Low oil warning on new car

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

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.

No worries 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.

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.

Originally Posted by Kamdog

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.

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.

I am at 2700 miles and have lost no oil at all. Indicator still says full.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

I am at 2700 miles and have lost no oil at all. Indicator still says full.

I made it to 10,885 miles before adding a quart, which might be the record around here. Anyone make it further?

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

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.

You never had to wait for my wife to finish up and actually get out of the house after she is 'ready'. But yeah, it does take a bit of time to read the level.

Originally Posted by 1HOT BMR

No worries 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.

Good that means it'll burn it all off and you won't ever need to change it, just dump more in

Good ol' BMW

I bought my own OEM oil and refill it myself. Not worth visiting a stealer. Had to add less than a quart after 5000 miles.

Originally Posted by yogi799

I bought my own OEM oil and refill it myself. Not worth visiting a stealer. Had to add less than a quart after 5000 miles.

Isn't this covered in the free maintenance plan?

Originally Posted by Kamdog

You never had to wait for my wife to finish up and actually get out of the house after she is 'ready'. But yeah, it does take a bit of time to read the level.

Your wife does that too?

Originally Posted by gsmith999

Isn't this covered in the free maintenance plan?

Not worth visiting a stealer.

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.

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.

Originally Posted by Knight of HB

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.

A good dealer performs the top-off for free including the oil. Mine does but the other dealer around here doesn't.

What chassis?

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Just got "add oil" notification on the screen at 6K miles. Stopped at dealer, they topped it off post haste and no charge.

Originally Posted by Mikez38

Just got "add oil" notification on the screen at 6K miles. Stopped at dealer, they topped it off post haste and no charge.

My dealer did it post haste also, in fact my SA added the oil himself.

At least we are seeing it is consistent as it relates to mileage.

Look if its a 3 or 5 series it has a magnesium block which burns or consumes oil it leaks from many places also

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Originally Posted by bmwspecialist

Look if its a 3 or 5 series it has a magnesium block which burns or consumes oil it leaks from many places also

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Block is not magnesium it is a hypereutectic aluminum silicon alloy and should not be the cause for the oil burning. If your engine is leaking take it to the dealer as my engine burned alot at the beginning and still burns a good bit yet has ZERO leaks.

Buddy I fix the n51 and n52 engines all day long and i tried welding the a block in one case and nothing welded only magnesium rods thus magnesium block don't believe me try it for fun ill supply the welding rods I have a spare block to prove it

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Btw the dealer ain't got **** on me I fix all there **** ups when people don't wanna by a new engine maybe cuz the msrp is $10,488.00 they send them to me one of the few shops in southern California that can actually repair that engine

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Originally Posted by bmwspecialist

Buddy I fix the n51 and n52 engines all day long and i tried welding the a block in one case and nothing welded only magnesium rods thus magnesium block don't believe me try it for fun ill supply the welding rods I have a spare block to prove it

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Buddy thats great however in this thread we are talking about the N63 which is not a magnesium block like the N52 is. Even the N54 and N55 aren't magnesium as bmw decided not to use their magnesium block design on turbo motors.