Is this rediculous? Four weeks later...
 

I had an oil service four weeks ago at BMWSF. About 900+ miles since. Now, i'm almost out of engine oil. When they perform the oil service, they do put more oil in the engine right? :confused: Are they just filling it to the minimum? My car is not leaking oil, because that would be very noticable. Any ideas on what is going on? ...I hate going to the dealership...especially now since they have on-site Enterprise :rolleyes:.

Should I complain? Or just purchase my own oil and fill it myself? How many quarts does the 3.0 take?

Complain about what? The oil change? Ah, no, they filled it up. The engine is burning it if you aren't seeing it drip. Check your paperwork, is should say how many quarts they put in the motor. And as for "how many quarts does it take" :rtfm:

too tired to go to the car to get the manual...lounging on my bed...falling asleep...:yawn:

ohhh...8 quart capacity

two quarts...is that normal for the dealer to give? doesn't seem like it...

Ah, Rabbit...
Not sure what you mean by, "Now, i'm almost out of engine oil."

Oil light on? Bare dip stick?

My guess is the Stlr did a "low fill", and you've run through a qt+ in
900 miles, which is not impossible.

A low original "fill" combined with some serious oil burning, can give
you a bare stick/oil light. Buy a qt or 2 at your local car parts joint
and pour it in.
GL,mD

You checked the oil via the dipstick and it's not even registering any!?!? Did you drain the oil into a bucket to find out how much you actually had in the motor? How do you know you only have 2 quarts in there?

got a low oil level message in the MID. then i went to check the dip stick. it was below the minimum. when i had the oil service, the invoice said how much oil they filled. are the dealers only supposed to fill that little?

How much?

two quarts

Was it using oil before? Might want to vist with them.

You should really focus your attention and questions on your dealer who performed the Oil Change Service.

2quarts of oil is NOT an Oil Change Service.... They might have just topped-off your oil...

When the Check Engine Oil msg comes on, you are short one quart, that is the design. What do you mean 'is two quarts normal to give?' If you had an oil service done, they would have completely changed the oil, filter.

Find out what exactly was done when you visited the dealer. Sounds like you burnt some oil, from your very vague post.

Is this like a Through the Looking Glass Trick Test? :rofl:

Rabbit: After 2 billion plus posts here in a month, I woulda thunk
you could do an oil check and/or report your situ with a touch more
accuracy. :confused: ... :rolleyes:

went to the dealership and bought 2 quarts of motor oil ($11)...problem solved...

couldn't complain...most of the assistance service advisors were out lunching...and the manager wasn't there...:rolleyes:

is there something wrong if my engine burns a lot of oil in a relatively short period?

No, but as I asked, was it burning oil prior to this??? Adding oil a lot?

Rabbit is too busy "posting" to answer our wonderments or,
set his orig. situ "straight", so any of us can understand it.

I'd still like to know how you 'knew' to buy 2 quarts. Engine Oil Light= 1 quart.

two quarts? t'was on the service invoice and a mechanic told me at another dealership (peter pan) a time before for the same problem

and motorDavid told me to buy two quarts

(i like your avatar :rofl:)

the service invoice from when? you "oil service" or this time?

MD said buy a quart or two..meaning find out how much you need and buy a couple quarts.

the invoice from four weeks ago:

OIL SVC-ANNUAL-W
PERFORM ANNUAL OIL & FILTER CHANGE AS PERMITTED BY MAINTENANCE PACKAGE (EXCLUDES MICROFILTER). DO NOT RESET SERVICE INTERCAL INDICATOR.
OIL & FILTER SERVICE COMPLETED

PARTS-QTY-FP NUMBER---------------DESCRIPTION---------PRICE
JOB#1-1----11.42.7.512.300----------OIL FILTER INSERT----WARRANTY
JOB#1-2----07.51.0.017.954----------5/30 SYN OIL---------WARRANTY

Rabbit,
If that oil change was really ~900 miles ago, you have two possibilites,imo:
-the Stlr did a not uncommon short "fill", as in skipping a quart plus, in
the filling process. (I've had it done to me twice, by the BMW "techs").
-You have a leak you haven't discovered and/or are burning a qt in less
than a thousand miles, which in itself is not outside of any BMW "spec".

Combine the leak and/or oil "burning" (consumption), with a possible
"short fill" during that oil change and Presto! Ya'll gonna be "down"
a couple of quarts.
My Qtr's up...

yes, noncom, running low on motor oil has happened before...(probably as a result from BMWSF's technicians)

hmmm....thanks for the response motordavid. must have a talk with my advisor...if i can get him on the phone :rant:

must evaluate this situation next oil "service"

If they did a 'short fill', he should've gotten the msg in the OBC right away, not after 900miles. You probably have a quart more than you should now, as a result of dumping 2 quarts in there. My conclusion is that you burnt the oil if there aren't any visible leaks.

Rabbit, may be a combination of burning, short fill.
Monitor it closely and talk to the dealer. Keep a log
and you can develop a reliable history to go by. fwiw.

Is it me or is the dealer full of S $#* ??? If my dealer told me that they did a complete oil change, then I would expect them to have done it. I'd check the oil filter and see if it is new, and check the oil and see if it is new. I mean what the F&$# is a "SHORT FILL" that sounds like B.S. to me. Do yourself a favor and change your oils now. Put fresh oil in the engine. And I bet you you will not have that much burning of oil as you do now. Or maybe non anymore.

My experience with "short fills":

An oil/filter change, under " original maintenance program"; one done
at Century BMW, 15 mins west of the BMW US Mutha SC plant and
one done at Fletcher BMW in Asheville, NC area.

The one done at Century, an hour from my mtn house, was not "noticed"
by me until after I got home, let car sit and then checked dip stick.
It was at least a qt down and the trap doors were covered in the drain
oil: nice, careful job, WTF? I called and complained and the SA said,
"oops a mistake" and come on by and they would top it off and wipe it
off. I'm an hour+ away; I topped and wiped it myself and gave them a
freakin zero on the bs report card.

Nearly same situ at Fletcher BMW, though they were slightly more careful
on the drain oil. I was next door when car was done, so it had a lil' time to
sit: I pulled the dipstick right in the service reception driveway and it was
over a qt down. I inquired and the SA was blustery at me. I pressed and
they topped it off. I asked if the "Short Fill but Full Bill to BMW" was a good
profit item for them. He looked like he swallowed his tongue.

He mumbled something about the tech may not have known the 3.0 IL6
Xs hold 8 qtrs. All utter bs, imo.

Therefore, a quart, or qt + low, does not trigger low oil warning; then
when the motor consumes a qt, or qt+ in 900 miles equals low oil.

Not a detective and not sure it's the Rabbit's situ, but easy to see'
how it can occur. And, short fills, especially on "their dime" are
not uncommon, imo, unless I just had the remarkable bad luck to
experience 2 short fills, from 2 different Stlrs in a year's time.

Motor Dave, I hear what you are saying, but I still don't understand what good a short fill will do? I've never heard of this type of B.S before and I wont except that from any dealer. I would give them hell if that were me, and believe me I've given hell once before at my dealer, from that day forward I've never had any problems with them again. You have to be stern with them or they will think your some kind of idiot and they can get away with doing B.S like that. Better them calling me an "A hole" then screwing me with service.

i feel like i've been "ripped" off, but could have there been a reason? BMWSF is a very large and reputable dealership (although sometimes it's reputation preceeds itself). all they told me on the invoice was 'oil service complete,' never told me in person because the service advisors are always too busy.

i'll be monitoring my oil consumption now. how many miles do you think ~2+ quarts will last usually?

My anecdotal comment has been beaten to a pulp;
RE: "what good a short fill will do?"

A Stlr doing 6-12 maintenance program "covered" oil changes a day,
could mean an extra 12+ qts per day, he is reimbursed by BMW Mutha,
but does not use. This assumes Stlr is on the prowl for padding his gross
margin % in the oil change line item.

I did not accuse Century or Fletcher here, of dishonesty; I simply reported
the facts. I do suspect some stlrs seldom have the customer's real interest
at heart. I don't feel Century or Fletcher have ever had my interest at heart...
they both could not have cared less on the several times I was forced to visit
either one for "warr/maint" service.

RE: "how many miles do you think ~2+ quarts will last usually?"
The question is unanswerable. From my fading memory, I recall
posts where a qt was consumed in 500 miles and some pollyannas/lucky drivers
here, reporting a few thousand miles per qt.

There is no hard number, imo. All I can report is that my X uses more
oil, (and coolant), than any vehicle, car or motorcyle, that I've owned
in the past two decades. My oil consumption has reduced over the
course of its 58K miles, however.

That's all I can add to this thread...
GL,mD

Yes, but you are fighting the good fight, MD. Sort of like the armwrestle on alcohol fuel consumption elsewhere on this board, beaten to a pulp but you refuse to let go. I understand the feeling.

Your dealers may have been stealing, I don't know. It is entirely possible that they charged BMW for exactly what they put in the vehicle. A service shop doing oil changes is probably working to a tight clock, worrying about getting them through, more than worrying about whether it needs another quart or less to reach the full line. Just my experience. I think the shop and technician labour time is the issue, they get paid a flat rate and lose big time to fiddle with the last quart. That costs them more than the cost of a quart of oil. Save a few minutes a job and you get another full service in in a work day.

The figures I have seen used with other manufacturers and makes have been 1 quart per thousand miles, anything less was normal. That was the hurdle for intervention, when it was worth it to package them up and sent the owners back to the respective dealers to ask for warranty consideration. If my car used a quart every thousand I wouldn't be happy, but that was the point at which we could get factory support, using their own guidelines.

A side comment to the post regarding letting the dealer know who is boss....it doesn't work. I have never seen a service customer who acted like that win in the end. It may feel good, but you won't have the dealer go to bat for you, and that is what you really need sometimes. Treat them how you want to be treated. If they are crooks, don't deal with them. Just my $0.02