Is my oil temp too high? - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

Deanger · 14th January 2002, 18:22

Had the BEAST since June. 5.6 K miles now. Right from the start I've seen temps routinely near the middle dot -- the coolest, and I do mean coolest I get is a chilly california night, cruising in 6th gear on a flat highway at about 120KPH, and that is peg at half-way between first dot and second.

In mixed driving, I often am just below or at middle dot. And by that mixed, I mean stop/start city traffic.

I've burned about 3 qt oil since new.

It's been on my mind. A friend and fellow BEAST owner has always said I'm running hot. And I did have the fan bulletin done before delivery.

Help

Dean

AJ · 14th January 2002, 18:27

you are running just a tad hot. on the highway, doing around 70 in a 80 degree weather your needle should be just a little past the dot on the left of the 6 o'clock one.

the only time i've seen mine at 6 o'clock is right after doing 140 in a 90 degree day.

however, i wouldn't bother. next time when you bring the car in ask them to check the calibration of the oil temp meter, but again- i would not sweat it.

alex
00 m5

Deanger · 14th January 2002, 18:31

What about the oil consumption? Searching this site- I feel like that's a lot of oil I've burnt off. In an old air-cooled 911 that would make sense but, I don't know enough about the M5's powerplant.

I was conservative during break-in. Now I drive it "normally" for the most part - though I do occasionally let it run for 5-10 minutes at a elevated RPM say a few minutes a 5000RPM, then a few at 3000RPM, then a minute at 6000... This kind of steady all-level break in worked wonders in my 911's. Is it bad here?

Thanks

PhilSeastrand · 14th January 2002, 21:01

Oil consumption is not bad at all. 3 qts over ~6K miles is only 1 qt per 2K miles. Many people have seen much higher consumption than this. It should start to drop after 10K or so.

PhilSeastrand · 14th January 2002, 21:03

Regarding the oil temp, what you described is pretty consistent with what I'm seeing. When we were at Sears Point, I got the water temp up to red (computer was warning me) and the oil was just a little over the center dot. Normal driving is slightly past the first dot and heavy driving brings it closer to the center dot.