Quote:
Originally Posted by Ritz42
You do know that when you change the oil, when you drain the oil out of the oil pan you don't get every drop of oil that was in the engine out, right? Particuarly if you have an oil cooler, a turbo, and additional oil lines, quite like any modern BMW. Blinding dumping 6 quarts in during an oil change will likely lead to an overfill situation. ANd if you play it conversatively and only put in say 4 or 5 quarts, then you have to drive around for a minimum of 10 minutes before the car will tell you the level, only to find out you're short a quart or more.
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On my N52, six quarts gets me to exactly 1/2 way on the meter, consistently. Provided you wait a reasonable amount of time, you are going to get the vast majority of the oil out. It doesn't matter if you get every drop of oil out. You WILL get six quarts out (or however much the engine in question typically drains), and that is more than enough to put back in. There is no need to be anal about getting the oil exactly back to the MAX line in the readout - it's only approximate anyway. Dump in six quarts, and the next time you are driving anyway take a reading. Dump in a 1/2 quart if it makes you feel better. I'd just wait until the computer told me to dump in a full quart. My car has never varied the level between changes. Again, these engines hold something like 2X the amount of oil they actually NEED, simply to allow the extended oil change intervals.
Ultimately this is all arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. The dipstick is GONE from BMW gasoline engines, and it is not coming back. If this really bothers you, buy something else. I think Audi still has dipsticks, shame about how they drive though.