Oil level not at max after oil change - cause for concern?

Guys,

I just had my 30k service at the dealer which included an oil change. Prior to my service, my oil level was at Max on the indicator. However, after the service, the level is 2 bars below max. Any ideas on why this might be the case?

Also, the reason my oil level was at Max prior to the change was that I had done an oil change on my own at 27k, but the dealer was adamant on doing another change for its 30k service.

I would appreciate any inputs.

Thanks,

I would not be too concerned with this because what most likely happened is that the technician who worked on your car is afraid of overfilling the oil. A complete oil change requires 9L of oil. The technician most likely did not use all 9L when performing the oil change.

Personally, I don't think you should be concerned. I have had both an underfill and an overfill happen to me during oil changes at my dealership. I don't believe a slight underfill is anything to worry about. The car will not ask for oil unless it is operating on ~8L of oil. When I had a slight overfill, I was worried, but the car corrected itself after a few hundred miles and the oil level read at MAX. My car has not had any issues from these incidents.

You can try and get the bar to read max, but you risk overfilling as the oil level indicator is not as accurate as we would like.

Great! I appreciate the reassurance.

Also, give it a week to settle.

I always like to have it at max so I don't have to carry a freaking bottle of oil in my $70K car . Do a search how to do it properly if interested; I've written about it several times. The measurement the sensor throws by itself is not consistent.

By the way, properly drained mine takes 9.3L to full. And sucking the oil filter housing dry (did it last time), it took 9.5L. Next oil change I only have to buy the 9L kit. Hope this helps.

When performing the oil service at the dealership. They get 9 qts. Normally they should fill about 8 1/4 to 8.5 qts and then check the oil level. It should read full. If not they top off accordingly. It really depends how much and how long they drain it. Tech probably put 8 qts and kept the other one for himself.

I went into a BMW dealership yesterday for an oil service. When I checked the oil level today, it was at the 3/4 mark (exactly where it was before I brought it in for the oil service) and I noticed that the service indicator had not been reset. I am now wondering if the dealership actually performed the oil service. Feeling a bit ripped off. Is there a way to confirm? Thoughts??

BOB335is wrote

I went into a BMW dealership yesterday for an oil service. When I checked the oil level today, it was at the 3/4 mark (exactly where it was before I brought it in for the oil service) and I noticed that the service indicator had not been reset. I am now wondering if the dealership actually performed the oil service. Feeling a bit ripped off. Is there a way to confirm? Thoughts??

Drive it right back to them and raise hell with the service advisor, demand satisfaction. Loudly.