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Oil Overfill :(

17K views 20 replies 16 participants last post by  Marcodan 
#1 ·
I f'd up and overfilled the engine by a about half quart. My BMW dealer told me to not worry. I know the risk is that the crankshaft hits the oil, causes it to foam and the oil pump can't pump foam and there is oil starvation.

I also know that the car burns a decent amount of oil and that it won't take long to burn the excess. Any suggestions???
 
#2 ·
My dealer over-filled mine. I drove it for about a week until I could get back to have it drained off. I was at 1.5 - if you're less than that, I wouldnt worry too much. I'd get some drained if you're 1.4 or more.
 
#3 ·
I am at 1.5...would it indicate a higher reading or is that as high as it goes?

I would think synthetic oil would be less prone to foaming, but I am guessing. I have some ideas on how to alleviate the problem once I get home. Again, if I drive a few miles is there really cause for concern?

jamie22 said:
My dealer over-filled mine. I drove it for about a week until I could get back to have it drained off. I was at 1.5 - if you're less than that, I wouldnt worry too much. I'd get some drained if you're 1.4 or more.
 
#4 ·
jkrutch said:
I am at 1.5...would it indicate a higher reading or is that as high as it goes?

I would think synthetic oil would be less prone to foaming, but I am guessing. I have some ideas on how to alleviate the problem once I get home. Again, if I drive a few miles is there really cause for concern?

Same here, I was at 1.1 and added one liter, I went immediately to 1.4, a quick check of the book points out that the quick check readout is not very accurate. I drove for about 30 minutes and it re-calculated to 1.2 which should be fine IMHO.

Are you getting the overfill warning? If so, I would go straight to the dealer, if not you may be alright. There appears to be a strong difference of opinion on the subject, do a search and you can read about others in your situation.
 
#5 ·
How is the warning communicated? Does it happen passively or I need to check for it? Thanks in advance.

idivethesea said:
Same here, I was at 1.1 and added one liter, I went immediately to 1.4, a quick check of the book points out that the quick check readout is not very accurate. I drove for about 30 minutes and it re-calculated to 1.2 which should be fine IMHO.

Are you getting the overfill warning? If so, I would go straight to the dealer, if not you may be alright. There appears to be a strong difference of opinion on the subject, do a search and you can read about others in your situation.
 
#6 ·
jkrutch said:
How is the warning communicated? Does it happen passively or I need to check for it? Thanks in advance.
I read on another post that this individual had a reading of 1.5 and a "oil overfill" warning came up on his nav screen. I have not seen this myself or read of it in the manual. It would make sense to have such a feature.
 
#7 ·
idivethesea said:
I read on another post that this individual had a reading of 1.5 and a "oil overfill" warning came up on his nav screen. I have not seen this myself or read of it in the manual. It would make sense to have such a feature.
That might have been my post. My dealer overfilled the oil at the 1200 mile service. It read 1.5 liters on the instrument, but when I confirmed using the iDrive oil measurement (not the oil check!) it lit up in orange and said "oil overfill--see service dept!" or something like that.

jkrutch--if it just reads 1.5 without the warning on iDrive, perhaps that is not as serious. All I can say is that after they drained my level down to 0.8 it took excactly 850 miles to drop from 0.8 to 0.5! Now I have 1100 miles after the service and it is only at 0.4. This car does not use up a lot of oil, as far as I am concerned . (My E39 M5 used a quart every 1000 miles until I hit 4000 miles and then it stopped.) I would have the extra 0.5 liters drained based on my own experience....
 
#8 ·
My drive home is short...I have some goofy idea about how to alleviate the situation...if it doesn't work, I will run over to my dealer tomorrow and get some assistance. ouich

I will also look for a warning light....thanks.


bavarian said:
That might have been my post. My dealer overfilled the oil at the 1200 mile service. It read 1.5 liters on the instrument, but when I confirmed using the iDrive oil measurement (not the oil check!) it lit up in orange and said "oil overfill--see service dept!" or something like that.

jkrutch--if it just reads 1.5 without the warning on iDrive, perhaps that is not as serious. All I can say is that after they drained my level down to 0.8 it took excactly 850 miles to drop from 0.8 to 0.5! Now I have 1100 miles after the service and it is only at 0.4. This car does not use up a lot of oil, as far as I am concerned . (My E39 M5 used a quart every 1000 miles until I hit 4000 miles and then it stopped.) I would have the extra 0.5 liters drained based on my own experience....
 
#11 ·
Old post, but one that I'm thinking should be updated as follows based on recent dealings w/ BMW. "Optimal" level of oil for the S85 engine per the dash gauge is 0.6L, once it approaches 0.0L the engine needs service or topping-of, anything upwards of 1.0L and beyond is cause for remediation, although a tech foreman I was chatting at said even 1.4L-1.5L is not the "danger zone" but should be addressed ASAP. Confirmed much of this in BMW service bulletins for S85 too.
 
#16 ·
I'm adding to this thread just to contribute in the hopes that my mistake in not reading this threat will save someone else from this hassle.

After getting my oil changed about 60 days ago, the oil reading dropped from the top arrow on the oil level display on the dashboard, to just above the bottom. I added 0.75 liters and didn't see it move. I drove the car for a couple days - it didn't budge. Hmm. I added another 0.5 liters and didn't see it budge after about two days and 20 miles so I stopped by BMW Bellevue to ask. I had a few occasions over the last three months, prior to a battery change, where the readout was empty, so I thought it was a faulty sensor.

Turns out, as you are no doubt seeing, that I did not push the stalk button and let the oil gauge reset. I reasoned, erroneously, that since is drops when the oil goes down, it would raise when oil was added. Silly me. After resetting the gauge it showed "greater than Max" or ">Max". The idrive showed the oil in yellow and indicated an overfill.

They didn't something with the filter to drain some and got it down to exactly at the top arrow indicator for "okay", so I'm good to go. It was a $150 lesson (plus the wasted liter of oil), that maybe this thread will help someone else avoid.

The SA and mechanic emphasized that overfilling the engine, as already discussed, is a no-no. I forgot the tolerance, but I think it was about 0.25 liter.
 
#19 ·
I topped up and got 1.5L. But no message saying overfill. So I continued driving it for a few weeks. Now the level is at 1.0
 
#20 ·
Ahmed any issues from the overfill? My oil change today left me with 1.4 I'm slightly concerned but my beast does run through oil pretty quickly.

Thanks,
TZ
 
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