Oil temp question

[MaximusB]

Today driving home from work in rush hour traffic, I noticed my oil temp needle was a full 1/8" past the halfway 100C (210F) mark. I only had my car for exactly 3 months so everything is still new to me. But I don't recall seeing oil temp gauge reading anything beyond the 100C mark so far in my ownership. Today was warm but not hot at all, the outside air temperature was 23.5C (74F). At the time the AC was on and I was in 2nd gear at about 3000rpm slowly going uphill, and for the first time I saw the oil temp reading this high.

Is the oil temp gauge accurate? After a quick search on the forum it appears our cars don't actually have an oil temp sensor, but rather the Ecu calculate the oil temp based on water temp.? Is this correct?

Also I may add that my oil temp needle tends to fluctuate between the 100C mark and maybe a needle width below halfway. On rare occasion the needle would creep a hair beyond 100C mark but will quickly drop back down once I start moving.

Thanks in advance

[MaximusB]

Oh I should also add that I'm running BMW twin power 10/60 oil

[aus]

I hate to bring up bears, but a few members here noticed a higher than normal oil temp before their engines blew. Do you have the ticking sound?

[dparm]

Originally Posted by MaximusB

Today driving home from work in rush hour traffic, I noticed my oil temp needle was a full 1/8" past the halfway 100C (210F) mark. I only had my car for exactly 3 months so everything is still new to me. But I don't recall seeing oil temp gauge reading anything beyond the 100C mark so far in my ownership. Today was warm but not hot at all, the outside air temperature was 23.5C (74F). At the time the AC was on and I was in 2nd gear at about 3000rpm slowly going uphill, and for the first time I saw the oil temp reading this high.

Is the oil temp gauge accurate? After a quick search on the forum it appears our cars don't actually have an oil temp sensor, but rather the Ecu calculate the oil temp based on water temp.? Is this correct?

Also I may add that my oil temp needle tends to fluctuate between the 100C mark and maybe a needle width below halfway. On rare occasion the needle would creep a hair beyond 100C mark but will quickly drop back down once I start moving.

Thanks in advance

The gauge is somewhat accurate. I wouldn't consider is a problem since you had a decent engine load (AC running + going uphill).

Just keep driving and monitor it. The car can take much hotter temps before you need to worry. I routinely get the oil to the 3/4 mark (around 260 F) for 20-30 minutes at a time while on track and it will happily take it.

[FogCityM3]

Uphill and 2nd gear in stop and go traffic are the conditions under which oil temp would rise. the temp gauge is a combination of oil and coolant temp, but strongly correlates to actual oil temp. Just thinking about if i were in same situation, feel like my car would be around the same temp at 74 degrees. Would see if you notice higher temps at all times and it should go down as you drive faster and get full airflow/heat exchange effects.

[MaximusB]

Nope, the car sounds normal no ticking or anything. I drove rest of the way home with the radio off and tried listening for noise with windows up and down as well.

The oil temp went back to normal when traffic eased off and got out of stop and go traffic. It's just weird because I take the same route everyday and never saw oil temp this high.

[R_lara]

The gauge is very accurate, how much is 1/8 above post a pic. It's normal that the gauge goes up and down over half way mark. When I run high octane fuel my oil is always a little bit higher on temps for example.

[dbyrd]

Totally normal

[Helmsman]

Maximus, I have similar behavour. Typically half needle below 100C, but when stop start driving with a tad push it goes up one or two above. I haven't seen this before but we have a nice Summer in Sweden (for a change..) and when outside temp comes up above 23-24C the engine temp goes up.
Soon as up in highway speed it drops again. I was initially conserned but realized its normal and nothing to worry about.

[kb9uwu]

normal, at 3,000rpm in 2nd gear, you're not going fast enough to get air through the oil cooler.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by MaximusB

Today driving home from work in rush hour traffic, I noticed my oil temp needle was a full 1/8" past the halfway 100C (210F) mark. I only had my car for exactly 3 months so everything is still new to me. But I don't recall seeing oil temp gauge reading anything beyond the 100C mark so far in my ownership. Today was warm but not hot at all, the outside air temperature was 23.5C (74F). At the time the AC was on and I was in 2nd gear at about 3000rpm slowly going uphill, and for the first time I saw the oil temp reading this high.

Is the oil temp gauge accurate? After a quick search on the forum it appears our cars don't actually have an oil temp sensor, but rather the Ecu calculate the oil temp based on water temp.? Is this correct?

Also I may add that my oil temp needle tends to fluctuate between the 100C mark and maybe a needle width below halfway. On rare occasion the needle would creep a hair beyond 100C mark but will quickly drop back down once I start moving.

Thanks in advance

1- The BMW///M Twin-Power 10W60 oil warms up faster than the Castrol Edge 10W60 and runs a little warmer at operation temp.
I noticed this as well..with my Twin-Power oil .

2- Only in second gear and in uphill provides not enough airflow to cool your S65 .
Our S65 needs and takes 17,000 liters of air in every single minute at top speed and around 8,000 rpm's.

3- Conclusion..
Your situation is "Normal"

[dparm]

OP, remember that this is not an air-cooled car, it's water-cooled. Ambient temps will have very little effect on the oil temperature. The engine temp is regulated by the thermostat.

[Doc Oc]

Originally Posted by dparm

OP, remember that this is not an air-cooled car, it's water-cooled. Ambient temps will have very little effect on the oil temperature. The engine temp is regulated by the thermostat.

Have to respectfully disagree here. Ambient temps factor greatly on my water temp. I watch my p3 religiously on mountain trips and the water temps go hand in hand with the ambient under normal loads. Up there air temps can rise and fall 20+ degrees in just a couple miles so it's very traceable. The engine is obviously water cooled, but it's air flowing through your radiator and oil cooler that removes the heat. 40 degree air will obviously do a better job of that than 85 degree air.

[Doc Oc]

OP, when your oil temps rise (or don't drop) at highway speeds with clean air in front, that's when you have a problem.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Doc Oc

Have to respectfully disagree here. Ambient temps factor greatly on my water temp. I watch my p3 religiously on mountain trips and the water temps go hand in hand with the ambient under normal loads. Up there air temps can rise and fall 20+ degrees in just a couple miles so it's very traceable. The engine is obviously water cooled, but it's air flowing through your radiator and oil cooler that removes the heat. 40 degree air will obviously do a better job of that than 85 degree air.

Spot on !

[MaximusB]

Thanks guys, I'll keep an eye on it for the next little bit and see but good to know this is normal.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Doc Oc

Have to respectfully disagree here. Ambient temps factor greatly on my water temp. I watch my p3 religiously on mountain trips and the water temps go hand in hand with the ambient under normal loads. Up there air temps can rise and fall 20+ degrees in just a couple miles so it's very traceable. The engine is obviously water cooled, but it's air flowing through your radiator and oil cooler that removes the heat. 40 degree air will obviously do a better job of that than 85 degree air.

Note that I said oil temp, not coolant temp. :-)

It's not that the oil does nothing to cool the car, but the majority of the cooling is handled by the radiator/thermostat.

[Denk]

I've had more than a few M3's, all of them would creep past 210 going uphill. I've got this one mountain that I climb frequently and even in the winter that load puts the needle past 210...no AC either. Once I level out, it's back to just a hair under 210. This was on brand new M3's, all under 7K miles. I wouldn't worry about higher temps under greater loads.

[4corners]

Originally Posted by Denk

I've had more than a few M3's, all of them would creep past 210 going uphill. I've got this one mountain that I climb frequently and even in the winter that load puts the needle past 210...no AC either. Once I level out, it's back to just a hair under 210. This was on brand new M3's, all under 7K miles. I wouldn't worry about higher temps under greater loads.

This is exactly my experience too.

[GeorgeA]

Yea completely okay, I've had my temps hit 260F on mountain roads (driven hard) and autocross events. Completely fine.

[eyanez1230]

This same thing happened to me last week on my 2013 M3. Outside temperature was higher than yours at 100 F, and was stuck in traffic for about 30 minutes. When outside temperature went down to about 93 F, the oil temperature gauge went back to around 210.

[Mr. Liu]

Check your pieces of plastic underneath the front bumper/cooling ducts. Mine temps were going higher than normal also but realized the plastic pieces were destroyed and not properly allowing airflow to the oil lines underneath the car. Got new pieces and it helped a bit.