Overfilled oil.

[ChrisChan]

My M3 went from Max level to about half. I went and got some oil from dealership and put in 1L. It turns out that is over filling the oil level. I didn't drive my car very far...maybe 4 miles.

Should I take it into dealer tomorrow and have them drain the overfill? Will they do that for free?

Am I going to run into warranty problems later if I tell them I put oil into the engine myself? Is it going to be on my record?

[roastbeef]

think of the digital gauge as representing a dipstick, not a tank. even when the car is asking for a quart, put in half and wait to re-evaluate.
how many miles do you have on the oil in there right now? a quick solution would be to swap in a new filter (it holds a little oil) and to suck up the oil in the filter housing and re-evaluate.

[msan]

I would def take out as much oil as you can before driving any further.

[ChrisChan]

I bought the car used 3 weeks ago and the oil level was at max. I've probably driven around 1500 miles since then and the oil level indicator was at half yesterday.

Today, I put it 1L and that's when I got the oil level too high measurement.

I should be able to bring it to them tomorrow and they can do a quick .5L drain, right?

[ChrisChan]

Can I syphon the oil out?

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by ChrisChan

Today, I put it 1L and that's when I got the oil level too high measurement.

"half" doesn't mean add a quart. it isn't "half", its within normal range. leave it alone next time.

i don't know what your dealer will do for you.

[kerrit]

the oil filter housing holds a fair amount of oil. you could start the car, idle for a few seconds, and then shut it off - take off oil filter cap and suck out oil with a turkey baster, and repeat a few times until you get enough out. whenever I change my oil, I suck the oil out of the filter housing this way since it doesn't drain out.

easier than draining oil from the bottom, in which you can't really control how much is coming out

[Theodore]

I second kerrit's suggestion on this, removing oil with a turkey baster from the oil filter housing is the easiest way to make an adjustment. Front and center in the engine bay, no crawling under the car, no spilling excess oil and no overpaying the dealer. Pretty much any turkey baster will do. Open the oil filter housing remove the oil filter, suction out the oil, replace the filter, close up the filter housing cap, run the engine for 30-60 seconds and repeat. You may need repeat the process up to 4 times to get 1/2 a liter out (fewer times if you drain the oil out of the filter for a while before replacing it). Check out this DIY oil change link if you aren't familiar with the M3's oil filter housing. Here is a picture from GregW / Oregon of the filter housing with oil:



And with oil suctioned out of the the filter housing:



Located right up front (picture courteousy of Ra_) 36mm socket required, torque to 40 NM your last re-install of the cap:

[ChrisChan]

Can I syphon the oil out from where you put the oil in? Or is that a bad idea?

[kerrit]

no you can't, there's no pools of oil sitting in there.