How long before oil drops to sump when car not driven for weeks?

[AzRiz]

My M3 is a weekend enjoyment car, and during the Winter months, I don't drive it too much, but I do like to take it out every 2-3 weeks to keep the fluids flowing and parts moving etc.

What I'm wondering is how long the engine oil takes to drop to the sump over time?

I know that some oil will sit for a good while on various surfaces, especially with it being a heavy oil in this case, but how much time passes before it's dripped down enough to provide significantly less lubrication on a cold start, and therefore becomes a point of concern?

One of the points I'm wondering about is if it's better to start and drive the car every 2-3 weeks to avoid so much oil dripping down that it causes much more wear on the next cold start, OR (A) is 2-3 weeks already so long that most of the oil has already dripped down, and (B) has the worst of it already happened so driving after 2-3 weeks is no better than driving it every 5-6 weeks?

Just to point out, I never start and idle the engine without driving the car, because I'm aware that this causes more harm than good in terms of water produced by the combustion process, pluss fuel dilution in the oil due to running rich when cold, etc etc. All of my drives are at least 1 hour long from the moment I start the engine.

I'm also aware that there other factors about leaving a car sitting for longer, such as tyre flatspots, water in fuel tank etc - the fuel tank is always filled to avoid issues and tyres always do fine in my experience as the longest period for me is 4 weeks max.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[Scharbag]

It does not matter. Oil will never flow off of metal parts until they are "dry". Plus, full oil flow happens in 2 seconds after startup.

Don't worry about it.

[DukeofAlexandria]

Originally Posted by Scharbag

It does not matter. Oil will never flow off of metal parts until they are "dry". Plus, full oil flow happens in 2 seconds after startup.

Don't worry about it.

^This. At no point will oil completely 'wipe clean' off of metal surfaces, and even if it did, the 2-4 seconds it takes for the oil pump and pick to start going won't affect much at all.

No worries, do your thing! :-)

-Duke

[Ximian]

My car has been sitting in the garage since October and the first start up after winter is usually late March. I add .2 or .3 L of oil before starting it up.

It doesn't help anything significantly, but it makes me feel a bit better.

[AzRiz]

Originally Posted by Scharbag

It does not matter. Oil will never flow off of metal parts until they are "dry". Plus, full oil flow happens in 2 seconds after startup.

Don't worry about it.

Thanks mate, I just start to feel a little uncomfortable when I reach the 2-week mark of the car not having been driven lol. Becomes a bit annoying during winter.

[AzRiz]

Originally Posted by DukeofAlexandria

^This. At no point will oil completely 'wipe clean' off of metal surfaces, and even if it did, the 2-4 seconds it takes for the oil pump and pick to start going won't affect much at all.

No worries, do your thing! :-)

-Duke

Thanks for the reassurance man

Originally Posted by Ximian

My car has been sitting in the garage since October and the first start up after winter is usually late March. I add .2 or .3 L of oil before starting it up.

It doesn't help anything significantly, but it makes me feel a bit better.

LOL

[G80indy]

if you want extra peace of mind use a group 4/5 like Redline HPMO; the ester oil content is polar which helps when a motor sits for a while