[JeeZues]

I'm not sure I have a problem or not, but as the title says...

I've never had the oil level sensor go bellow max in the ~4 years (~80K Km) I had the car (2007 328i).

One of the oil changes I did myself I noticed I was about 1 liter short (refilling the bottles I used from the drain pan), this is not accounting for the small amount I spelled here and there

I went to my local dealer and told them to check to see if the oil level sensor is working by removing some oil and seeing if the level drops, they didn't seem to like the idea but they told me they did and saw it drop after they removed 1 liter and that it will only drop if 1 litter is removed. But I noticed that the oil cab was as dusty as when I gave them the car (not sure if they even touched it!)

Reading around here I saw people report that they can see the level drop gradually from max, is this true?

Anyone notice similar issues or any document indicating that we should see gradual drop? I'm thinking of getting a little fluid pump and suck some oil from the the engine and see if the oil drops, any good suggestions would be great...

Maybe I should go to another dealer in the GTA, anyone recommends a good place for service in Mississauga/Oakville?

Thanks,
JZ

[dassub]

I can confirm that the oil level gradually drops, I've got essentially the same km on the car, but it's an 06 325i (which is pretty damn close to your 07 328i). It doesn't drop a lot though.. for example, I change it twice a year, ~8k between changes, and it drops one notch in that time (not 1 qrt, 1 notch). I'm using Lubro Moly 5w30 full synthetic.

[DESI4life10]

My oil level sensor did show a 1/4 drop last year (only dropped once). Added a little more oil and the next day the level went back to max.

[JeeZues]

Thanks guys, this confirms what I thought... Now how do I get the BMW service to realize there is a problem!

[SGxi]

My oil sensor broke within 2 months of the delivery of my car, but the sensor would say I need more oil, rather than at MAX.

So far, the oil level has not dropped as much as I put more mileage on the car (I'm at 97k now) .

[NaTuReB0Y]

my oil level has always been 3/4 full since the day i received my car.........

never below or above.......after 15 oil changes(5k intervals)......

[JeeZues]

Originally Posted by SGxi

My oil sensor broke within 2 months of the delivery of my car, but the sensor would say I need more oil, rather than at MAX.

So far, the oil level has not dropped as much as I put more mileage on the car (I'm at 97k now) .

I wish mine was stuck at the MIN instead of MAX, it would be easier to explain to the people at BMW!

Originally Posted by NaTuReB0Y

my oil level has always been 3/4 full since the day i received my car.........

never below or above.......after 15 oil changes(5k intervals)......

Did you try adding 1/4 of a liter of oil to see if it would go up?

Is there a way to siphon oil out of the car so I can test my sensor?

If I go with 250ml increments, how long do I have to run/drive the car to see it reflected in the oil level sensor?

[NaTuReB0Y]

Originally Posted by JeeZues

Did you try adding 1/4 of a liter of oil to see if it would go up?

Is there a way to siphon oil out of the car so I can test my sensor?

If I go with 250ml increments, how long do I have to run/drive the car to see it reflected in the oil level sensor?

No..........everytime I changed my oil....I added 7 quarts of oil(more than enough!)

including the 2 free dealer oil change --- it's always 3/4 full.......

[CHCCubs]

Mine has dropped over time. Earlier this year it actually dropped to the min level (at around 10,000km) and I got it topped up for free at the dealership which brought it back up to the max level.

[MMachines]

Mine only dropped once from full, I have 114k on it now. I put in 7L though and it must be over full but not indicate that to the driver and therefore it'll take a long time to drop off full. The time it dropped from full I want to say I only got a little more than 5L out of it. My last oil change last week I got 6L out of it and was still indicating full. After the change it showed half way between add and full, and a day later it showed full.

I have one of those siphons for oil but since we don't have a dipstick I'm not sure how I'd use it on this car.

[Bimmer Al]

Originally Posted by MovinUp

Mine only dropped once from full, I have 114k on it now. I put in 7L though and it must be over full but not indicate that to the driver and therefore it'll take a long time to drop off full. The time it dropped from full I want to say I only got a little more than 5L out of it. My last oil change last week I got 6L out of it and was still indicating full. After the change it showed half way between add and full, and a day later it showed full.

I have one of those siphons for oil but since we don't have a dipstick I'm not sure how I'd use it on this car.

How is the car running now that you are at 114k?

[JeeZues]

Originally Posted by MovinUp

Mine only dropped once from full, I have 114k on it now. I put in 7L though and it must be over full but not indicate that to the driver and therefore it'll take a long time to drop off full. The time it dropped from full I want to say I only got a little more than 5L out of it. My last oil change last week I got 6L out of it and was still indicating full. After the change it showed half way between add and full, and a day later it showed full.

I have one of those siphons for oil but since we don't have a dipstick I'm not sure how I'd use it on this car.

Thanks for the info, so maybe I don't have a problem and maybe my local BMW shop is slightly over filling it so I'm never seeing any drop. I wish there is a way to know for sure though...
How quick does the oil level update, in the manual it says to drive for 10km I think to get an accurate reading, I wouldn't feel safe if I drained a liter and drove for 10km

[MMachines]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Al

How is the car running now that you are at 114k?

Runs great. If anything I'd toss some rear shocks in it but I may only be saying that cause I spend time in new R8's, S5's, S4's (friend works at Audi always picking me up for lunch).

[MMachines]

Originally Posted by JeeZues

Thanks for the info, so maybe I don't have a problem and maybe my local BMW shop is slightly over filling it so I'm never seeing any drop. I wish there is a way to know for sure though...
How quick does the oil level update, in the manual it says to drive for 10km I think to get an accurate reading, I wouldn't feel safe if I drained a liter and drove for 10km

It updates VERY SLOWLY. Just drain a litre if you're that worried, but really it'll be hard to drain a measured amount. Just put in 6L at your next oil change.

I'd think an oil pressure indicator would come on if there was a real problem and that'd be driven by a different sensor.

[jasonintoronto]

my indicator went to min earlier this spring (april?) it was 6 months since my last oil change. had the dealer to the 1 year change on it.

[JeeZues]

Originally Posted by MovinUp

I'd think an oil pressure indicator would come on if there was a real problem and that'd be driven by a different sensor.

Good point... I'll play with it this weekend and report my findings...

[Bimmer Al]

At this point ( I changed the oil at 6000kms) and now have 7300 the oil sensor is at full. Was missing one "block" when I went in.

[w2]

AFAICT, the oil level only shows min, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and max. A month or so ago, I got my first low oil warning. I added about 300ml and it went from min to 1/2. A couple weeks later, it dropped down to about 1/4, so I added about 200 ml more (for a total of about a half quart top-up) and it went back to 1/2. Even though it looks like it's a continuous gauge, I've never seen it show anything other than quarter-marks, and I'd guess that each 1/4 represents about 250 ml of oil.

[JeeZues]

Update:
Went to BMW of Mississauga and met some great people there.
They first offered to scan the computer for fault which I refused since it has been done already and the computer thinks the sensor is working.
They then offered to drain the oil and fill 5 liters and see if the sensor was working, if it reported correct oil level they were going to charge me for the oil (fair enough).
They did the above and the car stayed at the max level. They changed the sensor, flashed the car software and replaced the oil again under warranty. All done under 3 hours.
A+ for BMW of Mississauga!

[jasonintoronto]

Originally Posted by JeeZues

Update:
Went to BMW of Mississauga and met some great people there.
They first offered to scan the computer for fault which I refused since it has been done already and the computer thinks the sensor is working.
They then offered to drain the oil and fill 5 liters and see if the sensor was working, if it reported correct oil level they were going to charge me for the oil (fair enough).
They did the above and the car stayed at the max level. They changed the sensor, flashed the car software and replaced the oil again under warranty. All done under 3 hours.
A+ for BMW of Mississauga!

wow - that's a really dangerous condition for the car to be in (reporting max oil level when drained completely empty).

another good reason for regular oil changes more frequently than BMW's schedule (which is once a year or 24,000km). i change it every 6 months.

[JeeZues]

Originally Posted by jasonintoronto

wow - that's a really dangerous condition for the car to be in (reporting max oil level when drained completely empty).

another good reason for regular oil changes more frequently than BMW's schedule (which is once a year or 24,000km). i change it every 6 months.

I agree, I change mine every 10K or 6 months too so I wasn't too worried about it drying out.
The ran the car with 5L, not dry just to be clear, and like another poster mentioned earlier, when oil is very low your oil pressure sensor will probably pick that up so there is another level of protection.
I suggest everyone that suspects the oil level sensor is not working to measure the oil when they do an oil change...

[Me_Hi]

drive the car hard on high RPM's for a month and you'll see the oil level drop.