Oil level Not Reading

[frankzlin79]

When I start my M3, and select the oil status in the small screen between my speedo and tach, it is empty. After a couple of minutes, I will get the animated clock, which presumably is the car calculating the oil level. However, after 30 minutes of this animation, I still could not get a reading! By that time, I already arrived at my destination and didn't want to wait around for the reading to appear (if ever). This has happened to me twice on the same day, once in the morning, and once in the evening.

Anybody else experiencing this problem?

[J08M3]

yea sometimes it takes awhile... you can thank BMW for the wonderful idea of no real dipstick.

[frankzlin79]

I've owned the car for about 7 months, and sometimes it can take up to 10 minutes. But c'mon, I waited 30 min today and still no reading. That can't be normal.

[kyoshozx]

Originally Posted by frankzlin79

I've owned the car for about 7 months, and sometimes it can take up to 10 minutes. But c'mon, I waited 30 min today and still no reading. That can't be normal.

I brought my car in for an oil change at 7500, and afterwards it took like over 30 minutes for it to register and tell me they overfilled my car with oil. ARGH! luckily i knew something was wrong and i was driving very easy.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by frankzlin79

Anybody else experiencing this problem?

Not a problem, but an idiosyncrasy. After an oil change, it always takes a while to read oil level by itself, but you can invoke it (like the manual says ).

Choose a spot where to check oil level consistently (your garage is best), and with with car idling at full operating temperature, press turn-signal stalk (in oil reading mode) for about 5 seconds and release. You should get a pretty accurate reading a few seconds later, but let car idle until you do. After that, it should register an oil level much quicker. Remember each time you turn the ignition on, oil level is reset. If you don't drive long enough to get the oil fully hot, it won't register either. Once you understand how it works, you won't have any problems. But yes, I agree it's an idiotic system ; nothing like a dipstick. Take care.

[valeram]

Even the P 987S don't have the oil dipstick. The only difference between BMW and Porsche is that, Porsche stated in ther manual on when is the best time to check the electronic oil level.

[Lemans_Blue_M]

Electronic 'nanny' level sensors over the tried-and-true manual dipstick FTL.

[Ramos]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

Not a problem, but an idiosyncrasy. After an oil change, it always takes a while to read oil level by itself, but you can invoke it (like the manual says ).

Choose a spot where to check oil level consistently (your garage is best), and with with car idling at full operating temperature, press turn-signal stalk (in oil reading mode) for about 5 seconds and release. You should get a pretty accurate reading a few seconds later, but let car idle until you do. After that, it should register an oil level much quicker. Remember each time you turn the ignition on, oil level is reset. If you don't drive long enough to get the oil fully hot, it won't register either. Once you understand how it works, you won't have any problems. But yes, I agree it's an idiotic system ; nothing like a dipstick. Take care.

+1, you just have to wait until the oil temp is at full operating temp before you twist the switch.

[sayemthree]

its best when warmed up and idling on a level surface. fastest reading usually a few minutes for me.

[jbeene]

Originally Posted by kyoshozx

I brought my car in for an oil change at 7500, and afterwards it took like over 30 minutes for it to register and tell me they overfilled my car with oil. ARGH! luckily i knew something was wrong and i was driving very easy.

Same here. I turned back around about 100 feet out of the dealership and went back and sat there for an hour and a half while they drained all the oil and measured it and made sure they had put the right amount in.

They ultimately decided to replace the sensor but couldn't get the car back in for 2 weeks. In the intervening period the sensor started working properly but we decided to replace it anyway.

Has been good but has read one bar below top full since, even after 220 hard km at the track on Monday - I would have expected it to use a bit of oil...maybe I just broke it in properly?