E92 M3 Oil gauge issue - oil everywhere!
Discussion
Anyone that was at the recent Silverstone track day taster may have seen my poorly M3 being taken home on the back of a flat bed. The reason for this was after arriving at 8am it became apparent that the oil had basically ejected itself all over the engine and the underside of the car. It's been recovered under warranty back to BMW where it is also having an oil service as coincidently this is due next month.
The issue started when it recently went in to BMW due to a loud tapping sound from engine, this was diagnosed as an issue with the fan belt and it was replaced.
After picking the car up I noticed that the oil level had dropped from max when it went in to just over the min amount when it came out. I questioned this loss with the service desk several times but never really got a straight answer so gave up asking.
Before the track day I thought it would be a good idea to make sure the oil level was topped up before taking it on track so added 250ml of oil and checked the gauge again (after warming it up), no change, topped it up again with another 250ml and still no change, it was still reading just over min?
Drove up to Silverstone and on the way noticed some some smoke coming from the car, pulled over checked the exhaust and no smoke so carried on. I was thinking at this point that the oil sensor must be goosed and that it wasn't empty at all and was now slightly overfilled, the smoke being the excess oil burning off. By this time I was almost there so parked up and at this point I noticed oil on the outside of the car and opening the bonnet it became apparent that the oil has ejected everywhere!
BMW have now said that it's a faulty seal around the filler cap which sounds plausible but I'm worried about any lasting damage that may have been caused by the excess oil? They say the gauge was reading incorrectly as the seal would effect the pressure in the system leading to a false reading. I guess this all makes sense but as said, I'm worried about any lasting damage if any???
The issue started when it recently went in to BMW due to a loud tapping sound from engine, this was diagnosed as an issue with the fan belt and it was replaced.
After picking the car up I noticed that the oil level had dropped from max when it went in to just over the min amount when it came out. I questioned this loss with the service desk several times but never really got a straight answer so gave up asking.
Before the track day I thought it would be a good idea to make sure the oil level was topped up before taking it on track so added 250ml of oil and checked the gauge again (after warming it up), no change, topped it up again with another 250ml and still no change, it was still reading just over min?
Drove up to Silverstone and on the way noticed some some smoke coming from the car, pulled over checked the exhaust and no smoke so carried on. I was thinking at this point that the oil sensor must be goosed and that it wasn't empty at all and was now slightly overfilled, the smoke being the excess oil burning off. By this time I was almost there so parked up and at this point I noticed oil on the outside of the car and opening the bonnet it became apparent that the oil has ejected everywhere!
BMW have now said that it's a faulty seal around the filler cap which sounds plausible but I'm worried about any lasting damage that may have been caused by the excess oil? They say the gauge was reading incorrectly as the seal would effect the pressure in the system leading to a false reading. I guess this all makes sense but as said, I'm worried about any lasting damage if any???
Edited by Mr Bishi on Tuesday 24th March 16:26
Isn't the minimum amount of oil to be added 0.5 litre for the sensor to pick it up? So your twice filling with 0.25 litre resulted in no apparent increase as per the sensor but in reality lead to an overfill? As the M3 has a 9 litre capacity, even if at minimum level it will not cause any risk for the engine, so one should only add when the warning actually comes on, and then 1 litre.
Anyway, hope it is solved under warranty with no long term effect on the engine.
Anyway, hope it is solved under warranty with no long term effect on the engine.
Edited by rassi on Tuesday 24th March 19:38
As mentioned above, 0.25ml will not register.
Manual states a minimum of 0.5ml for it to register, and even that may take half an hour of driving.
From personal experience i can tell you, the oil readout isn't reliable, i waited 3 times for top up warning before i put in 0.8ml and it read full.
It will fluctuate from full readout to 0.75 full.
Manual states a minimum of 0.5ml for it to register, and even that may take half an hour of driving.
From personal experience i can tell you, the oil readout isn't reliable, i waited 3 times for top up warning before i put in 0.8ml and it read full.
It will fluctuate from full readout to 0.75 full.
BMW have now confirmed the Oil filler cap was definitely faulty and have replaced it under warranty.
My concern though is if any damage has been caused by the oil a) being overfilled by 500ml and b) damage caused by the engine being run with oil being ejected from the filler cap and potentially being run at low levels/pressure?
There were no warning lights, temps were all fine and the car run smoothly with no knocks rattles etc.
The dealer has said that there 'shouldn't' be any issues
My concern though is if any damage has been caused by the oil a) being overfilled by 500ml and b) damage caused by the engine being run with oil being ejected from the filler cap and potentially being run at low levels/pressure?
There were no warning lights, temps were all fine and the car run smoothly with no knocks rattles etc.
The dealer has said that there 'shouldn't' be any issues
Mr Bishi said:
BMW have now confirmed the Oil filler cap was definitely faulty and have replaced it under warranty.
My concern though is if any damage has been caused by the oil a) being overfilled by 500ml and b) damage caused by the engine being run with oil being ejected from the filler cap and potentially being run at low levels/pressure?
There were no warning lights, temps were all fine and the car run smoothly with no knocks rattles etc.
The dealer has said that there 'shouldn't' be any issues
As previously mentioned, the sump is enormous, 9 litres, so if you only drove a short distance with oil spilling out, even if you lost a litre or two, it shouldn't affect longevity. Just surprised that a filler cap would suddenly fail, rather than weeping for some time?My concern though is if any damage has been caused by the oil a) being overfilled by 500ml and b) damage caused by the engine being run with oil being ejected from the filler cap and potentially being run at low levels/pressure?
There were no warning lights, temps were all fine and the car run smoothly with no knocks rattles etc.
The dealer has said that there 'shouldn't' be any issues
Gassing Station | M Power | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff