Low Oil Level Warning?!? Help!

Venom77 · 18th June 2006, 18:31

I have 1050 miles on the M5 now, I was going to take it in for service on monday, but driving last night going from 1000-1050 miles. I noticed a little exclamation in the dash by my gear. I opened up the service thing, and under the operating system checks, it had a yellow triangle by oil. Soon after, it changed to a red triangle and said my service was overdue. My oil level guage is almost all the way down and says I'm at minimum to add a quart of oil immediately.

I am not at 1200 miles yet only close... is this normal? Is it safe for me to drive the car 40 miles to the dealer for the normal break in service?

JamesInLV · 18th June 2006, 18:38

Venon...we're in the same boat! I have my 1200-mile service appointment on Tuesday, and two days ago at about 1100 miles, I got that little exclamation point too and was wondering what the heck it was. Checked through the computer and found I have 0.1L of oil. I'm at about 1140 now, and did a re-check when I pulled into my garage and came out at 0.0L but it still doesn't give me the warning that I must add a quart immediately.

For good measure, even though my appt is on Tuesday, I added about 0.2L just to be safe until then.

Is this normal? From all the posts on here, the fact that neither of us burned down to 0.0L before now is more unusual than normal. There are something like 8-9L of oil in the engine in the first place, so will you be safe for about 40 miles...almost certainly. If you happen to have a quart of oil around you can do what I did just to be safe (and make sure the dealer doesn't give me crap) and add a 1/4 quart or so.

swb3 · 18th June 2006, 19:58

Mine basically did the same thing at 300 miles. If you search one of my early posts you will see I had a faulty oil sensor. However as I have read other posts over time I suspect it was the break-in oil mixing with metal particles and it caused bad readings. I have about 16,000 miles on mine now and have only added 2 liters of oil to the engine besides the service change at 15,000.

I would call the service dept and ask them what to do before adding any oil. I added 2 liters in my panic, and they still told me it was fine to drive the car in 100 miles even though it was probably over filled.

M52006Black · 19th June 2006, 20:00

No reason to panic. Simply take to dealer and then will top up the oil for you. Recommend that you let the dealer do the top up as they have to reset the oil reading guage.

Venom77 · 19th June 2006, 22:51

drove it the 40 miles to the dealer, the car went back up to .2 so I figured it would make it just fine...

In for the 1200mi service, then they are going to simonize the car

Demon_M6 · 19th June 2006, 23:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by M52006Black

No reason to panic. Simply take to dealer and then will top up the oil for you. Recommend that you let the dealer do the top up as they have to reset the oil reading guage.

No no need for that, you can reset it ur self, very easy
just select the oil where is shows the clock and temperture
as soon as you see the oil level hold down the button next to the
check button and hold it for 5 seconds.

plus wait untill your oil reachs 0.2L and then add a quart of oil "full bottle"
it should read just perfect on the arrow after you do a reset.

you will be adding oil allot in the future so pick up more oil quarts from
your dealer, they are for free.

MZLO · 24th April 2010, 18:58

I just got a massage in the dash showing -1.0L in the oil level
What does it mean? Does it mean that the oil level is to low or high?

justwaiting · 24th April 2010, 19:06

This is a common question on the forum. I usually don't put oil in under the bottom bar...and 1 quart takes it up to around 1.0....it's usually pretty safe around 1.0...but don't overfill above 1.2....I usually put 3/4 in...reset it....wait for it to update..and then check again. It's a common quirky thing with our vehicles...