LeeGU52

Hi.
Yesterday I changed the oil on an e60 n47 engine. I saw it holds 5.2l and that there is a 1.2l tolerance on the dipstick. Does this mean the maximum mark shows 6.4l? Oil and filter change on level ground but tipping 4" to passenger side allowed 4.5l to come out. The engine was low on oil. I put in 5l of 5w30 oil and it seemed fine. Got back from a drive and added the sixth litre. Yes not a great idea without checking dipstick first. idrive now flashes up as overfill and dipstick shows 5mm over. Engine sounds really quiet and smooth. How safe is it to leave as it is? Potentially could be 1 litre overfilled.

twh

Not safe to run the engine with too much oil. What happens is it gets sloshed around by the internals and foams up and then causes havoc. Including, possibly causing the oil pickup to try to suck up foamy oil rather than liquid oil - that doesn't work so well.

FormerE30Owner

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Actually its the opposite that happens. The higher level in the sump reduces the splashing effect which doesn't permit the oil to splash up onto the other internals. Also, too high a level could cause hydraulic lock in the bottom end. Bottom line --don't overfill, but an extra 1/2 quart shouldn't be a problem and it should burn off fairly quickly giving one the impression that the engine is burning too much oil.R]
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twh

When the higher oil level in the sump comes in contact with the crankshaft and foams the oil, your problems begin. Is that one more quart? Don't know, but you don't want to get there.

It has nothing to do with oil splash inhibition. This is a full pressure engine, as are most cars. This is not an splash style lubrication engine. The connecting rods don't have oil dippers attached. If it was, then you'd be right -- the foam would interfere with the splashing caused by the dippers.