TAmes

Hello all,

I wrote the other day about a warning message I received in my 2010 550i about my oil level being "at a minimum". I just bought some Mobil 1 0W-40 oil, and I was all set to top off the engine oil, but I have an incredibly basic question: where do I add the oil?

I unscrewed the cap that has the universal oil diagram, together with the writing "BMW recommends Castrol" (photo below, left -- sorry it's upside down) but under the cap it doesn't appear that there's any kind of reservoir that I'm adding oil to -- there's a chain of some kind, together with a number of other bolts and brackets (photo below, right). I just want to make sure that I'm adding the oil to the right place.

Thanks in advance for your help.

-TA

Bob Slydel

Hey,

I'm sorry I cannot answer your question about where to add oil but I would check oil level manually before adding any oil. I don't know the "at a minimum" oil level warning but I know that "oil level too high" is common and, in my case, was actually a software/sensor issues and the oil level was perfectly fine. The dipstick for a 2008 550 is up by the firewall on the drives side. I would guess its the same for 2010 but am not sure. Good luck.

jaycal3

Dude, page 212 and 213 of your owners manual says it all...
https://5series.net/information/2010..._Manual_US.pdf

EBMCS03

Yes that's it... Dump it in.

TAmes

Thanks for the quick reply guys. I did read the manual, but the diagram in there is not very detailed.

I thought it odd that there's so much stuff under the cap -- all kinds of surface area that the oil can coat before it makes it's way into the engine.

TAmes

Thanks for the reply. I'd love to check the dipstick but I couldn't quite find it. Is it the black stalk that comes out of the driver side of the engine?

luigi524td

How many miles on your 2010 ? When and at what mileage was the oil changed? All should be covered by the maintenance warranty ... get thee to your dealer!

Allen

Take this advise...and I mean this in the nicest way...don't lift the hood on your car again...just take it to the dealer...

TAmes

Hi all,

Thanks again for the replies. Few comments:

1) Only about 5K miles on my car, so definitely under warranty still.
2) Realize that it's free to bring my car in to the dealer and have them top off the oil but (a) it takes time for me to get to the dealer, which I don't have a lot of; (b) I'm set to go in in 2 weeks anyway for the brake vacuum pump recall, so just trying to do some self-maintenance before then; and (c) I'm honestly just interested in how to add oil to my car in case, in the future, I need to do it myself.

Again, appreciate all the replies, especially for such a basic question.

-TA

healthservices

One of the major things is if your car is under warranty and is using oil excessively BMW has a record of each time you have to return to top it off. However 1 quart every 5k miles is not considered abnormal.