Oil a golden colour under filler cap......should I worry?

[sparks87]

A warning message came up on my dash, but as my pixels are all gone I couldn't really read it, anyway I thought I might check the oil under the cap for some reason. The actual oil inside the cap itself is a golden colour, I thought this was odd. It isn't gloopy or "mayonnaise" like however which would be worrying. This was 30 mins ago, the car had been out in the cold for nearly 10 hours in a car park and it was very cold, I only drove it 2-3 miles to get home taking under 10 mins, it had only just warmed up to the normal hall way point at my house, could this be the reason? Or is this normal? I haven't put any oil in it since picking it up 3 weeks and 1500 miles ago, it hasn't used any so I don't know what oil is in there. I swear I looked under the cap a week or so back after a much longer trip and it was black. Inside the oil tank, as much as I can see I can't see any golden coloured oil.... Thanks, hopefully its normal and I'm worrying about nothing.


Car is a 1999 E39 528 with 110,000 miles.

[Mark V8]

Its knackered. I'll give you £500 for it.
Ask yourself, what colour is new oil ? What colour is old, used oil ? 2-3 miles on a cold day and the temp needle went to normal ? That sounds fine to me, your rad is being cooled through the grille remember....
When was the oil last changed ? Have it done anyway. As for the warning message, get it on a diagnostic machine while you're at it if you're still concerned, checking all the usual suspects first though (washer fluid levels, outside temp etc)...
....or I'll give you £500 for it if you like.....

[sparks87]

Thanks, I've been told over on the 5 series forum it could be condensed oil vapour.

[jamoor]

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

[sparks87]

jamoor said:

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

I'm a bit of a novice in this department, i assume its meant to be black. In my MK3 Fiesta it was black all the time, that 10/40 cheap stuff though, no idea whats in this car.

[Mark V8]

sparks87 said:

jamoor said:

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

I'm a bit of a novice in this department, i assume its meant to be black. In my MK3 Fiesta it was black all the time, that 10/40 cheap stuff though, no idea whats in this car.

Remember when you poured it out of the container ? It was a clear, honey like colour was'nt it ? Have you ever changed the oil (or had someone else change it ?) in any of your cars ? In light of this, its £400 and thats my final offer.

[sparks87]

Mark V8 said:

sparks87 said:

jamoor said:

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

I'm a bit of a novice in this department, i assume its meant to be black. In my MK3 Fiesta it was black all the time, that 10/40 cheap stuff though, no idea whats in this car.

Remember when you poured it out of the container ? It was a clear, honey like colour was'nt it ? Have you ever changed the oil (or had someone else change it ?) in any of your cars ? In light of this, its £400 and thats my final offer.

My Fiesta and 306 went through oil every other week as they were both buggered. Oil was changed on the Fiesta before the leaking problem in a service. I know what colour fresh oil is, its just I wouldn't have thought after 1500 miles it should still look fresh, or should it?

[Fox-]

jamoor said:

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

No it's not - the M54's and thus probably the M52's tend to mayo up quite badly around the filler cap when used for short trips in winter. It's entirely normal and by all accounts very common. Noticed it's begun to happen already on the Z4 which normally does 5 miles in the morning from cold, etc.

It goes away after a long run.

[mrmr96]

As others have said, new oil is honey coloured. Old oil is black.
If it looks golden, that just means it's fresh.

If there is a problem with your car, I don't think it's related to the colour of the oil.

[fluffnik]

sparks87 said:

jamoor said:

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

I'm a bit of a novice in this department, i assume its meant to be black. In my MK3 Fiesta it was black all the time, that 10/40 cheap stuff though, no idea whats in this car.

The 0W40 synthetic that goes into my car is pale golden, the stuff that it's replacing is only about a shade and a half darker.

You'll get a "Choong" from the dash if the outside temp is +3 or less so there may not have been error at all...

[Mark V8]

sparks87 said:

Mark V8 said:

sparks87 said:

jamoor said:

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

I'm a bit of a novice in this department, i assume its meant to be black. In my MK3 Fiesta it was black all the time, that 10/40 cheap stuff though, no idea whats in this car.

Remember when you poured it out of the container ? It was a clear, honey like colour was'nt it ? Have you ever changed the oil (or had someone else change it ?) in any of your cars ? In light of this, its £400 and thats my final offer.

My Fiesta and 306 went through oil every other week as they were both buggered. Oil was changed on the Fiesta before the leaking problem in a service. I know what colour fresh oil is, its just I wouldn't have thought after 1500 miles it should still look fresh, or should it?

Yes.
Are you aware you have variable service intervals on your E39 ? What this means is rather than trot along to the mechanic every 10,000 miles, as with any run of the mill shltbox, your driving is being monitored by the on board electronics in your superior vehicle.
Your service lights go out in accordance with how much work has been asked of the engine and 20k between servicing is not unheard of....
[Brewer]Right then, you drive an 'ard bargain. 'Oldoutyerandfella, a grand it is........[/Brewer]

[jamoor]

sparks87 said:

jamoor said:

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

I'm a bit of a novice in this department, i assume its meant to be black. In my MK3 Fiesta it was black all the time, that 10/40 cheap stuff though, no idea whats in this car.

Were the cars diesels, diesel oil turns black pretty much straight away.

[TheEnd]

It'll be a few drops of condensation from atmospheric humidity. They look yellowish to start with when you have a few large water droplets, and become the mayo like emulsion when you get more mixing of the water and oil.

Nothing to worry about at all

[sparks87]

Mark V8 said:

sparks87 said:

Mark V8 said:

sparks87 said:

jamoor said:

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

I'm a bit of a novice in this department, i assume its meant to be black. In my MK3 Fiesta it was black all the time, that 10/40 cheap stuff though, no idea whats in this car.

Remember when you poured it out of the container ? It was a clear, honey like colour was'nt it ? Have you ever changed the oil (or had someone else change it ?) in any of your cars ? In light of this, its £400 and thats my final offer.

My Fiesta and 306 went through oil every other week as they were both buggered. Oil was changed on the Fiesta before the leaking problem in a service. I know what colour fresh oil is, its just I wouldn't have thought after 1500 miles it should still look fresh, or should it?

Yes.
Are you aware you have variable service intervals on your E39 ? What this means is rather than trot along to the mechanic every 10,000 miles, as with any run of the mill shltbox, your driving is being monitored by the on board electronics in your superior vehicle.
Your service lights go out in accordance with how much work has been asked of the engine and 20k between servicing is not unheard of....
[Brewer]Right then, you drive an 'ard bargain. 'Oldoutyerandfella, a grand it is........[/Brewer]

I'm getting it serviced by a BMW indie at least every 12 months and in between any necessary work like an oil change will be dealt with by them , I do maybe 6000-8000 miles per year, not a great deal for a car like this. I do realise that I'm not really a mechanically minded person when it comes to complicated cars such as the E39, I mean the Fiesta as you rightly pointed out was a stbox and was easy to look after and work on, doesn't mean I will use that as an excuse to mis treat this car, after all this car is my first "nice" car and I intend to treat it well.

Thanks everyone for your help

[Mark V8]

sparks87 said:

Mark V8 said:

sparks87 said:

Mark V8 said:

sparks87 said:

jamoor said:

?

Surely the oil is meant to be a gold colour, mayonnaise indicates something's shagged!

I'm a bit of a novice in this department, i assume its meant to be black. In my MK3 Fiesta it was black all the time, that 10/40 cheap stuff though, no idea whats in this car.

Remember when you poured it out of the container ? It was a clear, honey like colour was'nt it ? Have you ever changed the oil (or had someone else change it ?) in any of your cars ? In light of this, its £400 and thats my final offer.

My Fiesta and 306 went through oil every other week as they were both buggered. Oil was changed on the Fiesta before the leaking problem in a service. I know what colour fresh oil is, its just I wouldn't have thought after 1500 miles it should still look fresh, or should it?

Yes.
Are you aware you have variable service intervals on your E39 ? What this means is rather than trot along to the mechanic every 10,000 miles, as with any run of the mill shltbox, your driving is being monitored by the on board electronics in your superior vehicle.
Your service lights go out in accordance with how much work has been asked of the engine and 20k between servicing is not unheard of....
[Brewer]Right then, you drive an 'ard bargain. 'Oldoutyerandfella, a grand it is........[/Brewer]

I'm getting it serviced by a BMW indie at least every 12 months and in between any necessary work like an oil change will be dealt with by them , I do maybe 6000-8000 miles per year, not a great deal for a car like this. I do realise that I'm not really a mechanically minded person when it comes to complicated cars such as the E39, I mean the Fiesta as you rightly pointed out was a stbox and was easy to look after and work on, doesn't mean I will use that as an excuse to mis treat this car, after all this car is my first "nice" car and I intend to treat it well.

Thanks everyone for your help

Read your owners manual and you'll discover all the info regarding service intervals...