# How often do you add oil?



## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

I got a low oil level warning today, computer said to add 1 quart. 

How often do you add oil and have you ever received this warning?


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## DnA Diesel (Jul 31, 2010)

Never had that warning. The level hasn't dropped on the dipstick at all. 55,000km on the clock and two annual servicings.

Regards
D.


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## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

Hmmm, computer glitch or something else... No oil under the car or in the engine bay that I can see. I need to check the dip stick.


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## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

BTW, who makes the oil BMW sells The dealership is closed so was going to run up to AutoZone.


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## dunderhi (Dec 10, 2006)

I'm at 22k miles and haven't added a drop.


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## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

Light is off, but checked the oil and it's just above the "min" mark. Not a drop to be found under the car or in the engine bay, although I haven't taken the engine cover off yet. Wonder if it was low to begin with or if my car is burning excessive oil for some reason.


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## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

cssnms said:


> Hmmm, computer glitch or something else... No oil under the car or in the engine bay that I can see. I need to check the dip stick.


Anyone? Perhaps a name is imprinted somewhere on the quart of oil?


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## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

I think I found the answer,,, Castrol 5w-30 ll-04.


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

cssnms said:


> I think I found the answer,,, Castrol 5w-30 ll-04.


I bought oil from my BMW dealer along with a filter and paid a local shop $15 today to change my oil. The oil is as you quote above and with a BMW CCA discount it is as cheap or cheaper than a comparable oil at an auto part store. While not necessary or recommended, I always change the oil in my new cars at somewhere between 2500 and 5000 miles. Afterwards, I follow BMW's scheduled services.


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## anE934fun (May 10, 2008)

+n on the not having added a drop part. I change the oil and filter on a 7,500 mile interval after doing a 1,200 mile break-in oil and filter change.


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

OP: Was you car perhaps not sitting level when you got the message to add oil?


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## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

I was sitting level. It looks a tad low after checking it.


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## d geek (Nov 26, 2008)

cssnms said:


> BTW, who makes the oil BMW sells The dealership is closed so was going to run up to AutoZone.


You won't find the oil at Autozone, but PepBoys does carry the Mobil1 version of BMW LL04 oil required by your car.


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## AutoUnion (Apr 11, 2005)

Does my X5 have a dipstick? I didn't see any mention of it in the manual.


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## floydarogers (Oct 11, 2010)

cssnms said:


> Light is off, but checked the oil and it's just above the "min" mark. Not a drop to be found under the car or in the engine bay, although I haven't taken the engine cover off yet. Wonder if it was low to begin with or if my car is burning excessive oil for some reason.


Burning some oil is normal. I believe I used 1/2 quart in the 2nd oil change interval (13K miles.)

FYI, you can buy Castrol SLX 5W-30 oil VW and Chrysler dealers. The VW oil is very close to BMW's formulation (ACEA A3/B3/C4; but is only LL-03). I believe the Chrysler oil is exactly what BMW uses and is LL-04. Note the C4 in the ACEA spec - this marks the low-ash formulation required.

Mobil 1 ESP Formula 5W-30 is the other LL-04 oil around; hard to find since Mobil doesn't market it in the US - you can find it online.

Pennzoil and Quaker state also make some, but I've never seen them.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

cssnms said:


> Light is off, but checked the oil and it's just above the "min" mark. Not a drop to be found under the car or in the engine bay, although I haven't taken the engine cover off yet. Wonder if it was low to begin with or if my car is burning excessive oil for some reason.


My car did exactly as yours is doing and it happened between the 1st and 2nd oil changes. I do not recall how many miles since the 1st but I think I only put maybe 6-7k miles on the car between those two yearly oil changes. The dealership topped it off for free and found zero signs of any leaks. Since I never checked the dipstick after the first change then I have no clue if they filled it up correctly and I simply burned an entire quart off or if they filled it a little low and I burned a smaller amount of oil off. Either way, found it kind of annoying since my other two cars(one of which leaks a little) do not use up any noticeable amount of oil between oil changes. I have though since driven around 6k miles after the 2nd oil change and thus far no light, I have not bothered to check the dipstick.


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## Tuce (Nov 24, 2009)

I topped off one quart just before my first oil change at ~5,000 miles. Haven't had to add any oil since. I remember reading soemwhere that it was typical for these turbo engines to consume a little oil during the break in miles.


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## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

Snipe656 said:


> My car did exactly as yours is doing and it happened between the 1st and 2nd oil changes. I do not recall how many miles since the 1st but I think I only put maybe 6-7k miles on the car between those two yearly oil changes. The dealership topped it off for free and found zero signs of any leaks. Since I never checked the dipstick after the first change then I have no clue if they filled it up correctly and I simply burned an entire quart off or if they filled it a little low and I burned a smaller amount of oil off. Either way, found it kind of annoying since my other two cars(one of which leaks a little) do not use up any noticeable amount of oil between oil changes. I have though since driven around 6k miles after the 2nd oil change and thus far no light, I have not bothered to check the dipstick.


Makes me feel a "little" better. I am right around 9k miles and close to the 1st oil change. According to BMW the amount of oil the car burns has a lot to do with driving style. I guess my "style" of driving which tends to lean towards *spirited* burns more oil. It's well worth the price of admission.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

cssnms said:


> Makes me feel a "little" better. I am right around 9k miles and close to the 1st oil change. According to BMW the amount of oil the car burns has a lot to do with driving style. I guess my "style" of driving which tends to lean towards *spirited* burns more oil. It's well worth the price of admission.


Probably so. I probably have just been lucky over the years in regards to oil burning. Only car I had that was bad about it with the heavy foot was one of the old Mustangs. I am thinking mine just did not have enough or barely enough then I burned just a little for it to get noticed. My light would turn on sometimes and not other times. It took upwards of a month before then ! light turned into an actual notice of being low on oil. Prior to that I was just left baffled why I kept getting this random ! light.


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## EMC (Jan 22, 2006)

cssnms said:


> I got a low oil level warning today, computer said to add 1 quart.
> 
> How often do you add oil and have you ever received this warning?


I got the warning a few times...checked it and everything looked good. It sure does get black though.

Light came on the other day...probably 10k after oil change and right before I was going to change it myself. It was 1/2 quart low, so I filled it up and no more add oil light.

Time to change it this weekend. Even the dealer says that the BMW intervals are too far between. If it was a leased car, maybe I wouldn't care so much, but I really like this car and plan to keep it a very long time.


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## pauliewa (Jun 15, 2011)

EMC said:


> I got the warning a few times...checked it and everything looked good. It sure does get black though.
> 
> Light came on the other day...probably 10k after oil change and right before I was going to change it myself. It was 1/2 quart low, so I filled it up and no more add oil light.
> 
> Time to change it this weekend. Even the dealer says that the BMW intervals are too far between. If it was a leased car, maybe I wouldn't care so much, but I really like this car and plan to keep it a very long time.


The D has recommended oil change interval of 10k miles right?


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## EMC (Jan 22, 2006)

pauliewa said:


> The D has recommended oil change interval of 10k miles right?


I bough the car with 14k on it...has 18k right now. I was told the last oil change was around 10k, but not 100% sure. I guess that would make it about 8,000 miles.

Anyway, service interval doesn't call for another oil change until nearly 24,000 miles. That's just too long for me.

My understanding is that the dealer will change the oil about every 15k miles.


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## ltccredle (Jun 27, 2011)

CAN I ADD THAT SAME KIND OF OIL IN A 03 745LI AND CAN'T I JUST GO TO JIFFY LUBE TO GET IT DONE CHEAPER THEN AT THE DEALER??

Sent from my PC36100 using Bimmer App


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## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

EMC said:


> I got the warning a few times...checked it and everything looked good. *It sure does get black though.*
> Light came on the other day...probably 10k after oil change and right before I was going to change it myself. It was 1/2 quart low, so I filled it up and no more add oil light.
> 
> Time to change it this weekend. Even the dealer says that the BMW intervals are too far between. If it was a leased car, maybe I wouldn't care so much, but I really like this car and plan to keep it a very long time.


It sure does!

I checked it again yesterday morning after doing an errand and the oil was just above the "min" line, but light is still off. I figured if it's that close to trigger to a low oil light, might as well top it off, so I don't have to worry about it. So yesterday I went up to VOB BMW and bought a quart of SLX for $7.20 and added it, now I am at the "max" line. Not sure if it's psychosemantic or not, but my engine sounds a little a quieter too.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

Black oil is just part of having a diesel.


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## AZ335D (Aug 19, 2010)

Over the course of 23K+ miles, I have had to add oil several times. The first oil change interval, I got the low oil light twice and had to add oil. The second oil change interval, I had to add one quart at about 7000 miles into the interval.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

I guess these really are "oil burners".


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## sukutash (Nov 26, 2010)

*Oil*



ltccredle said:


> CAN I ADD THAT SAME KIND OF OIL IN A 03 745LI AND CAN'T I JUST GO TO JIFFY LUBE TO GET IT DONE CHEAPER THEN AT THE DEALER??
> 
> Sent from my PC36100 using Bimmer App


You can add the factory oil from BMW which is Castrol SLX Professional LL-04 rated, sold at the dealership or Mobil 1 ESP LL-04 which you will find at Pep Boys. I belive the Mobil is only sold at Pep Boys, and as long as the oil is LL-04, it can be used in our motors.
:thumbup:


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## floydarogers (Oct 11, 2010)

ltccredle said:


> CAN I ADD THAT SAME KIND OF OIL IN A 03 745LI AND CAN'T I JUST GO TO JIFFY LUBE TO GET IT DONE CHEAPER THEN AT THE DEALER??


Jiffy Lube (please no caps/shouting) probably doesn't carry an LL-04 oil. IIRC, they use Pennzoil, which does make an LL-04 oil but doesn't sell it in the States.

Dealers typically sell the BMW-branded oil at very low cost - usually it's the cheapest you can get BMW approved oil, except by mail. Magnuson-Moss Act kind of requires them to do so.


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## d geek (Nov 26, 2008)

does ltccredle's 745i require BMW LL04 oil? (not sure why he/she asked in the diesel forum)


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## Philm35 (Aug 19, 2010)

I've been adding a quart about every 3000 miles... to my wife's Audi A4. :-/ 

I haven't had to add any oil to the d so far.


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## sukutash (Nov 26, 2010)

d geek said:


> does ltccredle's 745i require BMW LL04 oil? (not sure why he/she asked in the diesel forum)


^^^Yeah you're right.^^^I withdraw my useful info, stike it from the record.  I assumed, since the person was posting here that he was a fellow oil burner. My bad!


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## Penguin (Aug 31, 2003)

Quick lube places like jiffy lube are rather famous for stripping oil plugs.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

Penguin said:


> Quick lube places like jiffy lube are rather famous for stripping oil plugs.


It all boils down into how bad your worst mechanic is. I took our old Accord to one of those places for many years before just doing it myself. I never had a drain plug issue happen although once they forgot to screw the filler cap back on. That was on a year model Accord that was notoriously known for getting stripped out drain plugs regardless of where you went. On my truck I got one of those replacement plugs that has a valve within it for draining the oil. If I were doing changes on the BMW myself then I'd probably look into such a thing for it.


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## d geek (Nov 26, 2008)

Snipe656 said:


> ...On my truck I got one of those replacement plugs that has a valve within it for draining the oil. If I were doing changes on the BMW myself then I'd probably look into such a thing for it.


Fumoto Oil Drain Valves- they're great


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

d geek said:


> Fumoto Oil Drain Valves- they're great


Yeah, thanks for the reminder too because I need to see if one exists to fit the old Mercedes.


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## Penguin (Aug 31, 2003)

I just use a torque wrench and tighten it to the specified torque. Never have had a stripped oil plug.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

Penguin said:


> I just use a torque wrench and tighten it to the specified torque. Never have had a stripped oil plug.


The few damaged ones I have ever seen were cross threaded and I guess put on with brute force.


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## Penguin (Aug 31, 2003)

Snipe656 said:


> The few damaged ones I have ever seen were cross threaded and I guess put on with brute force.


Yeah, it makes one wonder about people. A drain plug, bolt, sparkplug, etc should go 90% or more of the way in by hand. If it doesn't, that does not mean it's time to get the 24" wrench with the cheater bar... it's time to back it out and try again.

Seriously, don't they give these oil change guys any training? One should never have cross-threading.


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## cssnms (Jan 24, 2011)

10k miles and the car is calling for an oil change. Go figure, just after I added a quart. Off to the dealer it goes next week.


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