2004 X5 4.4i oil dipstick question
 

Hi All -

About six months ago I purchased a CPOed 2004 4.4 X5. This is my fourth BMW. All my previous BMWs were six or four cylinders so this is my first V8 from Bavaria...

My question is: the dipstick on our X5 will show full on one side and only 1/2 full on the other (if you rotate it 180 degress). I never saw this type of difference on my previous 6 cylinder BMWs. Is this charateristic of the V8s?

Thanks,

John

i have same indication on '06 4.4, and have to measure after engine gets hot. measure after shut off approx. 5 minutes.
does anyone know why ?

:thumbup: The lower side is the actual oil level because one side will always be high do to pulling it in and out of the dipstick tube. You should do this when the oil is a operating temp.

Must be a V8 dipstick thing...my ol' 3.0 reads the same on
both "sides" of the stick; actually my stick is an odd roundish
shape without real "sides". I do notice a different overall reading
when checking stone cold vs. hot/waiting period, though.
BR,mD

Which reads higher or lower? stone cold or hot?

Fully warmed up/"hot" has always read a tad higher...not a lot, but
farther up the stick, even after waiting a good 20-30 mins to read it.
No biggie...my oil consumption has reduced considerably over the
past 20K+ miles, curiously. So has the coolant "usage", fwiw.
BR,mD

That's odd. I would think hot would read lower since more oil is up in the engine block and less oil is in the pan from having just ran it. I've always checked it hot/warm so I don't have a cold comparison.

Odd to me, too Ray...
I suspect some capillary action or...ufos.

I almost passed on answering the stone cold vs. warmed up dipstick
level and hope it doesn't garner much more attention or, arm wrestles
over my observations/more oil threads, :rofl:

And, back at the GoingBrokeRanch, my old X is a 3.0 vs the 4.4 the OP
was wondering about, as I noted...

I would think that stone cold would be the way to check it.
My 05 4.4 never burn oil, would go a whole year without need of toping off.

Now my 335 does not have even have a dip stick.

Nope... you gotta go through the cluster for your dipstick on the 335, and it has to be with the engine running and warmed up a bit too.

are you guys serious?

warm is always a larger volume. sleeping in grade 6 is bad!
and you MUST read when hot. filling when cold will make it overfull when hot.

just follow the manual and follow the little green lights ok??

:rolleyes: The coefficient of expansion for oil accounts for about a 5% increase in volume between warm and cold for typical engine temperatures. You can't read a dipstick and measure a 5% difference. The difference we're talking about is between where the oil is when the engine is warm compared to where the oil is when the engine is cold. I suggest you try to understand what you are talking about before you post condescending remarks to people you don't even know.

While not wanting to be condescending, I tend to agree with Sprocket.

Let's go with the 5% figure for coefficient of expansion. With 8 litres in the sump, 5% variation means a delta of .4 litres, or about half the range of a usual dipstick. Given that BMW state to only check the oil when the engine is at operating temperature, I suggest that the indicated oil level rises due to temperature, ie cold engine vs warm, and that the correct reading can only be achieved with a warm engine.

While the oil level may show a higher level at cold when it isn't running (due to having all drained down to the sump) once the engine is started (but not warmed) the oil is likely distributed throughout the engine. Thus, starting an engine from cold, pumping the oil around, then stopping it and checking the level will show a lower level than when the oil is warm.

Nothing condescending about a well argued point, especially when made without references to Grade 6.:)

The 5% coefficient of expansion was for petroleum oil in general for lack of a reference for motor oil specifically. It also assumed a 100 C delta for the oil. I guess it could work out to a bit more than I anticipated in absolute numbers given the large volume of oil the bimmers take.

And all this technical jive just about checking your dipstick... I bet the honda forum guys aren't this sophisticated!:rofl:

Weasel, as I ref'd earlier in this thead, I could smell an arm wrestle coming
on the "cold vs. hot stick" as they say in the oil level checking biz. :rofl:

And, I know mine reads a touch "more full/higher" when fully warmed up
and it makes sense.

As a very knowledgeable poster maybe you could start an Oil Thread? :bustingup

Jes'kidding...really. :D

The Honda guys are more into Borlas, 30 aspect ratio tires and other
stuff. These guys here Love Fookin Oil. ;)
BR,mD

Which is why I love this forum!