John Mascaro

Hi, everyone.. this is my first post.. I bought a 2006 530i from my brother a month ago.. he was the original owner.. the car has about 110k on it and I'm getting a low oil light..

But first, about a week ago the car started sputtering while coming up the 110 freeway in LA... It then started running pretty much fine, although it lacked its usual power..

This morning it started sputtering again, and the low oil level warning started coming on.. but there was a ton of smoke coming out the exhaust pipes..

my brother took good care of the car, had the regular check ups and oil changes and such.. and its not really due for an oil change..

I put some oil in it from the nearest shell station, but the low oil warning is still smacking me in the face..

Any ideas?.. and I'm sorry if this is something obvious to one of you guys.. I'm not much of a mechanic..

also... in the manual it says to only use bmw synthetic oil.. is that really the case?
thanks so much for any replies..

JayArras

Welcome to the forum, John! Sorry to hear you're already having issues. I'm moving your post to the general discussion area where you're likely to get more replies.

John Mascaro

oh.. thanks so much!..

JuniorB

Hi,you should absolutely stop driving that car until you do a fresh oil and filter to be 100% on your oil level. That's the first place to start,I would never drive around with any lights knowing there might be fluids involved. Look what happens if you have no water, you die. Also consider a 100k service in your cars future, fluids are a must and first,hope this helps.

JDMils

Not sure if this is related, but my wife's 320i came up with the same warning light and she filled the engine with oil, but the light still shown, so she kept filling it- until the oil started flowing out the top of the engine!

We found that it was the oil sensor that was faulty and was not registering the oil level.

Back to my wife's car, I drained the sump, replaced the sensor and it is running like a dream.

JuniorB

That's a high probability that what it may be,it's not at ease when a sensor tells you how much oil you have. If it is low,you can do severe engine damage,is it worth $40 in oil? That would be a same place to start. The sensor could be on the way out.

JDMils

Are you still getting smoke? If so, it could be anything but another thing we had done with the wife's 320i was replaced the valve-stem seals when we started seeing smoke out the exhaust. Fixed that issue, but it's a 4K job to get it done.

But too much smoke could also be if there is too much oil in the engine and the pressure is forcing the oil out from the crank and past the rings and into the chamber with the fuel, thus contaminating the fuel and not only producing smoke, but reduced performance. I hope for you that it is a faulty oil level sensor and too much oil. Are you able to check the oil level manually? I'm not too sure if our cars have an engine oil dip-stick? (https://5series.net/forums/e60-discu...-stick-124039/)

BuddyB

Hi John,
I too own a '06 530i and if it was me and I wondered if my oil level was correct, I would just start at the beginning.


Change the oil....


My 530i takes 7 quarts every time I do the oil change.
It can never be bad to give her some fresh fluid!
It's not that expensive either...It's just a Win Win!


Then see what the iDrive sensor states because you know for sure
that the oil level is where it is supposed to be.
No guessing or wondering....


If at that point the iDrive does not state the proper oil level then you know there is
definitely a problem.


Run a diagnostic and see if anything turns up and go from there...


Good luck and let us know what it turns out to be.
Then if it ever happens to my 530i I'll know where to look.


As far as smoke..I get a little at start up on the left side of the engine (Passenger side) near the firewall. BMW N52 engines are known for it.
It is the Valve cover seals...You'll see posts about it on any BMW Forum.


Bud B