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      02-02-2015, 03:58 PM   #1
a7med606
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engine oil level sensor fail ?

i was wondering if my oil level sensor is working fine or it fails because when ever i check the oil level it says oil level is ok but since i bought the car i only did the top up once and still the oil did not burn ??? my has 22k KM not miles but its still scare me that the oil level does not change since long time nearly 1 year now .

and oh yea its my weekend car not a DD and never track the car
is there any way to check the oil level manually ?
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      02-02-2015, 03:59 PM   #2
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Have owned my car for 35k. It has NEVER shown anything but perfect oil level.

Only way to check it manually is to drain the oil into a big measuring cup.
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      02-02-2015, 04:25 PM   #3
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I would not go(believe in) with BMW long-ish, oil change intervals(OCI). BMW has gone from 22Km(15K miles) to now 16Kms(10K mile) oil change intervals.

There is no way to check the oil level manually other than doing an oil change and catching the old engine oil to measure how much came out.

I know www.tuningwerk.de offers a real dip stick kit for only the N54 models.

I think a better OCI is around ~10K kms or less. And/or change you oil at least every year. Maybe even twice per year. Doing lots of short trips will build up water condensation in your oil. Also lots of short trips will increase the unburnt fuel in your oil. So... one would really need to drive the car on a long trip to burn off any contaminants in your oil.

Generally speaking what I have noticed on my N54 is that I can go 6K kms with no loss of oil. But IF I drive more that that, and I am driving really hard(above 4K rpms and accelerating hard... I can burn a liter of oil in 500kms. It really just depends on how hard you drive.


Also... on some of the early 1er's the CBS(condition based sensor, what detects the oil level)... some of those early cars('08's and '09's) had bad CBS sensors and software. Here is how the sensor works.
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File Type: pdf BMW_oil_condition_sensor.pdf (82.8 KB, 824 views)
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      02-02-2015, 05:05 PM   #4
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The lack of a dipstick has got to be my number one peeve with the car.
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      02-03-2015, 04:01 AM   #5
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I had an oil change when the mileage was around 14k but since that time the oil indicator is same and does not changed , should i change the oil now and oil sensor ??

I think its better to be in the safe side and do an oil change now
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      02-03-2015, 04:24 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by a7med606 View Post
I had an oil change when the mileage was around 14k but since that time the oil indicator is same and does not changed , should i change the oil now and oil sensor ??

I think its better to be in the safe side and do an oil change now

Yes. I would change the oil now. Have the tech only put in 6l and see what the oil gauge reads. You will have to drive the car or let it idle for at least ten minutes or 10kms. Then the oil gauge should read low. Or... just replace the sensor and gasket(its at the bottom of the oil pan) and change the oil.

Dack
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      02-07-2015, 01:48 PM   #7
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I was adding a liter of oil per 5k miles for about the first 15k miles on the car. Since my last oil change, about 8000 miles ago, the oil indicator never moved until last week and finally showed 1/4 quart low. Oil consumption seems to have slowed a lot as the motor has broken in, not a bad thing. It never occurred to me that there may be an e-dipstick failure.

I would hope the car would see a fault rather than get a perfect full reading in the event of a failure.
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      07-05-2019, 05:59 PM   #8
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I am waking up this old thread.

I used to see my oil level change in approx 1/4l increments, and have had very little oil use noted for years.

Last fall, I ended up 1L down, with about 5k mikes on the oil. I had done several autocross days, no track days. Oil had always read full. I added about 1/2 liter which was left in a bottle from the prior oil change, and was surprised it when read full after that. The car was put away for the winter, and I changed the oil this spring. Stupidly, I didn't measure what I removed.

Fast forward: I have been doing lots of track driving for the past month, 3 track days and a hill climb. I checked the oil at least 3 times during each event, always full. I drove my kids to get ice cream Sunday and we parked on a slope. The add oil warning came on as I shut the car off. I assumed it was the slope as that has happened to me before. When we got home, the warning persisted and indicated to add 1 qt. I added about 0.3 qt and now it reads full.

Frustrating!

I live in a dry climate so I do t think there can be much condensation. My last track day was rainy, but the hill climb day was after that and was hot and dry.

My sensor either reads full until it is dangerously low, or reads 1 qt low when it is only slightly low. I don't want to run it low all the time, or risk an overfill.

I guess I'll be measuring my next drain. Is there anything other than condensation or faulty sensor that could effect this? I am tempted to replace the sensor while changing the oil, but I can't be sure the sensor is actually the problem.
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      07-05-2019, 10:05 PM   #9
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I had a sensor go bad on my 135i. It would read full, then low. I'd add & it would read full for a while then low. I changed it out and problem solved.

Recently had an oil level sensor go bad on my wife's mini also. Not all that uncommon it seems
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      07-06-2019, 02:51 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw1racer View Post
The lack of a dipstick has got to be my number one peeve with the car.
Amen
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      07-06-2019, 05:58 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nachob View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw1racer View Post
The lack of a dipstick has got to be my number one peeve with the car.
Amen
Naw. #1 peeve is the G-Damn brake dust.
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      07-06-2019, 10:29 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gangplank View Post
Naw. #1 peeve is the G-Damn brake dust.
Not with the 2012 128i.
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      07-07-2019, 05:44 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw1racer View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gangplank View Post
Naw. #1 peeve is the G-Damn brake dust.
Not with the 2012 128i.
How's that? What pads are you using?
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      07-07-2019, 12:39 PM   #14
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How's that? What pads are you using?
They're the original factory pads... Haven't replaced them yet.

Gray_Panther has the same model year 128i as mine... And he hsan't had any brake dust issues either.
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      07-07-2019, 07:54 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw1racer View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gangplank View Post
How's that? What pads are you using?
They're the original factory pads... Haven't replaced them yet.

Gray_Panther has the same model year 128i as mine... And he hsan't had any brake dust issues either.
Manual trans.?
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      07-07-2019, 10:39 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by Gangplank View Post
Manual trans.?
Yup.
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