gabo667

I recently bought a 45k miles 2007 530i and I´ve noticed a particular problem with the oil level sensor.
It is always reading full no mater what. I changed the oil right after buying it and only 4.5 quarts came out despite idrive saying it was on full. I was new to the car and assumed it was normal and proceded to fill the whole 6.5 quarts recommened and the car was happy with it. Some time later I had the oil filter housing leak, which I took care of, but still lost a bit of oil, again no warning and oil level was always on full. Some time later wile driving I got the low oil preassure warning, which promptly disapeared but still managed to worry me, so i drove back to my garage and drained the oil, this time only 2.5 quarts came out which scared the crap out of me since I got no warning and oil level was always on full. I filled the car with the full 6.5 quarts of oil again and since then the car has given me no problems.
I checked with inpa and ista and oil level is on full and no codes for the sensor were stored on memory.
The car is driving fine with just a code for rich condition on both banks (which I'm trouble shooting right now), but I cant shake of my head the possibility of blowing out my engine because I have no idea of how much oil i've got.

seanjordan20

Just clean the plug and put a new one in. Problem solved

scottalexander

You say you drove back to your garage and drained the oil.

This time only 2.5 quarts came out which scared the crap out of me.

Where did the 4 quarts of oil leak from?

Did you see oil on the pavement?

You can put a new oil sensor in the bottom of the oil pan, but it sounds like the leak is a bigger problem.

donpb

Yeah the bigger problem is where the heck is all that oil leaking to?

Viren Patel

Believe what you see. not what your sensor is telling you. I've found the CCC oil measurement tool absolutely useless. You can drain the oil and do it that way but if youre only seeing 4.5 or 2.5 qt you should definitely be feeling something off with the car. The car should idling rough or something. And its got to be going somewhere. You have a massive leak somewhere. Get underneath the car and look for oil anywhere. More than likely its sprayed all along the bottom of your car. Valve cover gaskets, oil pan gaskets are very common on e60. Check both of those.

gabo667

Just to let every one know, it turns out the oil level sensor was malfunctioning because it was filled to the brim with sludge. The previous owner never changed the oil it seems.
Went to the mechanic, made a compression test and also got a micro camera in there. It turns out cylinder 5 is shot, cylinder walls are scratched probably due to oil starvation because of the sludge. So now I need a new engine.

seanjordan20

Man that sucks

donpb

Aww well friggin' sorry to hear that.

FormerE30Owner

Yet you say that the engine was running fine. Does your mechanic think that those scratches are the cause of the oil loss? Did you see any signs of "burning" oil in the exhaust? Perhaps you should just just change the sensor and oil etc.and monitor closely for large oil leaks before you decide that you need a new engine.

gabo667

Thanks for your reply. I did change the oil level sensor and it basically confirmed it, I'm loosing around 1qt of oil every month or about 500 miles. There is no oil residue on my exhaust and I'm only seeing a puff of blueish smoke if I redline while it's warm and on park. I do have a very rough idle but no misfires yet. Spark plug in cylinder 5 does show signs of oil burn and compression is low. Car has codes for low cat efficiency which may mean they're busted, probably due to oil burn.
Car drives ok but not great and it feels kind of sluggish on low rpms.