andrek

Guys, I need help figuring out what happened with my 06 550i (91K) this morning.

Right as I got off highway on my way to work, grey/white smoke started to rise from under the hood. There were no iDrive errors being reported. I pulled over and shut off the engine. I opened the hood and saw that smoke was coming up from underneath the drivers side of the engine. I called my indy and explained what happened. I had checked my oil level via iDrive before I left for work and it showed 3 green bars, so I assumed oil level wasn't the issue. He told me I should be OK to drive the 2-3 miles to his shop. I allowed the car to cool down until there was no longer any smoke. I restarted the engine, checked that the car, no iDrive errors or smoke and the engine ran smoothly.

So I started driving toward the shop and about a half mile later, "Engine Oil Below Minimum" error came up. I pulled off the road and called the towing service to pick up the car and take it to the shop. While I was waiting for the tow. I opened the hood and checked the oil level using dipstick several times few minutes apart and it was halfway between tip and 'low' mark on the dipstick. Strangely, I found a couple of oil drops on top of the engine cover.

The car got towed to indy and I took a cab to work. Indy found a cracked washer on one of the oil cooler lines. When I returned home, I found a pool of motor oil , about 1/4 Quart worth, right where I usually park the car

About 3 weeks ago, I had valve cover\timing cover\alternator bracket gaskets replaced along with the water pump and expansion tank. My indy had found that I had an oil leak coming from the seals on the oil cooler lines, so those were also replaced. I have been carefully tracking the oil level since this work was done. When I first got the car back IDrive was showing level at max ( 5 bars), after a couple of more days iDrive showed 4 bars and the dipstick showed oil level just below the max mark. The level stayed that way for a couple off weeks until it dropped to just 3 bars on IDrive and 1/4" below the max on the dipstick. This last monday I purchased a quart of castrol euro and topped off the engine until dipstick read max. (about a 1/8 of a Quart). The value in iDrive remained at 3 bars. The car ended up sitting in the garage for two days because of a snow storm.

Is it possible that the engine is now totaled?

Could putting the oil cap back on the engine caused this fast of a oil loss/spill and smoke?

turboawd

you had the low oil level sensor warning. thats not bad. what is bad is if you had a low oil pressure warning.

it sounds like you were never low enough on oil to do any damage. i wouldnt worry.

twh

I agree with turboawd.

texasmr2

Instead of relying on iDrive did you check your oil level and have you noticed any leaks on the ground or checked the hoses especially around the clamps? Just taking a simplistic approach because I have had this concern in the past (not on my BMW though) and it just turned out to be old/worn-out/brittle hoses that 'gave up the ghost'.


Good luck and let us know what you find.

andrek

Thank you guys for your input. I am usually pretty good on not relying on the idrive for oil level. It never seems to match what I am seeing from the dipstick. I know I made a big mistake in the chaos, I should have checked the oil level with dipstick before I tried to drive to the indy.

Quick question, how long should I wait to check the oil after turning off the engine?

turboawd

with the dipstick? right away.

andrek

Hmm, I was under the impression that it was necessary to wait a few minuits for the oil to drain back down into the pan. That would certainly account for the level discrepancy between iDrive and the dipstick.

Texasmr2, did you have to take out the alternator and bracket to replace the lines?

I am still waiting to hear from the indy, I hope it is the lines and not a blown head gasket. What were BMW thinking making oil lines out of rubber,

andrek

Well, I just heard back. Apparently its the oil cooler thermostat gasket that went and not the lines. No engine damage.

turboawd

not sure if the oil level sensor takes a reading with engine off or on, but for the dipstick, engine off and 99% of oil will be back in pan right away. think how hot oil flows...like water almost. lol

andrek

I believe its only with the engine on. I don't know why but sometimes it reads oil level immediately and sometime it waits for the engine to fully warm up. I have read somewhere that computer can do just a quick check and a long measure that includes some sort of self-calibration step.