BMW 550i oil level too high - solved
06-13-2016, 06:25 AM
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My Ride: bmw 530i
BMW 550i oil level too high - solved
Hi all, I'm new here but I just wanted to post some info I found this weekend.. Hopefully it'll save time & $$ for someone..
Came home on Friday and noticed on my Idrive that the oil was down 1 bar (out of the 5 bars). Decided I would top off. The 08 550I comes with a dipstick so I checked it before pouring new oil, I noticed that it was slightly below the 'max' mark. I added about 1/4 quart to correct the issue. Went driving and the idrive showed the level at Green. When I checked it the next day it showed oil level too high (amber colored bars instead of green).
I bought a siphon pump from Harbor Freight (about $6) and siphoned some about a 1/4 quart of oil out. Went driving for 2 miles and it showed Amber still. I came back and took out about an 1/8 more (drove another 2 miles) and the idrive still showed the same Amber color. Weird! There's something wrong here so I went researching and noticed a lot of posts from ppl with the same problem. First I thought the level sensor had gone bad and was getting ready to replace. Then I saw many posts where ppl replaced the oil level sensor but it didnt' fix the problem. I also connected the car to DIS and all was good - no errors. I tried to find a reset/recalibration method for the oil level but there was none.
Then found this great video that shows how sensitive the BMW level sensor really is:
From the video I concluded that it's not as accurate as you would think. So now what to do? I had removed enough oil so the oil mark cold or warm stays between the min/max. The idrive should light up green but didn't every 2 mile drive I would take. Finally I read the owners manual and noticed it said: for an accurate reading the car must be driven 6 miles. All this time I had corrected the level but didn't drive more than 2 miles. I assumed when the first reading came up (at 2 miles of driving) it was ok. So I got on the highway (oil level on idrive showing amber)... Drove about 5.5 miles and the idrive showed GREEN... perfect.
Lesson learned: Before you buy a new ($200) level sensor like I almost did, check the oil. If your idrive says it's overfilled - check the dipstick (if you're lucky to have one of these - I know most models don't). Or get the oil changed/filled to the right level. Once the level is correct, drive the car for at least 6 miles on highway to re-calibrate the oil level sensor. Also, be careful when topping off, the sensor has a weird sensitivity (see video).
Came home on Friday and noticed on my Idrive that the oil was down 1 bar (out of the 5 bars). Decided I would top off. The 08 550I comes with a dipstick so I checked it before pouring new oil, I noticed that it was slightly below the 'max' mark. I added about 1/4 quart to correct the issue. Went driving and the idrive showed the level at Green. When I checked it the next day it showed oil level too high (amber colored bars instead of green).
I bought a siphon pump from Harbor Freight (about $6) and siphoned some about a 1/4 quart of oil out. Went driving for 2 miles and it showed Amber still. I came back and took out about an 1/8 more (drove another 2 miles) and the idrive still showed the same Amber color. Weird! There's something wrong here so I went researching and noticed a lot of posts from ppl with the same problem. First I thought the level sensor had gone bad and was getting ready to replace. Then I saw many posts where ppl replaced the oil level sensor but it didnt' fix the problem. I also connected the car to DIS and all was good - no errors. I tried to find a reset/recalibration method for the oil level but there was none.
Then found this great video that shows how sensitive the BMW level sensor really is:
From the video I concluded that it's not as accurate as you would think. So now what to do? I had removed enough oil so the oil mark cold or warm stays between the min/max. The idrive should light up green but didn't every 2 mile drive I would take. Finally I read the owners manual and noticed it said: for an accurate reading the car must be driven 6 miles. All this time I had corrected the level but didn't drive more than 2 miles. I assumed when the first reading came up (at 2 miles of driving) it was ok. So I got on the highway (oil level on idrive showing amber)... Drove about 5.5 miles and the idrive showed GREEN... perfect.
Lesson learned: Before you buy a new ($200) level sensor like I almost did, check the oil. If your idrive says it's overfilled - check the dipstick (if you're lucky to have one of these - I know most models don't). Or get the oil changed/filled to the right level. Once the level is correct, drive the car for at least 6 miles on highway to re-calibrate the oil level sensor. Also, be careful when topping off, the sensor has a weird sensitivity (see video).
06-13-2016, 10:41 AM
#2
New Members
Hi all, I'm new here but I just wanted to post some info I found this weekend.. Hopefully it'll save time & $$ for someone..
Came home on Friday and noticed on my Idrive that the oil was down 1 bar (out of the 5 bars). Decided I would top off. The 08 550I comes with a dipstick so I checked it before pouring new oil, I noticed that it was slightly below the 'max' mark. I added about 1/4 quart to correct the issue. Went driving and the idrive showed the level at Green. When I checked it the next day it showed oil level too high (amber colored bars instead of green).
I bought a siphon pump from Harbor Freight (about $6) and siphoned some about a 1/4 quart of oil out. Went driving for 2 miles and it showed Amber still. I came back and took out about an 1/8 more (drove another 2 miles) and the idrive still showed the same Amber color. Weird! There's something wrong here so I went researching and noticed a lot of posts from ppl with the same problem. First I thought the level sensor had gone bad and was getting ready to replace. Then I saw many posts where ppl replaced the oil level sensor but it didnt' fix the problem. I also connected the car to DIS and all was good - no errors. I tried to find a reset/recalibration method for the oil level but there was none.
Then found this great video that shows how sensitive the BMW level sensor really is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC0F-aGSQMI
From the video I concluded that it's not as accurate as you would think. So now what to do? I had removed enough oil so the oil mark cold or warm stays between the min/max. The idrive should light up green but didn't every 2 mile drive I would take. Finally I read the owners manual and noticed it said: for an accurate reading the car must be driven 6 miles. All this time I had corrected the level but didn't drive more than 2 miles. I assumed when the first reading came up (at 2 miles of driving) it was ok. So I got on the highway (oil level on idrive showing amber)... Drove about 5.5 miles and the idrive showed GREEN... perfect.
Lesson learned: Before you buy a new ($200) level sensor like I almost did, check the oil. If your idrive says it's overfilled - check the dipstick (if you're lucky to have one of these - I know most models don't). Or get the oil changed/filled to the right level. Once the level is correct, drive the car for at least 6 miles on highway to re-calibrate the oil level sensor. Also, be careful when topping off, the sensor has a weird sensitivity (see video).
Came home on Friday and noticed on my Idrive that the oil was down 1 bar (out of the 5 bars). Decided I would top off. The 08 550I comes with a dipstick so I checked it before pouring new oil, I noticed that it was slightly below the 'max' mark. I added about 1/4 quart to correct the issue. Went driving and the idrive showed the level at Green. When I checked it the next day it showed oil level too high (amber colored bars instead of green).
I bought a siphon pump from Harbor Freight (about $6) and siphoned some about a 1/4 quart of oil out. Went driving for 2 miles and it showed Amber still. I came back and took out about an 1/8 more (drove another 2 miles) and the idrive still showed the same Amber color. Weird! There's something wrong here so I went researching and noticed a lot of posts from ppl with the same problem. First I thought the level sensor had gone bad and was getting ready to replace. Then I saw many posts where ppl replaced the oil level sensor but it didnt' fix the problem. I also connected the car to DIS and all was good - no errors. I tried to find a reset/recalibration method for the oil level but there was none.
Then found this great video that shows how sensitive the BMW level sensor really is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC0F-aGSQMI
From the video I concluded that it's not as accurate as you would think. So now what to do? I had removed enough oil so the oil mark cold or warm stays between the min/max. The idrive should light up green but didn't every 2 mile drive I would take. Finally I read the owners manual and noticed it said: for an accurate reading the car must be driven 6 miles. All this time I had corrected the level but didn't drive more than 2 miles. I assumed when the first reading came up (at 2 miles of driving) it was ok. So I got on the highway (oil level on idrive showing amber)... Drove about 5.5 miles and the idrive showed GREEN... perfect.
Lesson learned: Before you buy a new ($200) level sensor like I almost did, check the oil. If your idrive says it's overfilled - check the dipstick (if you're lucky to have one of these - I know most models don't). Or get the oil changed/filled to the right level. Once the level is correct, drive the car for at least 6 miles on highway to re-calibrate the oil level sensor. Also, be careful when topping off, the sensor has a weird sensitivity (see video).
IOW, the graphic level is accurate to +/- 1 pint, which is good enough. Being a pint too high or low isn't serious.
Still, I much prefer to have the dipstick, which I have - not much can go wrong there.
Salut, Bob P.
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