Engine Oil Pressure! Stop carefully. - Please advise?

[Rewted]

iDrive gave a warning "Engine Oil Pressure! Stop carefully." this evening. Drove the car several times yesterday with no issues, it sat overnight, moved this afternoon to clear snow and then all hell broke loose tonight when I went to drive.

The engine sounds loud and laboured. Absolutely nowhere close to a BMW dealer right now, though this city has an independent import repair shop I'm going to call in the morning.

Has anyone experienced this error?

[///M Roger]

Oil level ok?

[Rewted]

Originally Posted by ///M Roger

Oil level ok?

I checked the oil level via iDrive 2 months back and was fine. With no dip stick in these cars, I put faith in the low oil warning indicator would come on if there were an issue between checks.

Would be scared to check now as the engine needs to be running. :\

[Petros]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

I checked the oil level via iDrive 2 months back and was fine. With no dip stick in these cars, I put faith in the low oil warning indicator would come on if there were an issue between checks.

Would be scared to check now as the engine needs to be running. :\

Can you DIY an oil change? This way you can measure how much oil you actually have in the crankcase. I worry that the piece of crap oil level sensor can malfunction and falsely indicate a full oil level even when the oil level is actually critically low. Why couldn't BMW put a damn dipstick?

[Rewted]

Originally Posted by Petros

Can you DIY an oil change? This way you can measure how much oil you actually have in the crankcase. I worry that the piece of crap oil level sensor can malfunction and falsely indicate a full oil level even when the oil level is actually critically low. Why couldn't BMW put a damn dipstick?

Can't DIY at the moment. Could top off the oil, but reluctant to do so.

[Gossypiboma]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

Can't DIY at the moment. Could top off the oil, but reluctant to do so.

So in 2 months you never looked at the oil level? Theres one problem.

Seems you have answered all your own questions.

Have it towed.

[Sephiroth]

Could be a bad sensor?

[1MOREMOD]

If engine sounds different I would doubt it's a sensor and really is low on oil for some reason.

[Petros]

Originally Posted by BigBoosting

So in 2 months you never looked at the oil level? Theres one problem.

Seems you have answered all your own questions.

Have it towed.

No need. The car will give a very obvious warning if the oil level dips below the minimum.

[Gossypiboma]

Originally Posted by Petros

No need. The car will give a very obvious warning if the oil level dips below the minimum.

No need?

I think this thread could argue otherwise.

Not to mention it takes about 2 seconds of your life to click the stalk button a couple times to see the oil level.

[Rewted]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

If engine sounds different I would doubt it's a sensor and really is low on oil for some reason.

Maybe a dead oil pump too.

[s85e90]

Why is everyone here assuming the car is low on oil? If it had one quart it would still make oil pressure. The warning is for no oil pressure.

[SilentAttack]

doubt its the oil level

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by s85e90

Why is everyone here assuming the car is low on oil? If it had one quart it would still make oil pressure. The warning is for no oil pressure.

The warning is not for no oil pressure. The warning is for low oil pressure. You can still have a few quarts of oil and get that error. Usually if the engine is not turned off very quickly after seeing that error, it's toast. Hopefully it's the oil pressure sender, but I haven't seen any of them give a false warning.

Low pressure can be caused by pump failure and/or a more severe loss of oil - or something else usually catastrophic.

[Petros]

Originally Posted by BigBoosting

No need?

I think this thread could argue otherwise.

Not to mention it takes about 2 seconds of your life to click the stalk button a couple times to see the oil level.

there is no need to "measure" the oil level. if it is below the minimum, the car will give you a warning that is impossible to miss. then it's time to add oil. if the oil level is above the minimum then you just leave it alone. Sure, you can click the stalk button, and it will give you a meaningless and useless "oil level". The electronic gauge is too inaccurate and inconsistent for an real and precise measurement of oil level.

If I could trust that the oil level shown on the dash has any accuracy at all, then I would agree with regular measurements of oil level.

[SenorFunkyPants]

I don't mean to sound harsh but really?....you got a message saying low oil pressure, do not continue driving, switch off engine and you continued to use the car!
That the engine now sounds "loud and laboured" is a fair indication that you have probably made things worse.
If you are out of BMW warranty (and your nearest dealer is a long way away) then a local indy with a good rep is your best option...tow it there though don't drive it.

[///M Power-Belgium]

"Stop driving" your car and call a BMW/dealer ASAP !!!
The S65 is no joke ...

[Rewted]

Originally Posted by SenorFunkyPants

I don't mean to sound harsh but really?....you got a message saying low oil pressure, do not continue driving, switch off engine and you continued to use the car!

Huh? I pulled over, turned back and parked it in the driveway. Been sitting there ever since.

[s85e90]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

Huh? I pulled over, turned back and parked it in the driveway. Been sitting there ever since.

People don't read here. They just shoot off from the hip thinking they know it all.

Good luck!

[///Mvy]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

Huh? I pulled over, turned back and parked it in the driveway. Been sitting there ever since.

I think he's saying - if you see a warning for no or low oil pressure. You don't turn back and drive to your driveway. You turn off the motor sooner than possible and call for a tow. Any period of time for the engine running with no oil pressure is going to cause damage.

[SenorFunkyPants]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

Huh? I pulled over, turned back and parked it in the driveway. Been sitting there ever since.

My mistake I took:
"iDrive gave a warning "Engine Oil Pressure! Stop carefully." this evening. Drove the car several times yesterday with no issues, it sat overnight, moved this afternoon to clear snow and then all hell broke loose tonight when I went to drive."
to mean that you had driven the car several times after the warning.

[Killerfish2012]

My N54 did this once, and it was because of sudden rapid oil loss due to a broken oil cooler line. I'd add a quart, and start her up, and just idle her until warm, and then check engine oil level.