Oil Level and rough startup - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

mjlandy · 19th February 2003, 16:07

I was wondering if anyone ever experienced this event or had any advise.

Due to the snow here in the North East - the beast was parked and left along for several days (5 total).

This morning I started her up for the first time and was greated with a rumbling / rough idle and tapping.

I shut her off and noticed the oil was just at the lower mark - not below it -

Added another quart - she drinks about 1 every 800 miles.

Restarted the engine and let her idle - over time and over the drive the idle got better (immediately) and the tapping went away in about 5 minutes.

Since this NEVER happened to me before I was concerned - car has about 11K on it - anyone with similar experiences ?

MikeNJ · 19th February 2003, 17:25

I have not seen this, but for a datapoint I have the same situation as you. Northern NJ, 11k on the odometer. Drinks about a quart every 1k miles (changed every 3-4k). Started a new pattern a month ago where I drive Wednesday-Friday, and she is parked the other days. Maybe a run to the store on the weekend, but often not even started for 4-5 days. I probably should at least warm her up but have not.

Starts perfectly every time, no tapping, no roughness. Although I probably would not be suprised if it did.... Also I run her through the entire rpm range when I do drive, I wonder if this helps to keep her "clean". BTW, I usually fill up with Sunoco 93.

FAST4DR · 19th February 2003, 18:10

Mine did the exact same thing, but EVERY morning upon start up. The VANOS fix solved it. Although, mine is a 2000.

Scubabob · 19th February 2003, 19:13

As I mentioned in the a different cold weather thread, I had a similar problem a few weeks ago. My car (MY2000) had been sitting for over a month in a very cold garage. Thank goodness for my 'salt' car.

On startup, the engine felt like it was missing a few cylinders as it bounced and bucked around. The garage stunk like gas big time. After about 10-15 seconds, the idle smoothed out.

My car does not consume large amounts of oil. I've gone 15,000 miles without needing to add. The car has 24,500 miles now. Perhaps the reason the oil level was at the low end was because it was checked too soon after shut off? Even so, the engine should be OK a quart down. Anybody know how low you have to go to get a 'low oil' alert? Does the M5 even have an oil level low alert?

Bob

FastFwd · 19th February 2003, 20:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Scubabob
...Anybody know how low you have to go to get a 'low oil' alert? Does the M5 even have an oil level low alert?

Bob

The M5 servicing is all tied in to electronics, including a low oil warning. In fact, BMW recommends that oil is added only when the "add engine oil" appears on the display.

Best,
Bert

pmiranda · 20th February 2003, 01:28

''BMW recommends that oil is added only when the "add engine oil" appears on the display''

OMG

Screw that!
I checked oil every time I filled up with gas for the first 15k miles. It doesn't seem to burn oil anymore so I only check it once a month.

The low oil warning went off once for me on a long trip at around 6k miles and it indicated just under the low mark. I wouldn't trust the car to catch low oil level early in life when its more susceptible to burning it.

Definitely NEVER blindy add a whole quart. Always check the level properly before adding. (warm engine, idle 15 seconds, [shut it off and wait] 60 seconds before you check the dipstick in good light)