woody

My 530xi has 2300 miles on it (it's 4 months old). I was driving on Saturday and an oil level warning popped up: "Oil level below minimum level; continued driving may cause damage to engine; add one quart of oil"

I didn't want to deal with the Service Department, so I added one quart of Castrol synthetic oil - 5W30 ($7.00).

On the next two local driving trips, I continued to get the low oil level warning. I didn't want to take anymore chances so I decided to drive to the Service Department this morning.

After 4-5 miles of highway driving, the oil level sensor showed that the oil level was now OK, so I skipped the Service Department and drove to work.

I'm confused. Can anyone help?

1. Is it common to burn a quart of oil after only 2300 miles?

2. What's the deal with the oil level sensor? Why did it take three trips to register the addition of a quart of oil?

3. Do I have a bad sensor?

Thanks for your input.

ademitt

Yes it is. The new BMW engines appear to go through oil in the first 10,000 km for some reason.

EBMCS03

You can also have a bad sensor... When you have time I would take it back to the dealer to let them check... See this new electronic dip stick in the iDrive is good, when it works! Otherwise I think I like the old fashion one more. Or better yet give us both... then we can comfirm using the old way when theses things come up.

monacobmw

The 530i is known for losing a quart of oil in the first 3000 miles. The car is still being lubed as it is being broken in. It will take a little bit of time for the sensor to reset. My Saab (a few years ago) had a required 1000 mile visit to change the oil after the break-in period. The sales person even told me that it would probably happen to me with my 2007 530i.

I think that all is normal, but always raise questions if you are not sure.

zen

In my 2006 530I, I never had to add any oil for the first 6000miles. I changed the oil at that time and messured it and it was only about 1/2 quart short of 7qts.

rixbimmer

I drove my '07 home the first day and had the low oil warning come on in a similar fashion. Embarrassingly, they had to have it towed back to the shop, while I got a loaner for a day.

They emptied the oil out and refilled (remember - no dipstick!), and added the correct amount. The level again reflected low, and they had to replace the sensor on the oil level. Got my car back on Monday after they fixed the sensor (apparently about a 2 hour job).

Really started me off bad - worried about glitches in the software. But I would certainly have the BMW dealer try to drain the oil, check level, see if the sensor is bad, and then replace if necessary. Too much to lose to have the engine replaced.

EBMCS03

Man a triditional dip stick would have saved some time and money here...

woody

Looks like it wasn't a sensor problem after all. After adding a quart of oil, it did take a couple of short trips before the sensor recognized that the oil was at the maximum level. Since then, however, all has been fine for the last 10 days.

Lessons learned:

1. 530xi can/does burn up to a quart of oil within the first 2500 miles.

2. Oil level sensor can have a delayed reaction in recognizing the addition of oil.

Thanks for all the input.

Hope this will help others.

katheikia

Im glad that the 550 has the traditional dip stick, because my oil sensor says I have to much oil, but dealer confirmed it was at a normal level after checking the dip stick.

hollywoodtrash

Same thing happened to me two weeks ago. I-drive said to add a quart of oil. I added it. Everything was ok after that.