Engine Oil Pressure! Stop carefully. - Please advise?

[///Mvy]

Originally Posted by 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.

No offense intended, but this is horrible advice. Tow the car to a shop and have it checked out by a professional. If there is no oil pressure and you idle it for 10 minutes to warm it up, that's more than enough time to severely wear bearings.

[Rewted]

Also noted some bright green watery fluid under the car. Will be brining it into an independent shop in the morning.

[///Mvy]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

Also noted some bright green watery fluid under the car. Will be brining it into an independent shop in the morning.

this could mean some very bad news my friend

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

Also noted some bright green watery fluid under the car. Will be brining it into an independent shop in the morning.

Engine coolant !!!
Bad news....

[Rewted]

I spoke to BMW about the coolant a month ago. Took the car in to a shop and they preformed a pressure test on the cooling system. Coolant fluid level has been stable, though just checked and it's down a little bit. Just a few drops on the driveway.

BMW thinks these two things are unrelated.

[Gossypiboma]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

I spoke to BMW about the coolant a month ago. Took the car in to a shop and they preformed a pressure test on the cooling system. Coolant fluid level has been stable, though just checked and it's down a little bit. Just a few drops on the driveway.

BMW thinks these two things are unrelated.

BMW thinks the coolant on the ground and the oil pressure are unrelated? Strange considering by your own admission you supposedly you haven't taken it in yet for the oil pressure issue. Hmm

[Rewted]

Originally Posted by BigBoosting

BMW thinks the coolant on the ground and the oil pressure are unrelated? Strange considering by your own admission you supposedly you haven't taken it in yet for the oil pressure issue. Hmm

When verbally discussing the past and current event, yes.

[White 13]

If you do drop the oil to measure or do an oil change I would want to collect a sample and if nothing obvious is found have it checked. Also may be a good idea to pull, inspect and save the oil filter.

I am sure a good shop would do these things.

[wrecklessfool]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Engine coolant !!!
Bad news....

The BMW coolant is blue in cooler unless you had a coolant service from a non-BMW shop and they used the wrong coolant (bad juju). Don't know of any green fluid used in the E92 M3.

OP, could the green fluid be from another car that parks in the same spot on occasion?

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by wrecklessfool

The BMW coolant is blue in cooler unless you had a coolant service from a non-BMW shop and they used the wrong coolant (bad juju). Don't know of any green fluid used in the E92 M3.

OP, could the green fluid be from another car that parks in the same spot on occasion?

Only BMW service, maybe Euro/Spec is different .

[Rewted]

Originally Posted by wrecklessfool

The BMW coolant is blue in cooler unless you had a coolant service from a non-BMW shop and they used the wrong coolant (bad juju). Don't know of any green fluid used in the E92 M3.

OP, could the green fluid be from another car that parks in the same spot on occasion?

No sir. The green fluid is in fact from the car. Could be power steering fluid which is green too. The drip area was near oil pan / skid plate.

Also, you're right, coolant is blue in color.

[wrecklessfool]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

No sir. The green fluid is in fact from the car. Could be power steering fluid which is green too. The drip area was near oil pan / skid plate.

Also, you're right, coolant is blue in color.

Ahhh, didn't know the PS fluid was green. Learn something new every day I guess.

[aussiem3]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Only BMW service, maybe Euro/Spec is different .

BMW coolant we get in Australia is blue which is euro spec.

[Rewted]

FYI Update:

Results of having an independent shop look into the issue.

• They drained the oil and noted to be full, no leak present.
• Oil was then refilled and filter changed.
• Pressure test on cooling system, no leak present.
• Green fluid drip is no longer present (was periodically prior to event).
• They couldn't read BMW specific fault codes and cleared itself. Car is running perfectly fine now, no low oil pressure error present.

Their opinion is this whole event was circumstantial. Environmental temperatures mixed with not letting the car warm-up before driving was the cause. This answer doesn't exactly make me feel confident, but does sound plausible.

That particular weekend was cold (-26C) and I did in fact just get in and drive. Been driving the car since late last week, letting idle warm-up till RPMs subside (about a minute), no further issue.

[Gossypiboma]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

FYI Update:

Results of having an independent shop look into the issue.

• They drained the oil and noted to be full, no leak present.
• Oil was then refilled and filter changed.
• Pressure test on cooling system, no leak present.
• Green fluid drip is no longer present (was periodically prior to event).
• They couldn't read BMW specific fault codes and cleared itself. Car is running perfectly fine now, no low oil pressure error present.

Their opinion is this whole event was circumstantial. Environmental temperatures mixed with not letting the car warm-up before driving was the cause. This answer doesn't exactly make me feel confident, but does sound plausible.

That particular weekend was cold (-26C) and I did in fact just get in and drive. Been driving the car since late last week, letting idle warm-up till RPMs subside (about a minute), no further issue.

Their opinion sounds ridiculous, ha

[aussiem3]

I usually top up 1L of oil after 2k km following an oil change. This has been the case ever since I bought the car new.

The car has done 73k km and it has been 8k km since the last change and I haven't received a warning to top up. The level is currently showing between halfway and minimum in the electronic oil level.

I ran the BPM diagnostic and the following errors showed up:

• 27A3 Oil Pressure switch electric diagnostic
• 2B59 Coolant thermostat monitor

Any idea what the above errors mean? No error has come up on the car. Mine is a '07 September built car
Just to be safe I have topped the oil with 1L.

Thanks in advance!

[Maxf80M3]

Originally Posted by aussiem3

I usually top up 1L of oil after 2k km following an oil change. This has been the case ever since I bought the car new.

The car has done 73k km and it has been 8k km since the last change and I haven't received a warning to top up. The level is currently showing between halfway and minimum in the electronic oil level.

I ran the BPM diagnostic and the following errors showed up:

• 27A3 Oil Pressure switch electric diagnostic
• 2B59 Coolant thermostat monitor

Any idea what the above errors mean? No error has come up on the car. Mine is a '07 September built car
Just to be safe I have topped the oil with 1L.

Thanks in advance!

i had the same code on my P3 gauge 27A3 . what does this mean ?? low oil pressure ?

[Loki Motorsports]

Originally Posted by Maxe93

i had the same code on my P3 gauge 27A3 . what does this mean ?? low oil pressure ?

This code refers to the electrical signal that actually transmits to the sensor. Could be the sensor has failed, or could be a DME fluke. Assuming the car runs/sounds fine and you know it has a sufficient oil level, I would reset the code and see if it returns promptly...

These cars do some weird stuff... Like OP's oil pressure issue. I had a code pop a few months back about a throttle actuator failure/limp mode.. the whole 9 yards. Let the car warm up for a few minutes, shut her down for 30 seconds, fired it back up and all was fine again. Been good ever since. I chalked it up to the car sitting for a few days prior to this incident, combined with cold weather.. I might have a sticky/worn actuator spring. But I'm going to take it as a fluke until it ACTUALLY fails.

[Maxf80M3]

Originally Posted by Loki Motorsports

This code refers to the electrical signal that actually transmits to the sensor. Could be the sensor has failed, or could be a DME fluke. Assuming the car runs/sounds fine and you know it has a sufficient oil level, I would reset the code and see if it returns promptly...

These cars do some weird stuff... Like OP's oil pressure issue. I had a code pop a few months back about a throttle actuator failure/limp mode.. the whole 9 yards. Let the car warm up for a few minutes, shut her down for 30 seconds, fired it back up and all was fine again. Been good ever since. I chalked it up to the car sitting for a few days prior to this incident, combined with cold weather.. I might have a sticky/worn actuator spring. But I'm going to take it as a fluke until it ACTUALLY fails.

Thanks for the input , I recently swapped my actuators , could I have disconnected something? This problem is new and wasn't there before the actuator swap.

I pulled my car out of storage , needed a battery was giving me low voltage code. I swapped the battery and throttle actuator codes came up , swapped the actuator and now this ...FML how annoying

I reset the code with my P3 multi gauge and it comes back right away

[kyrix1st]

10w60 is thick as a jam under -5C. I personally would not use the oil unless there’s an oil pan heater.

[drwankel]

Originally Posted by Rewted

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. :\

This is exactly why not having a dipstick is total bullshit. You absolutely need to be able to check the oil level without the engine running. Alternatively, the sensor should be able to measure the oil level without the engine running. A fuel level sensor can do that, so why not an oil sensor?

[Loki Motorsports]

Originally Posted by drwankel

This is exactly why not having a dipstick is total bullshit. You absolutely need to be able to check the oil level without the engine running. Alternatively, the sensor should be able to measure the oil level without the engine running. A fuel level sensor can do that, so why not an oil sensor?

I agree with the dipstick part... However, the engine needs to be running for this sensor to read accurately because when the engine is NOT running, all of the oil is sitting in the pan. It needs to be circulating oil to all parts of the motor/filter housing that needs it in order to determine if there is enough in the pan to still reach the pick-up tube, supplying sufficient oiling. Hope that made sense.