Oil Level Warning
 

A word of warning for those who rely on the electronic oil level sensor - Don't!

On delivery, I was warned oil consumption may be high until run in. I regulary checked the level via i-Drive, which always said "OK".

I was a bit concerned when reading the owners handbook which said if the oil level was low, I needed to add oil within 200km to avoid damage. Fine, except I live more than 200km from anywhere that sells synthetic oil. Having driven 3600km in two months, I decided to do it the old fashioned way, and open the bonnet. Imagine my surprise when the level on the dipstick was on the minimum! i-Drive still said "OK" and had all green bars!

Took it to the dealer, where the suits said not to worry, but the guys who actually service these cars told me that the electronics are not all that reliable, but a dipstick never lies. They had to add 1 litre. Makes me wonder what might have happened if I had waited until the car told me to add some oil!

Oh, and if you do get your dealer to check your oil, make sure they have shut the bonnet properly afterwards. Mine didn't, and it's quite frightening to see it lift up when road trains go past!

I expect you'd have to be down at least a couple of liters before any damage would be incurred.

And if you have to add oil, it doesn't have to be synthetic. Obviously synthetic is best, but regular oil will mix with synthetic and it is much more important to have enough oil, as compared to the negative of having 15% non-synthetic oil in the engine.

Got this low oil warning couple of days ago, message said that I had to add 1 qt of oil. Checked with dipstick, the oil was indeed low !!! Added 1.5 quarts of oil (Mobile1 synth) to bring it back up to normal level.

8000 mi, but was recently driving on regular gas, if that makes a difference... :) But now switched back to premium...

From what I researched, it seems that only 4.8 liter engines burn oil when being broken in. I wonder if these burned oil becomes sticky and stays inside the engine. Where would that burned oil go?

The "burnt oil" actually burns inside of the cylinder heads, together with the gasoline - so it goes down the car's exhaust.

A-ha, because the 4.8i engine is basically an ///M engine, and all M engines burn oil (if some of you didn't know the origins of the E70 4.8i motor). The engine used in the E70 4.8i, is bascially the same engine in the old M5 (not the current M5) and the Z8 and Z8 Alpina. The 3.0si E70 engine is not M derived at all.

Not all 4.8i motors use oil!! I have 6000 miles on my 08 4.8 and is still on the full mark. Now I did change the new car oil at 1000 miles but it was still at the full mark on the dipstick also. There must be an old wives tale floating out there that says engines have to use oil to lubricate. I have had 2 E53's 4.4's with 100,000 miles on each of them and have never added a quart and they evidently were getting lubricated because I never had any engine problems.

As, I said the 4.8i engine is BASICALLY an M engine, but never said it would for sure burn oil. Our Z8 Alpina, which has an M engine has never burned oil, but I know several E70 4.8i owners, M owners and a few Z8 owners...and they all have to periodically (but regularly) add oil.

Well, they are both V8s, but I don't think that makes them the same engine, or makes the N62 a descendent of the S62 M V8 any more than any other BMW engine.

The E70 uses the N62 engine. The M V8 engines were known as S62 models. While they are both V8s, and have similar architecture, they have different bores, strokes, intake systems, cooling systems, lubrication systems....well, you get the drift.

I don't see any connection on the oil consumption issue. Nearly all BMW engines have used some oil. My last five vehicles have averaged around a litre every 6000 km, which doesn't bother me. It may cause distress to some owners. There isn't a connection between the 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 cylinder models in respect of the oil consumption. Some specific examples of BMW engines don't use oil. Good luck for those owners.

Reached 26,000 km before first liter of oil was necessary (was 2 weeks prior to servicing). The I-Drive may say OK, but rather check the bar display to be more accurate. But like like you experienced, some displays may not be accurate.

Cheers,