New M3 Owner - Engine Oil Too High

I know there are a few topics on this so sorry if it's answered elsewhere...

So I just got my car Tuesday, 2011 E90 M3. Been reading up on it and decided to run an oil check. Today(Saturday), it told me there was TOO MUCH oil in the car. The meter is at the max. From reading, it seems the car should NOT be driven in this condition.

I need to make a roughly 30 mile trip in the car tomorrow morning, don't wanna Uber it. The dealer can fix for free since I just purchased it but I'd have to wait at least until Monday or later since the service dept. is closed.

I don't have a jack or the necessary wrenches at the moment(planning on getting those).

I have the following options as I see it:

1) limping it over to one of those quick change oil places in the morning and telling them to drain the front sump for me(dunno how much it'd cost or if they'll even do it, and definitely don't want them to screw up)

2) siphoning the oil myself from the front sump with a cheap hose and a can or something

Any other ideas I'm open too. This just happened and there's a lot to wade through in different forums and threads so just looking for a quick answer from someone.

Thanks for any help!

You at max or over max?

Another option is open the oil filter cap and use a siphon or turkey baster to suck out as much oil as you can.

It's over max. The electronic engine meter is full.

I think they decided to "top it off" while they were getting it ready and screwed up.

I found a video on a clean way to siphon using a tube and a syringe. I may do that and just take out everything from the front sump.

Not even a week in and I already miss the dipstick from my 1997 4Runner lol

If it is actually OVER filled you get a specific warning in the fault menu about being overfilled. I believe this is your condition but you can still drive it to the dealer.

If it is just at the max reading, there is nothing to do about it. At max is not dangerous. Just let it go and burn it off with your go pedal. There is a 1 litre range from max to min that you are going to spend your forseeable future toggling between.

You can get a simple siphon for $5 at an autopart store to draw out from under the fill cap. I don't think a turkey baster would work except to remove the smigeon of oil from the oil filter housing, but that requires a 36mm socket to open, which you may not have. You don't need a transfer pump, though.

If you can get underneath maybe drain the front sump. There are two oil drains. I don't know exactly how much the front one drains out but it can't be more than a liter. Check out the oil change DIY.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185785

Go buy some basic tools and drain it out yourself instead of letting some pimply teenager wrench on your M3 at a Midas.

You already know your options, not sure what you're expecting us to tell you.

if you take it to a quick change place, they are going to torque the hell out of the drain plug and strip it. buy a filter and a turkey baster. pull and replace the filter (it holds some oil), and suck a little oil out with the turkey baster.

if you try to drain "a little" out of the pan, you'll probably let out too much while making a huge mess.

So if there is no warning about it being overfilled then its OK.... not ideal obviously but is no need to panic????

Scottyvh wrote

So if there is no warning about it being overfilled then its OK.... not ideal obviously but is no need to panic????

If the oil level shows as between the two arrows, you are fine.

If it is overfilled, there is a separate message. The above recommendation of a turkey baster in the oil filter housing is probably the quickest and easiest fix. Just be careful not to strip the nut on the filter housing -- it's plastic.

I've had the same thing happen, but the level sensor will vary quite a bit from measurement to measurement.

Did you try pushing in the BC stalk button (while the oil level display is selected) and remeasuring?

If you still get the >max, best way to get a quart or so out is to just drain the front sump, that's what I have done, and then I use that oil to send for a Blackstone analysis as well.