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Low oil warning on new car

5K views 33 replies 23 participants last post by  schnell525 
#1 ·
Saturday afternoon, my F10 with 2500 miles on it gave me a warning that I was low on oil. It said I needed to add a quart. Since my dealer was closed until Monday, I planned on calling them today, but now the warning is gone. In the graph that they show you, I'm showing about a quarter of the way up from the "min" line. So it's now saying I'm a little low but still ok.

I will call my dealer about this, but I'd also like to get a second opinion from you good folks on Bimmerfest. So,

* Isn't it "wrong" that a new car could be low on oil already? Could this be indicative of something more serious than just a need to add a quart?

* Why would the warning come up, and now it's gone. Perhaps because it was colder outside on Saturday...?

- Dave
 
#2 ·
You will find that alot of people with the N63 motor have reported it burning a good bit of oil. I averaged about a qt every 2,000 miles up until I switched to Mobil 1 0w-40(still an approved BMW oil) at 10,000 miles and now it's going through a qt every 4-5k. When I asked the dealer they said the tolerance is a qt every 700 miles which is insane but whatever. Actually in my last discussion with a BMW tech he said it wasnt the motor itself that burned oil but rather the turbos that had loose tolerances which increased their life. I call bull**** as other NA BMW motors burn oil too but that's what I was told. I'm sure your fine just monitor it closely you probably were in a bad position the last time you checked it.
 
#3 ·
No worries :thumbup: The 550 motor is an oil burner and your quart low at 2500 is about average from what I've read. Mine needed the first quart at around 3000, it has now gone over 5000 since the last oil change and it is only 1/4 of a quart down. Also, do not believe the oil sensor 100% because it fluctuates up and down about 1/4 quart.
 
#4 ·
Make sure your car is level too. My driveway is steep, and if I turn on the car and sit in it waiting for my wife to come out, I will get a misread on the oil level. So, I don't turn it on until I start driving.
 
#5 ·
F10 won''t display oil level for several minutes / miles until the car is warmed up. No worries of this, unless you are driving in SF.
 
#6 ·
I am at 2700 miles and have lost no oil at all. Indicator still says full.
 
#7 ·
I made it to 10,885 miles before adding a quart, which might be the record around here. Anyone make it further?
 
#14 ·
Oil level message came on and visited the dealer and they added a quart of oil in the service lane while my wife used the restroom and I was on my way. 7555 miles and average 20 mpg. I will say my first BMW and before that had three MB and never had to add oil to a car.
 
#15 ·
Many dealerships, if their service dept is decent, will top off your oil for you and only charge you for the cost of the oil.

Topping off the oil is not covered under the maintenance plan.
 
#19 ·
My dealer did it post haste also, in fact my SA added the oil himself.
 
#26 ·
Now that I know what the block is made of and were not to take it for welding... Mine was a quart low at around 3500, I was not near a steeler so just put a quart in. I did a oil change at 5K, at 10K oil is still full, so I may not be burning as much now that the engine has broken in some.
 
#28 ·
This looks like a thread that break in regimen that was followed from new would be interesting.

Can you guy report on that?
 
#29 ·
Mine needed a quart every 3000 miles until it went in for an oil change at 12000 miles. I am at 17000 miles now and the gauge still says its full. Maybe people with new cars should pay for an oil change at 3000-5000 miles and the engine will no consume oil as fast?
 
#34 ·
I'm at 2900 with max showing on the oil display. i've had the car 6 months and followed break in, but have not driven it like a granny. it's opened up quite often. exhaust shows no soot....as i know this isn't a VANOS nor DFI engine. my porsche used oil, and my 535 dirtied it's exhaust within seconds of scouring it clean.

i bought 1qt of 5W-30 Castrol Edge Synthetic as my back-up. Per the manual, I was surprised to see that the N63 ran 5W-30.
 
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