My 2008 E92 325i Alarm asking me to top up 1ltr oil. Is this normal??

[whiteknight88]

Hi Guys,I've been having my car for about a year now, serviced intervals every 9,000km with Ravenol fully synthetic oil.... now I'm almost due for another oil change and suddenly alarm beeped asking me to top up 1ltr of engine oil... is this normal or should I be concerned? Thanks

 

[cosmo]

Non-Normal and a concern nontheless, have it checked out. Could be an inexpensive fix (i.e. oil top up). I hope you'll try torco 5w30 SR5 for your next change.

 

[whiteknight88]

i only use ravenol because the car is still under warranty by iktikadraya so i send it for servicing there until end Aug.... Thanks for the recommendation on torco but I've never heard of it... where can i buy this for a try? cheers

 

[cosmo]

You can try mudah or sunway, most of the workshops carry this oil. Do tell what wrong with the problem you're facing and its remedy.

 

[whiteknight88]

called up iktikadraya technician and he says that it's normal for full synthetic oil to 'disintegrate' over time (close to 10,000kms) especially if driven spiritedly (and i'm quite a spirited guy) ... so he just topped up 1ltr of oil for me. Didn't notice any oil stains on my parking spot so assume it's not leaking down there. not sure wat else i can do.... wonder if other 325 owners experienced the same thing.

 

[ahmz]

Had the same alarm pop up on my ride today. Checked the i-Drive and showed that the oil level was below minimum! Couldn't believe it, so I shut down and restarted the car just to check if it was a false alarm or the real deal. Rechecked the i-Drive and the oil level was shown as a bit below max! So, it is most probably a dirty sensor if you regularly service your ride every 10K as I do......

 

[DICE]

Had a same problem. i've about 3k km to next service, the alarm pop up. Turn off the engine and start again, the alarm's gone. But next day the alarm appear again.. Check the oil level, it's min... end up top up 1l oil then the alarm disappear...
Seems like normal but dunno........

 

[ahmz]

The oil level on my i-Drive now indicates midway between max and min. Another 1.5K more to the next service, so gonna wait...

 

[whiteknight88]

Thanks for the input guys... so I guess it'd be logical to assume that the thinner full synthetic oils would burn off /disintegrate over time due to the high heat & pressure ?

 

[YaZmEeN]

Its normal for magnesium engine...

 

[chy]

my '09 325 havin the same problem, complaint as my car is still under warranty, and the feedback from SA ... "this is normal la".... guess my dad's 3 pointer star is NOT NORMAL,

 

[chy]

...as his car does not need engine oil topup...

 

[astroboy]

...as his car does not need engine oil topup...

Is his 3-pointed star running magnesium engine too? 5w-30 engine oil?! 2.5L pumping 218hp or 87.2hp/L? if no, then u r comparing apple to orange.

I'm not saying this oil loss characteristic is "normal" to all engine but for the magnesium N52 running on 5w-30 engine oil, most if not all gets the +1L warning between 7~8k km. Some just treat that as oil change signal so instead top up, they just perform a full oil change.

Try 5W-40 oil, oil loss is less, even the Castrol 0w-30 also seems better than the 5w-30 oil.. u can test it out.

 

[viewfinder]

Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40 same or worst. Pray on the Castrol 0w-40 from Tesco next ...

 

[izuaff]

normal lah....once in a while my 325 also ask to top up engine oil.....make sure u hv oil handy esp pn a long trip

 

[chy]

bro astroboy, i hav no idea any other makes runin on magnesium engine. what other engine can i compare it with? (apple to apple)

Is his 3-pointed star running magnesium engine too? 5w-30 engine oil?! 2.5L pumping 218hp or 87.2hp/L? if no, then u r comparing apple to orange.

I'm not saying this oil loss characteristic is "normal" to all engine but for the magnesium N52 running on 5w-30 engine oil, most if not all gets the +1L warning between 7~8k km. Some just treat that as oil change signal so instead top up, they just perform a full oil change.

Try 5W-40 oil, oil loss is less, even the Castrol 0w-30 also seems better than the 5w-30 oil.. u can test it out.

 

[astroboy]

I have no idea too what other car is using magnesium engine. This is the first for BMW in N52 engine to shed weight from the front to achieve a balance chassis distribution and of course overall weight of the car.

My E90 N46 320i using Aluminum block, so dun have oil loss problem. Another stupid idea BMW design is it uses inductance gauge to measure oil quality and level, instead of using a conventional float. So the +1L is it really short 1L of physical oil? I'm not so sure.. sometime the gauge rosak also.. This is what I hate about this engine. NO ENGINE OIL DIP STICK!! *&^%$#@!!

More info about Magnesium engine: http://www.intlmag.org/files/mg001.pdf

 

[EL118]

I have no idea too what other car is using magnesium engine. This is the first for BMW in N52 engine to shed weight from the front to achieve a balance chassis distribution and of course overall weight of the car.

My E90 N46 320i using Aluminum block, so dun have oil loss problem. Another stupid idea BMW design is it uses inductance gauge to measure oil quality and level, instead of using a conventional float. So the +1L is it really short 1L of physical oil? I'm not so sure.. sometime the gauge rosak also.. This is what I hate about this engine. NO ENGINE OIL DIP STICK!! *&^%$#@!!

More info about Magnesium engine: http://www.intlmag.org/files/mg001.pdf

and no engine temperature gauge on the display!!!!

 

[Ryou]

you cant check your car porch for oil leaks as you have a plastic undertray fitted, any leaks will most likely accumulate on the tray.

next time u service, when they jack up your car, remove the tray and do visual inspection under car as well as the tray itself to see if theres any oil residue

 

[M5port]

WhiteKnight unfortunately, it is NORMAL la, was the same for my E60... hehe.. i bought my car from Iktikadraya too, but i service my car at obermaier... with permission from them. as long as i get my servicce book stamped by obermaier every service.