[Dormermike]

Got to love the electronic dipstick.

Has anyone else's dipstick gone from 1qtr to max (up) without adding oil ?

Normally my n53 barely uses any oil, approx half a litre per 4000 miles as far as I can make out tracking it via a spreadsheet. Had it 4 years.

The dipstick was showing a quarter a week ago (I usually keep it between 1qtr an 3qtr so I can monitor usage) and I was expecting it to ask for oil soon, but instead it's gone to max.

I can't smell petrol from the filler cap, and presumably if a injector was stuck and dumped half litre of petrol it would smell and run a bit lumpy but it's fine.

Coolant fine too. And no codes.

Crazy - why can't they just fit a proper dipstick !!!

So now I could put oil in or just wait and see what happens.

Anyone else's done this?

Thanks
Mike

[criscarp]

Originally Posted by Dormermike

Got to love the electronic dipstick.

Has anyone else's dipstick gone from 1qtr to max (up) without adding oil ?

Normally my n53 barely uses any oil, approx half a litre per 4000 miles as far as I can make out tracking it via a spreadsheet. Had it 4 years.

The dipstick was showing a quarter a week ago (I usually keep it between 1qtr an 3qtr so I can monitor usage) and I was expecting it to ask for oil soon, but instead it's gone to max.

I can't smell petrol from the filler cap, and presumably if a injector was stuck and dumped half litre of petrol it would smell and run a bit lumpy but it's fine.

Coolant fine too. And no codes.

Crazy - why can't they just fit a proper dipstick !!!

So now I could put oil in or just wait and see what happens.

Anyone else's done this?

Thanks
Mike

Maybe your oil level sensor has failed. If you have no other issues with the car I wouldn't worry about it till your next service. But keep an eye on it.

I am sure your car will let you know if its not happy.

[Phil325i]

Never had that happen, though like you, my N53 uses virtually no oil. I found this in another thread (worth bearing in mind):

The e-dipstick is not a direct-reading device; it doesn't instantly determine the new level of oil in the engine. It takes over 20 minutes and a good amount of driving to attain a new oil level. Basically the oil needs to be at operating temperature, the engine needs to run for over 10 minutes and the car needs to attain several parameters of acceleration and yaw (turning) until the oil level is accurately determined.

Edit: actually I do now recall a time when, after an oil change, it was initially a quarter down, but then later rose to full (probably for the reasons in the quote above).

[Dormermike]

Interesting. Thanks Phil

I suspect a drive is needed (I mostly do short trips) and it may well ask for oil.

I checked on ISTA and current oil level is 74mm, which IIRC I've seen it at 90+mm in the past so may be quite low presently. Such a daft system, though presumably they've built in fail safes if oil pressure gets too low.

[therealdb1]

Originally Posted by Dormermike

Such a daft system, though presumably they've built in fail safes if oil pressure gets too low.

I agree and you would think so, wouldn't you, but I wouldn't bank on it?

I really cannot believe that a simple dipstick could not have been fitted as an additional idiot proof check.

Another example of penny pinching on a car that costs almost as much as a house in some parts of the country!

[Dormermike]

Yeah!

I've since done over 100 miles and the oil level on the idrive has dropped to 50% so us still higher than the quarter originally, but has dropped.

Odd one as it's never done this before.

Engine is running fine, so I guess I leave it until it suddenly asks to add a litre asap.

Oil smells normal as far as I can tell.

[tom_seddon]

I've yet to have mine do anything like this during normal use, but the oil level after a service or topping up is noticeably a bit random for the next 50-100 miles.

I definitely agree about the lack of a dipstick. The computer notification is good, but it would be nice to be able to do a visual check of the oil as well. The 2 year synthetic oil life limit never seemed to be a problem with my diesel cars, so I'm sure there's no problem with a petrol car in that respect, but if you drive more than I do, you might hit the mileage limit before the lifetime limit, and it seems to be ~20,000 miles between changes... which seems like rather a lot? Won't the oil potentially get rather mucky in that time?

--Tom

P.S. On the other hand, you probably won't be able to drive that much without the engine being mostly at least warm a lot of the time, and that probably has an effect.

[therealdb1]

Yes a dipstick is a useful diagnostic tool too.

I spent ages trying to find the dipstick when I bought my 335 so I could have a look at the oil to see what sort of condition it was in much to the amusement of the dealer!

I was led to believe that the BMW condition based maintenance system is more intelligent than simply flashing a warning when 2 years is up and if the car is driven more, or harder, then it will ask for an oil change sooner. The 2 year interval on the i-drive screen is probably just a reminder in case the mileage is not racked up. I only drive about 1,500 miles per year in mine!

The same way as when I reset the front brake service indicator after replacing the discs and pads i-drive proudly announced that I had 48,000 miles of brakes left. The original discs only lasted 35,000 miles!

[Will_460cs]

Originally Posted by Dormermike

Got to love the electronic dipstick.

Has anyone else's dipstick gone from 1qtr to max (up) without adding oil ?

Normally my n53 barely uses any oil, approx half a litre per 4000 miles as far as I can make out tracking it via a spreadsheet. Had it 4 years.

The dipstick was showing a quarter a week ago (I usually keep it between 1qtr an 3qtr so I can monitor usage) and I was expecting it to ask for oil soon, but instead it's gone to max.

I can't smell petrol from the filler cap, and presumably if a injector was stuck and dumped half litre of petrol it would smell and run a bit lumpy but it's fine.

Coolant fine too. And no codes.



Crazy - why can't they just fit a proper dipstick !!!

So now I could put oil in or just wait and see what happens.

Anyone else's done this?

Thanks
Mike

Yes this is perfectly normal! No problem at all its just the electronic dipstick being not very accurate.

[Phil325i]

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