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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > Mechanical Maintenance: Break-in / Oil & Fluids / Servicing / Warranty > How to check the oil level



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      01-22-2014, 01:36 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by ssenjo View Post
My concern is that I have the proverbial oil leak in the oil filter housing and I can't fix it just yet and want to know if I'm losing a lot of oil.
Don't worry, an error that says +1qt will show up in the dash when it's time to top off. You don't even have to check the level, it will be put in front of your face when needed, quite literally.
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      01-22-2014, 03:38 AM   #24
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Originally Posted by Efthreeoh View Post
It's not looking good. Apparently BMW AG could care less. I'm trying one more shot. I really don't think they understand that they need to look at the code, because I think keeping the OCI calculation function from working is affecting the accuracy of the e-dipstick. Once it's finally a dead issue (or resolved by BMW - fingers crossed) I will post the results. I have no way to process this in my head. For the life of me I just can't see any justification for obsoleting the CBS OCI function. And worse, if you read my posts on this Forum, I was such a huge proponent of it, now I just think BMW is a BS artist like other people look at GM.
Thanks!! Keep us posted!
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      03-29-2014, 03:24 PM   #25
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Except when it's really cold and the sensor doesn't work properly and tells you to add a qt only to find out a week later when it's warmer that you were fine and over filled 😏
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      07-30-2014, 08:00 AM   #26
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Oil level?

When I bought my 09 328i (used), the oil level was right at "MAX" on the e-dipstick. I brought it back to the dealer I purchased it at for my 5k mile oil change (not a BMW dealer). I know the car had an oil change done at the dealership before I purchased. In order to maintain the lifetime powertrain warranty on the car I need to get the oil changed were I purchased it. Well, I just checked my oil level, and it's reading halfway in between MIN and MAX. Level says "OK". But WTF... I think they only put 5 quarts in. I threw out the service record but am calling them to confirm how much they put in.

My question: What SHOULD the level read? Is MAX what it should be? Or is anywhere in the "OK" range fine? I drive 75 miles a day and the last thing I need is an issue with engine oil.
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      08-02-2014, 06:11 AM   #27
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Originally Posted by gkroegman View Post
When I bought my 09 328i (used), the oil level was right at "MAX" on the e-dipstick. I brought it back to the dealer I purchased it at for my 5k mile oil change (not a BMW dealer). I know the car had an oil change done at the dealership before I purchased. In order to maintain the lifetime powertrain warranty on the car I need to get the oil changed were I purchased it. Well, I just checked my oil level, and it's reading halfway in between MIN and MAX. Level says "OK". But WTF... I think they only put 5 quarts in. I threw out the service record but am calling them to confirm how much they put in.

My question: What SHOULD the level read? Is MAX what it should be? Or is anywhere in the "OK" range fine? I drive 75 miles a day and the last thing I need is an issue with engine oil.
The bar graph reads the amount of what is remaining of the top quart of oil (i.e. the 7th quart of oil in the engine). Your car is one half of one quart low on oil. The engine has 6.5 quarts of oil in it.
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      08-05-2014, 10:52 PM   #28
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Originally Posted by Three_thirty_I View Post
Yep, it's disgusting! I am following for any news on your thread regarding this! I am of course still far in terms of mileage to worry about this, but for me it speaks to the general lack of pride in their product for cars that get older. But they are quick to want older classics at new model launches - what are they doing to "ensure" that older BMW's will still be running by then?! All we can hope for is that there either be a software fix, or someone develops some sort of physical dipstick retro-fit...
Totally agree with these comments. Really sad lack of support from the company on this issue and hard to remain loyal to the brand. I miss my old E39 which was made by a more enthusiast-oriented car company and not one just interested (seemingly) in leasing cars for 2 years to people with too much money and then forgetting about all others. Good on you to keep at this issue. I hope they fix it.
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      08-06-2014, 06:09 AM   #29
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Originally Posted by PA66400 View Post
Totally agree with these comments. Really sad lack of support from the company on this issue and hard to remain loyal to the brand. I miss my old E39 which was made by a more enthusiast-oriented car company and not one just interested (seemingly) in leasing cars for 2 years to people with too much money and then forgetting about all others. Good on you to keep at this issue. I hope they fix it.
I've dropped trying to get it resolved. I tried as best as I could. You can't get to any customer service representative that has enough technical knowledge to understand the problem. BMW doesn't care, so I'm really not interested in buying any new BMW products. I've been a loyal BMW owner (3 originally new purchased cars) since 1988. I've been looking to retire the E90 and get something new. BMW has made no effort to win over my business and every effort to lose it.

BMW has chased after the Posers, so good for it (X6M - ). It's a profitable company, doing well, it'll not miss my business. There are far more posers in the world than real car guys, so from a business perspective, I get it; but not all car guys want an over-priced (I know, sounds funny) "M" car. Things change; that's just the way it is.
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      08-07-2014, 12:37 AM   #30
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Originally Posted by Efthreeoh View Post
I've dropped trying to get it resolved. I tried as best as I could. You can't get to any customer service representative that has enough technical knowledge to understand the problem. BMW doesn't care, so I'm really not interested in buying any new BMW products. I've been a loyal BMW owner (3 originally new purchased cars) since 1988. I've been looking to retire the E90 and get something new. BMW has made no effort to win over my business and every effort to lose it.

BMW has chased after the Posers, so good for it (X6M - ). It's a profitable company, doing well, it'll not miss my business. There are far more posers in the world than real car guys, so from a business perspective, I get it; but not all car guys want an over-priced (I know, sounds funny) "M" car. Things change; that's just the way it is.

I agree with you completely.

My next car may be a GTI. Tossable, but not the silken straight six. But a relatively good value and less targeted to posers. X6M is a joke, I agree. Driven by people who know nothing about the BMW of years past and don't care, anyway. I saw a good You Tube video on how much work went into engineering the sound of the E90 warning chime (the "ding" sound). To me, that was a sad statement on where BMW currently has its head at.
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      08-07-2014, 08:08 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by PA66400 View Post
I agree with you completely.

My next car may be a GTI. Tossable, but not the silken straight six. But a relatively good value and less targeted to posers. X6M is a joke, I agree. Driven by people who know nothing about the BMW of years past and don't care, anyway. I saw a good You Tube video on how much work went into engineering the sound of the E90 warning chime (the "ding" sound). To me, that was a sad statement on where BMW currently has its head at.
Well at least I'm pleasantly reminded every time I start the car how stupid BMW has become. LOL.
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      07-12-2015, 11:00 AM   #32
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Originally Posted by eitingon View Post
you can only check it once the car is sufficiently warmed up - the clock appears if you are trying to check it too soon after starting a cold car...
You can turn the ignition on and use the the turn signal stock and go to oil and it will either day OK or add while the car is off.. While it's running it will show you be actual level
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      07-18-2015, 10:07 AM   #33
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X6M is a joke, I agree. Driven by people who know nothing about the BMW of years past and don't care, anyway.
"M" these days stands for Marketing.

The oil level sensor is a nice idea but should be backed up by a traditional dip stick. Not just as a confirmation check to a faulty sensor but being able to look, feel and smell the oil in your engine. Coolant and fuel can find its way into the engine and do damage if left not noticed.
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      12-29-2015, 05:39 AM   #34
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I have an E92 325D and it doesnt have an oil level readout in the OBC like my 335i did (in i-drive though).

As it uses the M57 engine from the E46 I suspect it has a dipstick, keep forgetting to check though
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      03-05-2016, 09:33 PM   #35
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My car has 2.5 litre 325i petrol engine. Only done 13,000 km from new.
Checking oil level in i-drive it always displays max level and "oil ok".
My question is does the graphic display show progressive drops in level or is there an abrupt shift to minimum - "add oil now"?
Hoping it's possible to monitor the gradual consumption as mileage increases.
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      03-06-2016, 07:08 AM   #36
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Originally Posted by E92 N52 325i Msport View Post
My car has 2.5 litre 325i petrol engine. Only done 13,000 km from new.
Checking oil level in i-drive it always displays max level and "oil ok".
My question is does the graphic display show progressive drops in level or is there an abrupt shift to minimum - "add oil now"?
Hoping it's possible to monitor the gradual consumption as mileage increases.
Not sure if the Aussie versions are exactly the same, but the bar graph shows the drop in oil level by 1/4 quart (liter) increments.
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      03-09-2016, 05:31 PM   #37
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IF there was a dipstick, I could end one small continuous battle with my wife. I can't get across to her that with a 7 qt. capacity, the fact that the light pops up means it still has 6 qts and is plenty fine. I keep telling her that once the light pops up AND is on constantly for 3 days straight, let me know and I will add a qt then.

Overfilling and having that mess all over tarnation just doesn't appeal to me, especially based on the fact that half the time when she tells me the light came on, I can't reproduce it when I drive it around.

How difficult is "3 DAYS"????????????
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      09-25-2017, 08:52 PM   #38
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Originally Posted by Efthreeoh View Post
Well just wait until you get well past 200,000 miles and because of BMW's bizarre software programming, the oil quality input from the oil sensor gets ignored by the CBS. Then when the e-dipstick starts reporting changes in oil level far different than you experienced for the past 200,000 miles, you really start to wonder if the software is properly evaluating the data from the oil sensor for reporting oil level. Oh, and the manufacturer is actually too busy to take your concern seriously.

But I digress.
Hah..I agree with your sentiment here 😈👍
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      09-25-2017, 09:02 PM   #39
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Originally Posted by N52B25 View Post
My car has 2.5 litre 325i petrol engine. Only done 13,000 km from new.
Checking oil level in i-drive it always displays max level and "oil ok".
My question is does the graphic display show progressive drops in level or is there an abrupt shift to minimum - "add oil now"?
Hoping it's possible to monitor the gradual consumption as mileage increases.
I think the n54 runs thru a bit quicker than most other bmw engines. The oil pain has this thin metal filter to glob up the oil thus making it primed for use but I swear it causes it more issues than benefits. My n54 does show progressive oil level drops by 1/4 from oil change to change. However, never to a point of concern. My e60 525 & e36 318 obv didnt have sensor-dipsticks but they didnt run thru oil like the twin turbo ..my n54 runs thru more oil fa sho

Didnt even check how old this post? If outdated then for the new buyers

Bryan

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      08-27-2018, 04:09 PM   #40
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Back again looking for updates.

I gave in last week and put a qt in for the wife, because the light was coming on. This weekend, it's on again. There's no puddle of oil on the parking spot. Where the hell does a qt go in a week? I'm very worried it's the sensor and not the level of oil in the engine. But since I can't check manually, short of draining/measuring, I'm forced to worry if there is a hidden even larger gremlin waiting to bite me in the ass.
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      08-27-2018, 06:20 PM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh View Post
Well just wait until you get well past 200,000 miles and because of BMW's bizarre software programming, the oil quality input from the oil sensor gets ignored by the CBS. Then when the e-dipstick starts reporting changes in oil level far different than you experienced for the past 200,000 miles, you really start to wonder if the software is properly evaluating the data from the oil sensor for reporting oil level. Oh, and the manufacturer is actually too busy to take your concern seriously.

But I digress.
Right on.

The "e-dipstick" is a stupid gimmick. I'd be better off without it.
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      09-01-2018, 03:12 PM   #42
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Hey, there is no dipstick. I usually check on my dash, through the scroll on the left hand side. Then choose oil. Another way if you have the navi package is to go to maintenance notifications and scroll to engine oil level. Hope this helps.
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      09-02-2018, 06:30 AM   #43
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Originally Posted by PA66400 View Post
Right on.

The "e-dipstick" is a stupid gimmick. I'd be better off without it.
LOL. So you responded to a comment I made almost 5 years ago. Since then I've driven another 115,000 miles. BMW finally developed a fix for the coding issue, they just code the oil change notification data out of the CBS. Back in January of 2014 was was still pissed that BMW just doesn't let the car keep the oil change application working in the software.

BMW switched to liter-sized oil bottles when they switched to the natural gas-based synthetic oil. What I've noticed now is if I add in the required 6.5 liters of oil the engine holds, after the CBS updates the first time to the new oil level, sometimes the e-dipstick reports 1/4-low. I've experimented with this since I do oil changes every 5 months or so. If I add in 6.6L - 6.8L of oil, then updated oil level shows "max".

I don't think the e-dipstick is a gimmick at all. I actually like it; you can check the oil level anytime you like while the engine is at operating conditions (which is the ideal time IMO). The system notifies you when the engine is 1 quart low of oil. The sensor is a very simple device and not prone to inaccuracy; of the several times I've checked the actual drained oil quantity against the level reported by the CBS, it has always been accurate. One has to stop thinking that the engine MUST have and REMAIN to have 7 quarts in it. It doesn't. The engine just needs an oil level between the min - max levels of the e-dipstick, which is the same for any car with a direct-read, old fashioned, mechanical dipstick. My observation is with the N52, BMW has determined a quantity of oil for the sump that is within a safe range of oil level that can deviate about 0.5 quart without under-filling or over-filling the engine at a new oil fill. Most people with mechanical dipsticks never read the owners manual for their cars. If they did they'd find out that the markings on the dipstick are there to show the "safe" range of oil level for the engine (just like the N52 e-dipstick). The problem with the e-dipstick is for people who are OCD about the max oil level. The e-dipstick is not good for minutely topping off the oil level, because it only updates once the engine reaches specific operating conditions and reports the last known level until that time (immediately after adding oil), so one can over fill the engine typing to keep the oil level at max.

I was leery of this part of the car when I swapped out my E30 for the E90. Being an old codger now, I grew up with mechanical dipsticks and was one of those OCD owners that kept the oil level in their engines obsessively topped off at full. I was quite uncomfortable at first with the concept that the N52 had no dipstick (as backup) to the monitoring system. The M20 in the E30 had an oil level sensor in it as well (this is 30 years ago now) that reported when the engine reached 1-quart low, but it also had a dipstick. The N52 has taught me the new way of e-dipsticks is not a bad thing, and actually better (once you learn to trust the reliability). I've manged to get the car to 350,000 miles with the CBS/e-dipstick combo, so I can say it actually does work.

My 2 cents.
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Last edited by Efthreeoh; 09-02-2018 at 06:36 AM..
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      09-06-2018, 08:19 PM   #44
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No dipstick freaks me out!

Thinking back to my 390 with a similar oil capacity the dipstick had lines for adding 2 quarts... Anyhow

Since oil is critical for cooling you'd expect any high output engine to have oil pressure indicator (undampened) and an oil pressure warning light.

In addition the low oil level indicator is great, but I don't want to d!ck around with going in and out of a car to see I managed to end up X quarts low.

There's no excuse for no backup for the electronic sensors on these systems, without even researching it I don't believe there is a reliable way to guarantee a good analogue to digital count over copper wires for the life of the vehicle.

Maybe I'll run an 1/8 inch line to an mechanical oil pressure gauge on this car so I'll actually know if oil damage may occur. That low oil warning message really upset me. If you've sucked air through the system you'll know why I say what I do.
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