BMW M4 blue / white smokey tail pipes
Discussion
Hey
Purchased my 64 plate M4 just over a week ago, driving down to Shell Island this weekend it popped up saying “when possible please add a 1 litre of Oil...”
So next service station I pulled over and added 1 litre of 5W30 as they had no 0W30. 200 miles later and the same message popped up. So I went to Halfords and brought some 0W30 as that was also recommend in the manual.
Added that litre and after driving for 5-10 mins I have now noticed smoke coming from tailpipes. In some cases it does look white and looking closer to it could be pale blue.
So I’m assuming I have definitely added too much oil to the car, I used the on board computer twice to check the oil level which shows it’s at maximum but doesn’t indicate if it has been over filled.
What should I do?
Could I be at serious risk of ruining the car?
Is it safe to drive to a local garage? (5miles)
Purchased my 64 plate M4 just over a week ago, driving down to Shell Island this weekend it popped up saying “when possible please add a 1 litre of Oil...”
So next service station I pulled over and added 1 litre of 5W30 as they had no 0W30. 200 miles later and the same message popped up. So I went to Halfords and brought some 0W30 as that was also recommend in the manual.
Added that litre and after driving for 5-10 mins I have now noticed smoke coming from tailpipes. In some cases it does look white and looking closer to it could be pale blue.
So I’m assuming I have definitely added too much oil to the car, I used the on board computer twice to check the oil level which shows it’s at maximum but doesn’t indicate if it has been over filled.
What should I do?
Could I be at serious risk of ruining the car?
Is it safe to drive to a local garage? (5miles)
Overfilling has the significant effect that your crankshaft can be dipping into the oil in the pan as it rotates. This,
If you can sort it yourself it's perfectly viable to drain all of the oil out and then put the same oil back in - but just the correct quantity.
- Causes stress in the crankshaft, especially at higher rpm, and
- Causes the oil to "foam" - which is a bad thing - principally because air isn't a very good lubricant at all.
If you can sort it yourself it's perfectly viable to drain all of the oil out and then put the same oil back in - but just the correct quantity.
Thank you, I had read similar information on google and other forums. Luckily I was only driving steadily back from Halfords and noticed the smoke.
A local garage is literally less than a 5 minute drive away from my garage, I have it booked in for Tuesday morning.
So I was thinking if I just take it nice and easy to there I would possibly do no harm to the engine and it could be drained and refilled.
A local garage is literally less than a 5 minute drive away from my garage, I have it booked in for Tuesday morning.
So I was thinking if I just take it nice and easy to there I would possibly do no harm to the engine and it could be drained and refilled.
As rockin has mentioned, drop all the oil, change the filter, refill with the amount detailed within the handbook.
Sorted.
As for how you keep track of oil usage when you don't have a dipstick and the computer appears to be lying to you... I don't know, short of dropping the oil again when the message next pops up, measuring the amount that comes out and comparing it to the amount put in originally.
Sorted.
As for how you keep track of oil usage when you don't have a dipstick and the computer appears to be lying to you... I don't know, short of dropping the oil again when the message next pops up, measuring the amount that comes out and comparing it to the amount put in originally.
Edited by RSTurboPaul on Monday 23 September 12:48
The garage I brought it from is around 100 miles away from where I live, so I have booked it in with a local BMW garage, they're going to inspect the car for me and see whats going on.
Fingers crossed it is a simple case of oil needs to be drained and I have simply added too much oil
worse case scenario there is something going wrong, it can be identified now and rectified within my consumer rights or through the warranty I got with the purchase of the car.
Thank you for the advice.
RSTurboPaul said:
Good stuff, keep us updated!
Hopefully the BMW garage will check the oil level sensor - and hopefully it will be fine, as I can't imagine a replacement would be cheap, knowing BMW... lol
Oh don't worry, I'm sure an oil level sensor on that engine is in a perfectly accessible place that doesn't require vast amounts of labour to access Hopefully the BMW garage will check the oil level sensor - and hopefully it will be fine, as I can't imagine a replacement would be cheap, knowing BMW... lol
I find it strange that car builders, most of whom will jump at any chance of saving even one penny on build cost, would delete a simple tube and rod in favour of an electronic device.
More so a sensor that spends its life immersed in oil at 100 centigrade, surely this costs more, is more failure prone and less user friendly than a simple dipstick?
Looking at the workings of a newish car, it is plain to see where pennies have been pinched, so why replace something cheap and reliable with a difficult to use finite lifed sensor?
A friend has a BMW M3 V8 and the procedure to verify the correct oil level after a change is pretty time consuming, how on earth did we manage before with a simple rod that sat in the oil?
More so a sensor that spends its life immersed in oil at 100 centigrade, surely this costs more, is more failure prone and less user friendly than a simple dipstick?
Looking at the workings of a newish car, it is plain to see where pennies have been pinched, so why replace something cheap and reliable with a difficult to use finite lifed sensor?
A friend has a BMW M3 V8 and the procedure to verify the correct oil level after a change is pretty time consuming, how on earth did we manage before with a simple rod that sat in the oil?
kev b said:
I find it strange that car builders, most of whom will jump at any chance of saving even one penny on build cost, would delete a simple tube and rod in favour of an electronic device.
More so a sensor that spends its life immersed in oil at 100 centigrade, surely this costs more, is more failure prone and less user friendly than a simple dipstick?
Looking at the workings of a newish car, it is plain to see where pennies have been pinched, so why replace something cheap and reliable with a difficult to use finite lifed sensor?
A friend has a BMW M3 V8 and the procedure to verify the correct oil level after a change is pretty time consuming, how on earth did we manage before with a simple rod that sat in the oil?
I've often wondered this too. It's puzzling. Only thing I can think of is emissions - having a tube opening the crankcase to environment? Or if the block designs prohibit a tube. Or because competitors are doing it.More so a sensor that spends its life immersed in oil at 100 centigrade, surely this costs more, is more failure prone and less user friendly than a simple dipstick?
Looking at the workings of a newish car, it is plain to see where pennies have been pinched, so why replace something cheap and reliable with a difficult to use finite lifed sensor?
A friend has a BMW M3 V8 and the procedure to verify the correct oil level after a change is pretty time consuming, how on earth did we manage before with a simple rod that sat in the oil?
kev b said:
I find it strange that car builders, most of whom will jump at any chance of saving even one penny on build cost, would delete a simple tube and rod in favour of an electronic device.
Maybe the idea is to take the human out of the loop and allow the car to monitor its own oil level. I don't suppose the vast majority of dip sticks get touched between one service and the next.BMW called today
They have checked the car and have said that the Oil level is at maximum but is not overfilled
They have done a road test and allowed the car to get up to temperature but have not been able to see the smoke coming from the tailpipes
So i'm at a loss to what could of caused it.
They have checked the car and have said that the Oil level is at maximum but is not overfilled
They have done a road test and allowed the car to get up to temperature but have not been able to see the smoke coming from the tailpipes
So i'm at a loss to what could of caused it.
Jacob7070 said:
How hot was the engine & does it smell?Looks like condensation to me.
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