[KrisHorton]

My gf picked up our M5 from Crevier BMW last night after having its oil cooler replaced under warranty. The oil gauge was showing 0.5L on the oil gauge for 90% of her drive home, but as she got within about 2 miles of our house she called me sounding pretty freaked out. She said that the gauge had jumped from 0.5L to -0.6L and she got a warning on the iDrive screen telling her to add oil because driving any further might cause engine damage.

We were both pretty confused and pissed off at the dealership. I figured they would at least replace any oil lost during the oil cooler swap and the service record even says they added 2 liters of oil. We called Crevier this morning and told them what had happened and they basically told us to pound sand. So at this point I'm thinking I might just do the obvious and add oil. I've got a spare 1-1.5L stored in the trunk since I know these motors burn oil. But what I'm worried about right now is the fact that it may just be a faulty oil level sensor. Is there any way to confirm this? I would hate to overfill the motor, but at the same time, I don't want to risk running the car when it's potentially at -0.6L. I'd love some advice on this if anyone has some!

Thanks in advance,

KH

 

[AngelSlayer]

If your car's still under warranty, then they should fix this for you. If they're going to be cheap about the oil then fine but at least they should verify the oil level and only charge you for the extra liter of oil. WTF.

 

[Revo]

Assuming the oil gauge worked properly right before they fixed the oil cooler, it's unlikely that it's all of a sudden reading improperly after they changed it.

It sounds like they just added the prescribed amount of oil that the service manual calls for when changing the oil filter, or that they just idled it there and used the quick read. However, the quick-reading is not accurate.

It could be possible once your girlfriend picked it up and got on the road, it was able to push all the air bubbles out of the oil cooler and lines that undoubtedly got some in them, and it caused the oil level to drop.

The S85 carries quite a large amount of oil, and I don't think -.6L is enough to warrant damage unless you were banging off redline. If you were just casually driving it below 5K or so I think it'll be fine. Just top it off.

 

[ideliver]

It needs topped off. It takes the computer several hours or sometimes days to give an accurate measurement.

One more reason why it needs a proper dipstick.

 

[Hasan Shaikh]

The oil level sensors in these cars are very good. I have never herd of an oil level sensor going bad. Just top it up and everything should be fine.

 

[mrfeel1933]

there is no reason to panic. the oil level sensor is working properly and all is fine with the car, the computer does not know 100% of the time the oil level in the car. what it does is, it check the level a a standard amount of miles. or when the car is warmed up and stop on a level surface. your gf drive off the dealer and at some point in time stop at a light, for 60 second and the computer did a check and found the oil to be low. this is why you get the warning. you can check your own oil level by pressing the button on the turn signal. the dealer should have done that before they gave you gf the car.
they messed up there.

 

[KrisHorton]

Thanks for the replies folks. I added 1.5L of oil today and it's now reading 1.0L, so all is well. Car's running and driving great as ever.