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Eight quarts of oil in my 325Ci?

42K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  Fast Bob 
#1 ·
I took my car (2003 325Ci) to a local shop for an oil change*. Not a Jiffy-Lube-type place, but a real mechanic. I walked around town for half an hour, then returned, paid, and drove off. Looking at the invoice while stopped at a light a few miles away, I noticed that I was billed for eight quarts of oil. That's funny, I thought. I could swear I've read that the capacity was 6.5 quarts.

I called the shop and asked what the story was. They said to bring the car back. I did, and when I got there the technician who worked on my car said that, after putting in 6.5 quarts and pre-oiling the new filter, the dipstick still read low, so he added more. He said they've noticed that the newer BMW I6's take more oil than the manual states, and that they recently had an X5 3.0 that did the same thing. I didn't exactly buy that, but I didn't say anything.

After the engine had been off for five minutes, we checked the dipstick. It showed a slight overfill, maybe 1-2 mm over the "Full" mark. While obviously not ideal, that seemed fine to me, so I thanked them and left.

I'm wondering what was going on here. Does this story make sense to anyone? I doubt they put the full eight quarts in, probably something like 7.2 and just billed for the whole bottle, but it still seems odd. Is it normal for the engine to take more than 6.5 quarts? Should I be worried about damage from overfilling?

Is there any chance the dipstick is inaccurate? I remember reading something about the plastic thingy on the end coming loose and sliding around, but that story was on E46Fanatics, so I'm not entirely confident in its accuracy.

* Yeah, I know I could do it myself. Take it easy.
 
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#2 ·
I did my first oil change a while ago (probalby 6 months now) and to get the dipstick to read right I ended up with 7 quarts even. It sounds to me like they did the same thing and cracked open the 8th quart. Not ideal but probably not too horrible either.

Perhaps others with more knowledge/experience can shed more light.
 
#3 ·
I can attest to that. My 04 330 takes more oil than stated (about 7 quarts). When the dealer did the oil change about a week later the low oil light came on. This has happened ever since I've had the car. Assuming that the dealer put in a perfect 6.5 quarts, I usually put in a half quart to get the service light off (and have the dipstick show the proper level).
 
#4 ·
Officially it's 6.5 Liters. NOT quarts....

in quarts it would be about 7... (a little bit under that but close enough to 7 even)

Everytime I change my oil it takes about 7qts.
 
#9 ·
Bonezilla said:
No wonder it's so flippn expensive to have the dealer change the oil. It's sounds like the BMW engines are well lubed! I was actually dumbfounded at the mention of 7 qts. I've never heard an engine taking that much juice.
That's nothing... iirc some Porsches take like 12 or so... :eek:
 
#11 ·
The owners manual actually says 7.9 quarts for a CI but the I is 6.9 quarts...go figure.....Ci = convertible....I don':yikes:t get that at all.
Hi there.....

Do you realize that you`re responding to a thread that`s been dead *for 8 years* ? (It`s always a good idea to check the dates before posting)

Your car is an E36, and this is the *E46 Forum* ?

And the model designation is:

325i = 4-door sedan

325Ci = Coupe

325CiC = Convertible

325it = Touring (wagon)

Correct oil capacity = 6.5 Liters (6.9 quarts) for all above models
 
#14 ·
Needs the 8th qt

I just stumbled on this thread. My question asked was how many qts does a 2004 325 use. I put a 5 qt jug that i bought it was still shy of oil. so I bought 2 more qts. It measured just under the lower hash. I think the proper oil level is between the 2 hashes or near the top one and your safe. So I am going to get another qt and use it to get between the 2 hashes. I pulled filter and I had car jacked up from driver side so it drained all the oil from the pan. I happen to get side tracked. I went back like 20 minutes later. closed everything up and poured in the oil. So I am close to 8 qts. I myself was a bit surprised. So yes between 7 to 8 qts.............:roundel::roundel::roundel: :jawdrop::jawdrop:
 
#15 ·
I just stumbled on this thread. My question asked was how many qts does a 2004 325 use. I put a 5 qt jug that i bought it was still shy of oil. so I bought 2 more qts. It measured just under the lower hash. I think the proper oil level is between the 2 hashes or near the top one and your safe. So I am going to get another qt and use it to get between the 2 hashes. I pulled filter and I had car jacked up from driver side so it drained all the oil from the pan. I happen to get side tracked. I went back like 20 minutes later. closed everything up and poured in the oil. So I am close to 8 qts. I myself was a bit surprised. So yes between 7 to 8 qts.............:roundel::roundel::roundel: :jawdrop::jawdrop:
SEVEN quarts, Skippy, not eight....it`s a pretty good bet that not all dipsticks are calibrated exactly the same, so if you drain all the oil out, and put exactly 7 qts. of new oil in, wherever the line is on your dipstick is the real and actual "full" mark, so take a picture of it, draw a diagram, or file a reference mark on the dipstick so you don`t forget....
 
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