Aren't you supposed to check it after being brought to normal temp. Then let it sit 5 min, then check?

There is a reason to this. The manual says so.

And the fact that an engine at operating temp is the only way to consistantly make sure the thermal expansion is keep sort of, well consistant. checking cold before sunrise and after may give different results.

I too found the only way to get consistant readings is to get it to normal temp first.

:iagree:
You would have thought by now we could have gotten a dip stick that was easy to read 99.9% of the time by everyone.

I sometimes check the oil when the engine is cold. However, I wouldn't add oil based on that reading. If it shows a quart low cold it is not really a quart low and no oil should be added.

The reason for waiting for 5-10 minutes after the engine has been shut off when it was at operating temperature is to allow time for the oil to drain from the engine back to the oil pan where the dipstick reading is taken. I am not sure about BMWs but normally when a dipstick is not showing a clear reading it is picking up oil that is in the dipstick tube.

I have pulled the stick as many as 8 times before I was confident I never have to add oil between changes but if I did, because of the difficulty in getting a precise reading I would not add oil until it was clearly more than a quart low. IMO a little over a quart low is better than overfilling.

Has everyone forgotten their high school science. Oil float on top of water. If the cooling system is low, but the oil level is high what would that suggest? I would suggest a drain of the oil pan and see if there's water in the pan. Remember, water is not a lubricant and the oil pickup is at the bottom of the pan, so you could be using water to lubricate all the moving parts in the engine.

I see no indication anyone forgot high school science but I do see that someone made a grade school mistake by not reading all the posts, see post #5. As you know, Coolant and water are visible on the dipstick and/or under the oil fill cap and I am confident OP would have noticed and provided that information.

I was just replying to the OP title and yes I did make the mistake of not reading all the posts.

As for coolant appearing on the dipstick the oil which would be floating above the water will replace any water at the bottom of the dipstick as you withdraw the dipstick from the engine because the bottom of the dipstick would have to pass through the oil layer.

I have had posters on other forums lie to me when I ask them to perform a simple task to determine their problem.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...1#post25749391

Had this poster follow my request he would have saved himself the cost of a tow fee and probably a couple of hours of mechanic time.

I agree to disagree. If the oil is checked as soon as the engine is off neither coolant or water will have settled out. Coolant changes the color of all the oil. Water is harder to see but it looks like very small bubbles. As you mentioned the oil pickup is in the bottom of the pan. Once it has picked up any coolant or water that is there it is picking up oil. Since all that is circulating in the engine it will mix together.

All we can do is suggest how we would troubleshoot or provide input as to what the problem may be. What an OP does is up to them and I don't think there is any reason to even imply they or anyone else is stupid, say I told you so, or they lied to you.

If it is important to us to let those contributing to the thread know we were right, we need to know nobody else cares. It's not a contest, there is no trophy. If the satisfaction of helping someone was not there or it wasn't fun, I would find something else do.

I am not suggesting that is what you should do. You have a lot of knowledge to contribute but I don't think you should expect to win friends, influence people and have the respect you would like to have when you make the choice to sound condescending and arrogant.