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      08-23-2011, 05:48 PM   #1
richardchou
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Question Mesuring Engine Oil Level!!

What's the trick to see the actually engine level measurement? Owner's manual says the car needs to be driven and the oil needs to be warm. No matter what I do, my iDrive just saying "Measuring Engine Oil Level..." I have driven the car for over an hour, park it, let it idle for 10 minutes, and it still says measuring engine oil level... I attempted several different way trying to get a reading, but no luck. What the hell is going on!?!?

Thanks!
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      08-23-2011, 09:36 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richardchou View Post
What's the trick to see the actually engine level measurement? Owner's manual says the car needs to be driven and the oil needs to be warm. No matter what I do, my iDrive just saying "Measuring Engine Oil Level..." I have driven the car for over an hour, park it, let it idle for 10 minutes, and it still says measuring engine oil level... I attempted several different way trying to get a reading, but no luck. What the hell is going on!?!?

Thanks!
The Oil level measurement (vertical black bar changes to green bar) should appear after driving about 4 miles in warm weather or up to 6 miles in very cold weather. You may have a problem if that's not happening.

Some early X3's had several oil level sensors and oil temp. sensors that were defective (early failures) but the ones that were reported here caused the center display to give a "oil temp or oil level measurement failure - get service" warning.

Sounds like a trip to your dealer is in order if you don't see the green bar.
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      08-23-2011, 11:31 PM   #3
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Thumbs up Thanks

I will pay them a visit, Thanks!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotus7 View Post
The Oil level measurement (vertical black bar changes to green bar) should appear after driving about 4 miles in warm weather or up to 6 miles in very cold weather. You may have a problem if that's not happening.

Some early X3's had several oil level sensors and oil temp. sensors that were defective (early failures) but the ones that were reported here caused the center display to give a "oil temp or oil level measurement failure - get service" warning.

Sounds like a trip to your dealer is in order if you don't see the green bar.
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      08-27-2011, 04:23 AM   #4
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oil level

It seems like the automatic oil check is slightly less than accurate...

It stated oil ok on the idrive. So I double check the oil with the oil stick provided on the X3 2.0 D. It was on the minimum marker , so I had to fill in about 0,5 liter for it to be ok. I have only about 5000Km on the meter..


This must be checked by BMW.. next week
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      08-27-2011, 08:01 AM   #5
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At least you have a dipstick to check with. The petrol engines only have the electronic oil level sensor.

Did you make your "oil stick" measurement with the engine fully warmed up and with the vehicle on a flat (level) surface? If the engine is cold the "stick" reading will be low and, of course, if the vehicle is tilted slightly, the "stick" measurement will also be in error.
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      08-27-2011, 03:30 PM   #6
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DO all 20d's have a dipstick? I have a UK 20d and couldn't find it and assumed it was iDrive check only? Did I not look hard enough?!
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      08-27-2011, 05:14 PM   #7
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sfax,

According to BMW, the European 20d engines do have a dipstick. It's on the side, snakes through a bent pipe and exits horizontally!
The 30d also has a dipstick in approximately the same location, but the tube is much straighter,
Looks like they really tried to hide the one on the 20d.

See attached drawing for the location. The oil dipstick is part number (14/15) on the drawing.
I've never seen a 20d in the flesh, so will have to take BMW's word on it.
Important: This engine uses an "O" ring seal on the dipstick tube, so the dipstick must be fully inserted to avoid oil leaks.

The petrol 28i and 35i have no dipstick port on the engine block or oil pan. The only way to measure the oil level is via the electronic sensor which mounts through a big hole centered on the bottom surface of the oil pan.

+1 point for the 20d & 30d engines
-1 point for the 28i & 35i
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Last edited by Lotus7; 08-27-2011 at 10:04 PM..
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      08-28-2011, 05:23 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotus7 View Post
sfax,

According to BMW, the European 20d engines do have a dipstick. It's on the side, snakes through a bent pipe and exits horizontally!
The 30d also has a dipstick in approximately the same location, but the tube is much straighter,
Looks like they really tried to hide the one on the 20d.

See attached drawing for the location. The oil dipstick is part number (14/15) on the drawing.
I've never seen a 20d in the flesh, so will have to take BMW's word on it.
Important: This engine uses an "O" ring seal on the dipstick tube, so the dipstick must be fully inserted to avoid oil leaks.

The petrol 28i and 35i have no dipstick port on the engine block or oil pan. The only way to measure the oil level is via the electronic sensor which mounts through a big hole centered on the bottom surface of the oil pan.

+1 point for the 20d & 30d engines
-1 point for the 28i & 35i
Thanks Lotus. The wife has the X3 but when it's back I'll have a proper look for it. I'll be pleased if it does because it not only backs up the iDrive reading but also means you can have a look at the state of the oil
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      08-28-2011, 01:57 PM   #9
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I found the dipstick!!! it's under the engine cover on the left hand (facing forward), rear in the engine compartment. Just pry off the engine/air filter cover and you can access it. This is the 20D engine.
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Last edited by perto; 08-28-2011 at 02:16 PM..
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      08-28-2011, 03:53 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nahoa View Post
All this time I thought she was in the passenger seat saying, "Get out of their blind spot. I'd change lanes. Don't tailgate. Why"d you go so slow through there? Just park someplace."
Ha Ha, no dipstick in 35i :-)
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      08-28-2011, 03:56 PM   #11
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Interesting observation. My 28i had it's first oil change today (at 1200mi). I drained ~ 7qts of oil out of my vehicle. I replaced it with 6. Started the engine, read the oil level from iDrive, and the oil said FULL. Shut down, added the 7th qt of oil, and it still read full.

Seems as though they've added some margin to the engine oil capacity. In other words, at least 6-7qts of oil show full.

This is probably due to customers perceiving their car is low on oil at some point between oil changes.

My E83 used a bit of oil between oil changes and the light would come on to have a check. With the F25, if they over-provision for additional "Reserve" oil in the system, you have a better chance of making it to the next service mark without needing to add oil.

Interesting as to how they skew the reading. For BMW engineering, this is brilliant, however, for the consumer, it's a bit unnerving not having a dipstick in a petrol engine.
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      08-28-2011, 04:36 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nahoa View Post
All this time I thought she was in the passenger seat saying, "Get out of their blind spot. I'd change lanes. Don't tailgate. Why"d you go so slow through there? Just park someplace."
Whew! You better hope she doesn't ever search this forum for one of your old posts and finds this one.
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      08-28-2011, 08:51 PM   #13
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Crap, I coulda deleted it if you hadn't quoted it . . .
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      08-28-2011, 08:53 PM   #14
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. . . and I was just kidding. She has me so trained she doesn't need to say anything!
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      08-28-2011, 09:39 PM   #15
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. . . and I was just kidding. ...
It's too late to back out of it now. Once you post something on the "net" it will haunt you forever.
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      08-29-2011, 03:13 PM   #16
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Found the dipstick. Thanks Lotus and perto.

@ Perto: It's a little awkward but I can access mine without removing the engine cover (same place)
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      08-30-2011, 01:54 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sfax View Post
Found the dipstick. Thanks Lotus and perto.

@ Perto: It's a little awkward but I can access mine without removing the engine cover (same place)
It's only me who like to rip things apart to have a look whats behind, had that bad habit sins I was a kid.
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      08-30-2011, 02:30 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sfax View Post
Found the dipstick. ...
So, how does the oil level as measured the good "old-fashioned way" compare to the fancy electronic sensor?

I really wish the N55 engine had a dipstick.
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      08-30-2011, 03:39 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotus7 View Post
So, how does the oil level as measured the good "old-fashioned way" compare to the fancy electronic sensor?

I really wish the N55 engine had a dipstick.
I will have a look this evening. I only looked for the dipstick last night. Not had chance to compare readings and I wanted to be as scientific as possible in keeping with the excellent and comprehensive information we get from you Lotus
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      11-29-2011, 06:40 PM   #20
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As I was driving to work, I decided to do my weekly oil check. To my surprise, I am now getting a : MEASUREMENT INACTIVE - HAVE THIS CHECKED message and no more oil reading. I checked again on the way back and same message shows up. Anyone else had that problem? Defective sensor? Cold weather glitch?
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      11-30-2011, 08:29 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hornet_Rider View Post
As I was driving to work, I decided to do my weekly oil check. To my surprise, I am now getting a : MEASUREMENT INACTIVE - HAVE THIS CHECKED message and no more oil reading. I checked again on the way back and same message shows up. Anyone else had that problem? Defective sensor? Cold weather glitch?
defective sensor
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      01-15-2012, 01:42 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sfax View Post
I will have a look this evening. I only looked for the dipstick last night. Not had chance to compare readings and I wanted to be as scientific as possible in keeping with the excellent and comprehensive information we get from you Lotus
I never did this comparison of iDrive and dipstick properly until a few days ago: The car was on a flat surface and the engine was cold. I checked using the dipstick first and it showed just below the maximum at about 7/8ths of the distance between min and max. Switch on the ignition and check using iDrive and it showed exactly at the full mark. So roughly the same but I would have had more confidence in the iDrive if had reflected the dipstick reading and been at 7/8ths as well
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