[BMWM.D.]

The electronic measurement via the instrument cluster (or i-drive if you have NAV) is pretty much crap. It isn't super quick to respond to changes in level, nor do I feel it to be very accurate most of the time.

The oil service fill capacity is the same whether the car has an oil cooler or not. When you drain the oil from the pan, the cooler and lines shouldn't drain. We put ~7 quarts in every car we service. Without a real dipstick, it's the best you can do.

[007_e350]

Awesome, thanks guys - filled in 6.75 Qrts ... totally different debate but I think Castrol 5w-30 was better than this Mobil 1 0w-40 (both LL01)

[Delta0311]

Pour in 7 quarts and call it a day. Don't sit there measuring every last mL, you're not freaking shooting steroids here.