No oil reading?

[ejm3]

I just got home from the dealer who did an oil change.
I ran the oil check on the dash and it didn't read any oil level. There's a clock in the middle that keeps turning.

I ran the "check" and it checked out ok. I am not getting any low oil or any other warnings.

Any idea why I'm not getting an oil reading?

[worries]

Originally Posted by ejm3

I just got home from the dealer who did an oil change.
I ran the oil check on the dash and it didn't read any oil level. There's a clock in the middle that keeps turning.

I ran the "check" and it checked out ok. I am not getting any low oil or any other warnings.

Any idea why I'm not getting an oil reading?

You have to drive around for a while, I think 5 minutes? It should say the length in the car manual.

[bmw1racer]

The electronic oil check is such a pain.

It only takes a minute to check the oil if there was a dipstick.

[Dackelone]

You have to keep driving until the time clock stops. Then you can see what the oil level is. Normally this takes 6 miles or about ten minutes of driving. You might want to look at this pdf on the OCS(oil condition sensor)...

[KNTDRV]

Originally Posted by ejm3

I just got home from the dealer who did an oil change.
I ran the oil check on the dash and it didn't read any oil level. There's a clock in the middle that keeps turning.

I ran the "check" and it checked out ok. I am not getting any low oil or any other warnings.

Any idea why I'm not getting an oil reading?

The Service guy forgot to put the oil back in?….I hope I'm wrong.

[ejm3]

I would hope I would have gotten a warning light if that were the case!
It's been raining so I haven't driven it yet to see if the meter finally starts reading when it warms up.

[mleskovar]

"The capacitor is at the same level as the oil level in the oil sump. As the oil level changes, the capacitance of the capacitor changes. The electronic evaluation unit creates a digital signal from this. The engine management system uses this to calculate the engine oil level. The electronic oil level check is displayed on the Central Information Display (CID) as well as in the instrument cluster. On vehicles without a CID, the oil level is only displayed in the instrument cluster." Only German engineers could take something as simple as a dip stick and make it complicated

[ejm3]

No kidding. A plain ol' dipstick would answer my question in 10 seconds.

[Texan Engineer]

Like others said, driving it around works fine (about 5 miles). Although I sometimes suspect if time plays a factor, as I can get a read in as few as a mile or two if I let it idle/warm up quite a while before hand. Either way, just give it some time and then recheck again.

And BMW - GIVE US BACK OUR OIL DIPSTICKS!!!

[Cheeze1]

It amazes me how many people don't read the owner's manual...

[aerobod]

Before BMW brought in the electronic oil level measurement, it used to be a lot more complicated to follow their procedure to use the physical dipstick to get an accurate reading. On the E46 6-cylinder engines if you didn't follow the measurement procedure accurately, you could get a variation of up to 2/3 the range between min and max (approx 0.7L) depending on oil temperature and time the measurement was taken after the engine was shut off. You could get even more variation if the car was not on level ground. The E85 was also just as finicky to get a repeatable dipstick reading.

With the electronic measurement only being possible while the engine is running and the oil is warm, I've never seen more than 1 "block" variation on the E90 and 2 E82s we've owned, which equates to approximately 0.2L.

[Silenus]

Originally Posted by aerobod

Before BMW brought in the electronic oil level measurement, it used to be a lot more complicated to follow their procedure to use the physical dipstick to get an accurate reading. On the E46 6-cylinder engines if you didn't follow the measurement procedure accurately, you could get a variation of up to 2/3 the range between min and max (approx 0.7L) depending on oil temperature and time the measurement was taken after the engine was shut off. You could get even more variation if the car was not on level ground. The E85 was also just as finicky to get a repeatable dipstick reading.

With the electronic measurement only being possible while the engine is running and the oil is warm, I've never seen more than 1 "block" variation on the E90 and 2 E82s we've owned, which equates to approximately 0.2L.

Thank you for posting this so I didn't have to. Electronic dipstick > physical.


As far as the tech forgetting the oil, if he did that the car would not even start. The VANOS solenoids would not receive oil pressure, the engine would not be timed correctly, and then it would bend its valves. Engine replacement required.