No Oil Dipstick?

[Weller22]

You dont need a dipstick to check oil. I toggle throught I drive and can look at the level whenever I want. Technology progresses.

[X1mne]

And why diesels still have them and petrols don't?

[alienbeewv]

My car will use some oil if I run it pretty hard. I had her running some high rpm's on the interstate the other day when a new mustang GT thought he was going to show me up in my 08 328xi coupe.

Wrong.

I am in West Virginia on curvy roads. I didn't need a bigger engine to make him look ridiculous. He was squirrelly and using both lanes for 100mph. I stayed right behind him for a mile or so and realized he was more confident than he was capable. I passed him and left him behind going 115 using only one lane. Once I slowed back down to my previous 83 mph, he refused to pass me.

Oops... Back to the oil thing... I used my dip on the dash to tell me how much the lesson I taught him was going to cost me in oil for my rpm's...

Let's just say it wasn't much. It was worth it. I checked my oil while driving. He can check his Mustang the same way he checks his Briggs and Stratton riding mower.

[timsev]

My car will use some oil if I run it pretty hard. I had her running some high rpm's on the interstate the other day when a new mustang GT thought he was going to show me up in my 08 328xi coupe.

Wrong.

I am in West Virginia on curvy roads. I didn't need a bigger engine to make him look ridiculous. He was squirrelly and using both lanes for 100mph. I stayed right behind him for a mile or so and realized he was more confident than he was capable. I passed him and left him behind going 115 using only one lane. Once I slowed back down to my previous 83 mph, he refused to pass me.

Oops... Back to the oil thing... I used my dip on the dash to tell me how much the lesson I taught him was going to cost me in oil for my rpm's...

Let's just say it wasn't much. It was worth it. I checked my oil while driving. He can check his Mustang the same way he checks his Briggs and Stratton riding mower.

[alienbeewv]

Of course not...

[pizzaman09]

Sadly, you are correct. I'm an old fart and remember when i was in high school and working part-time at a gas station I learned how to gap points. If you did not have a feeler gauge you knew that a paper match book cover would get them (for GM cars anyway) close enough to start and get you where you needed to go. The fact that we have degenerated into a society whereby checking your own oil is too complex for the average "sheep" among us is a sad commentary indeed.

Most non enthusiast people today wouldn't have the faintest clue what you are talking about if you mentioned points to them.

The reported cases of sensors failing are so small and the reported cases of engines blowing up due to bad sensors are 0 AFAFIK. There is a higher probability a tree will fall and crush my car than my engine blowing up due to a faulty oil sensor, so I am not losing sleep over it.

I actually had an oil pressure sensor catastrophically fail in one of my cars, (not my BMWs). The electronics blew out of the back of the sensor due to pressure and I lost 3.5 out of 4 quarts of oil driving it 1000ft. Luckily that 1000ft was to my house. If it had blown driving on the highway 5 minutes earlier I would have never seen all the black smoke pouring out of my hood and would have likely destroyed the engine.

I know it is a super rare case, but a tree hasn't fallen on my car yet.

[ndog14]

My car will use some oil if I run it pretty hard. I had her running some high rpm's on the interstate the other day when a new mustang GT thought he was going to show me up in my 08 328xi coupe.

Wrong.

I am in West Virginia on curvy roads. I didn't need a bigger engine to make him look ridiculous. He was squirrelly and using both lanes for 100mph. I stayed right behind him for a mile or so and realized he was more confident than he was capable. I passed him and left him behind going 115 using only one lane. Once I slowed back down to my previous 83 mph, he refused to pass me.

Oops... Back to the oil thing... I used my dip on the dash to tell me how much the lesson I taught him was going to cost me in oil for my rpm's...

Let's just say it wasn't much. It was worth it. I checked my oil while driving. He can check his Mustang the same way he checks his Briggs and Stratton riding mower.

Oops? Did you just brag about street racing on an online public forum? Fact #1: Both of you were dumb for doing that. Fact #2: The new Mustang GT (5.0, I presume) is way faster than what is probably a bone stock with the crappy OEM RFTs '08 328xi coupe.


Oops... Back to the topic. Working in a service department a few times a week people will come in saying their vehicle gave them a low oil light. It's quite a pain waiting for the computer to give a read out. It would be much simpler to check a dipstick.

[alienbeewv]

that should read kilometers. auto correct made it read mph.

[323i E30]

Technology progress..?
My 28yo E30 has a light on the check panel for when my oil is at its minimum
I very much prefer having a dipstick as well though, I also find it retarded to delete the temp gauge..
I guess I'm ready for the 21st century yet..

[Kevlar]

Technology progress..?
My 28yo E30 has a light on the check panel for when my oil is at its minimum
I very much prefer having a dipstick as well though, I also find it retarded to delete the temp gauge..
I guess I'm ready for the 21st century yet..

Temp guages are replaced by the warning lights now that surround the tachometer. Temp guages of old days were accurate, but owners would come in complaining that it was leaning too far left or too far right... so temp guages of recent years were just glorified idiot lights. If the temperature was between a set range of stupidly cold or insanely about to overheat hot it would sit absolutely dead center.

[323i E30]

Temp guages are replaced by the warning lights now that surround the tachometer. Temp guages of old days were accurate, but owners would come in complaining that it was leaning too far left or too far right... so temp guages of recent years were just glorified idiot lights. If the temperature was between a set range of stupidly cold or insanely about to overheat hot it would sit absolutely dead center.

True..
My gf drives a *cough* 2012 Peugeot *cough*, and there are simply NO indicators about the engine temp, nothing... At least glad that they didn't go that route then..
I like the old ones indeed. Not buffered or anything fancy...

[325bob]

Temp guages are replaced by the warning lights now that surround the tachometer. Temp guages of old days were accurate, but owners would come in complaining that it was leaning too far left or too far right... so temp guages of recent years were just glorified idiot lights. If the temperature was between a set range of stupidly cold or insanely about to overheat hot it would sit absolutely dead center.

GAUGE!! (chris,too), gauges were only as good as how often you watched them, a flashing low pressure light or audio alarm would be best, like the key or headlight warning buzzer.

[Kevlar]

GAUGE!! (chris,too)

... damn spell checker didn't work.

[TBlxckbxrn]

So...by that reasoning. We cannot trust the gas gauge, speedometer, tachometer, mileage read out, tripometer....or any other electronic measuring device on the car.

I mean how many times have you seen your gas gauge go up a slight bit after starting your car again after a drive?

[xxxxxxx]

BMW has all but abandoned enthusiasts and now designs cars for strictly the lowest common denominator.

Enjoy your 'sheer driving pleasure'.

[DominicDinan]

Probably already been answered but a lot of newer BMW's don't have oil dipsticks. My brothers 2013 328 doesn't as well as my parents 2015 750.

[rbelton]

Made this quick vid today for newbs

How to Check the Oil Level with no Dipstick:



link: https://youtu.be/4wk2CuIj4Wc