Thermal Level Oil Sensor Question

[nelsonjmbf]

ok so i have a 2004 525i and im having an issue determining if i have the sensor or not, the engine in car is an M54 and it does have a dip stick, what im thinking is the cars with a dipstick do not have the sensor and the ones without do have? does anyone happen to know? Another question is if i do not have the sensor installed in my oil pan what else would cause the code 27c3 to show up? i know the i drive has the screen under car info to check the oil but it says something like no reading can be taken att this time, could it have something to do with the coding maybe somehow it was unlocked or told it has the sensor an is now looking for it an when it doesnt find it it throws code or am i way off thinking along those lines? the only other codes showing are 2883-Mixture prep/ 2710 E-box fan control/ 28a2 Air Path which i dont think are related but i could be wrong. also does anyone have any ideas on a method to chase down whats causing these as well?

[jclausen]

For the most part all BMW have an oil level sensor and have for ever the drive will not read it because you have an early car with the m54 the fault code is for the sensor which you have in the oil pan it's held in by three 10mm nuts

[328isblack]

What I would give to have a dipstick and not the stupid sensor.

[nelsonjmbf]

thats whats dumb tho is i still do have dip stick but also i can look at in in idrive tho i dont think its ever shown level, either due to coding or sensor not ever working or being meant to sent level info rather than condition info or something on mine, i would think that with a dipstick still there would be no need for thermal oil level sensor lol i was wondering could a coding/programming issue maybe cause this fault or maybe a power issue rather than sensor cuz i have only gotten this code a few times in the 2 years ive had car now and normally when i either changed battery.

[jclausen]

My car has the oil level sensor, it's there to tell you if your low on oil

[jtbgonesailing]

04-05 e60’s m54 engines (525 & 530’s) were the last i6 to have dipsticks. The oil sensor is there to determine oil quality for oil changes and not for oil quantity, even though the sensor has that ability. In my case, when I had the motherboard on the CCC replaced 2012, the new board provided the ability to show the oil level in I drive, but no data. Once repaired CCC was coded to the car, the screen went away. The m54 oil dipstick is how to check your oil.

[nelsonjmbf]

yup exactly what about post says lol, i was just wondering what issues if any could be caused by the thing having errors if any beside slight oil leak possibly.

[nelsonjmbf]

i was askig more along the lines of it would cause any kind of problems similar to the ones im dealing with at the moment

[jtbgonesailing]

The only problem you might encounter is the oil change interval may not be correct. I have had a periodic error code 27C3 pop-up from time to time with no consequences. Have a new sensor on hand, just haven’t coordinated a oil change with pulling engine and transmission splash trays with subframe stiffener plate removal to access sensor.

[nelsonjmbf]

ok im thinkig ill leave the sensor in till next time i change oil and while i have it drained anyways just swap for new sensor then.