wait, Your dipstick was dry and You took a three hour road trip? brave man

possibly a blockage somewhere? dunno

 

With all due respect, not sure if "Brave" is the adjective I would have selected.

 

Wait, aren't you supposed to run the engine for a bit before measuring your level? This is kinda like an auto-tranny dipstick (remember those days?) that read "Idle in Park" -- you didn't pull it out when it's not running, as you would have incorrect measurements.

 

oil light on means new engine needed.

 

Let it run a bit before checking the level, and make sure you are on flat ground.

 

1. Level ground.
2. Engine MUST be at operating temperature. 1200 Noon, straight up on temp gauge.
3. Red light = your hosed: IF your sensor is accurate.
4. FREQUENTLY, the oil level sender is NOT ACCURATE!
5. Let the car sit, engine off, 5 mins prior to reading the dipstick.

Did this help?

 

I've also read that the plastic tip on the dipstick can come loose and shift up and down on the metal rod. (kinda defeats the purpose of a %^&@* dipstick)

 

the trident piece broke off in mine..it does happen.

 

I don't think the issue is how the oil is checked. The dipstick should never read "bone dry" regardless of how it's checked (unless the car is upside down, in which case, you have bigger problems than just your oil level). If you had not said that your oil light came on while driving, I would have suggested that your dipstick needs to be replaced; that perhaps the plastic tip was sliding up the stick and not going all the way down the tube (far fetched I know). However, since your oil light came on while you were driving, that may indicate a blockage that is keeping your oil from draining into your oil pan the way it should. I think we need more info.

How many miles are on the engine? What type of oil do you use? Have you seen the oil light come on at any other time? The oil sensor is known to go bad and show the following behavior: When you start the engine, the oil light it off. After a little while, the oil light comes on and stays on for about 14 seconds and then goes off and stays off. Are you seeing this with your car? Are you seeing or hearing any other symptoms (blue smoke, funky noises from the engine)?

We can speculate here out the wazoo, but you don't want to take any chances with a possible oil problem. Get it checked out by a qualified BMW tech (an independent shop would inflict less damage on your wallet).

 

The dipstick measures the last quart of oil sitting on top of the oil pan, so most likely, your either a quart low or you haven't checked the oil using the right procedure. Get the car to operating temp, drive it around a bit, then park it and let it sit for 10~15 mins, then check, odds are you checked it while the oil was not settled.

PS- how many quarts did you put in?

 

If you checked the oil right after you shut the motor off, it will read dry. You need to let the motor sit 10-15 minutes before checking.

 

Ensure you are on a flat ground. When I checked out my car, I freaked out when the dipstick was dry. Until my mate pulled me aside quitely and pointed out that the car was on a steep short driveway! How embarrassment! Drove out onto level ground and the oil level was perfect!

 

Wanted to revive the thread simply to post the solution for archiving/searching purposes. It was the crankcase vent valve (ccv) which was plugged up. Finally got around to replacing it and now I can accurately check my oil level again. What a luxury.

 

**** i think this is what might be happening to me... ccv, huh? add that to the list to get fixed...

 

I didn't read the other posts, but make sure the car was warmed before, and it was on a level surface.


Could be ccv btw