changed oil - no oil on disptick - SOLVED!
 

I have 209,000 miles on my 02 4.4 X5. I've owned it for 6 years now. I change the oil myself. Today, I'm mystified. I changed the oil and filter, and now 3 hours since the change there's no oil on the dipstick. It's dry as a bone. No oil spilled. It's ALL in there. Somwhere. 8.75 quarts. So, where's it hiding? The check oil level light is not on.

Is the vehicle level? Engine warm? Did you wait 2 minutes after shutting it off for the oil to drain down? Was the dipstick fully seated? Was the dipstick replaced, possibly with one of a different length? Is their oil in the cooling system? No oil collecting in the belly pan?

Based on answers to all of the above, add another quart and see if it shows on the stick.

You sure you put the dipstick in the diptube?

from what i remember, a dipstick on a facelifted 4.8iS is a bit longer than on 4.4i - but that is an N62 motor...

for the M62 engine, the dipsticks should be the same...

11 43 7 505 454 - 4.4i, 4.6iS

Well guys, I let it sit overnight. Level ground (garage). No oil on the dipstick. And, yes, yesterday I checked the dipstick to make sure it was seated. I added a quart of oil this morning and it was barely touching the dipstick. Oh, it IS the vehicle's dipstick. Now to check with the shop guys about what could be possibly occurring. I do not have any leaks. They did an inspection on the vanos a while back. Maybe something did go back correctly.

You mentioned the VANOS was inspected. Was it possible the dipstick was removed and not reinstalled correctly?

Drain your oil back out into a clean container (so you can reuse it) and measure what you get out.

i think if you put TOO MUCH oil, you can damage the engine... is it not what happened to Bnagy's car? so, you should not exceed the 8.5 qts for a V8

Were you able to get a dipstick reading before the oil change? If so then you can rule out any dipstick issues.

Here's the latest. The dipstick tube was not affected during the VANOS inspection. I parked the X5 with the front pointed down our sloped driveway. Lo and behold it finally had an oil reading this morning! It read just over full. Tomorrow the shop is going to take a look at the tube. Stayed tuned.