[tpliquid]

So it's time for my oil change and I looked thru the manual and doesn't show any capacity for oil. Anyone know how much car needs for oil change with filter?

[Orion4]

Well, a quick search on web at various BMW vendor sites all indicate 7 qts. Several say 7 liters which is 7.396 qts. Since an oil/filter change never gets all the oil out, you are good with 7 qts. After all done, drive for 5-10 minutes, let sit for 5 and check oil level. Add if needed, but doubt will be required.

Oops!! My bad, i was looking at the B58 engine, not the B48!!

[spitpilot]

Per BMW TSIA...5.25 Liter (5.55 quart) is required for filter/oil change...B48 engine

BEWARE...BMW's new electronic dipstick DOES NOT detect oil overfills!...Despite the owners' manual giving dire warnings with !!!!'s about engine/cat converter damage being caused by operating the car with too much engine oil!...How are owners supposed to know if some distracted or poorly trained tech dumped in a 7 quart fill from the previous E90's??????? Seems hard to believe...but look at this page from the BMW technical manual...in particular:

"Attention: The sensor does not identify overfilling!"

PS: This same oil level sensor is used in almost ALL current BMW model series!

[spitpilot]

Originally Posted by Orion4

Well, a quick search on web at various BMW vendor sites all indicate 7 qts. Several say 7 liters which is 7.396 qts. Since an oil/filter change never gets all the oil out, you are good with 7 qts. After all done, drive for 5-10 minutes, let sit for 5 and check oil level. Add if needed, but doubt will be required.

I rest my case....you take your car in anywhere but a BMW dealer (and maybe sometimes even there) and you might well get the fill level from the previous 6 cylinder engines! And if you "drive for 5-10 min and let it sit for 5 min and check oil level"...You will see "Oil level Max" OK! on your screen!
Thanks so much for this "leap forward" in automotive engineering! Never had a dipstick fail to tell me accurately how much engine oil was in the sump..as long as I parked on level ground when I used it!

[insanecoder]

I usually just measure the oil I get out
and put back what was taken out
today that happened to be very close to 7 qts of jet black oil after 5,000 miles

[spitpilot]

Originally Posted by insanecoder

I usually just measure the oil I get out
and put back what was taken out
today that happened to be very close to 7 qts of jet black oil after 5,000 miles

Per BMW oil capacity for change/filter...6.5L (6.87qt)...so you're right on!

[tpliquid]

I guess I'll measure how much drains also and report back for those looking to change oil.

[spitpilot]

Originally Posted by tpliquid

I guess I'll measure how much drains also and report back for those looking to change oil.

What does your "electronic dipstick" read now?...If this is your factory fill...I bet it reads "Max Oil OK"....at top of the dipstick icon....mine did..and having read that others had drained some out to find out if BMW was overfilling at the factory to mask oil consumption issues (word is they've done this and other "shenanigans" to keep issues from owners). I drained my fillter 3 times B4 the icon read below "MAX" ( total drained...about a quart). The 5.2L # I posted is out of BMW's ISTA tech info so I"d dump in 5 quarts then run measurement (has to be warmed up) look at the reading and the chart in my attachment shows how far from full various reading are so you can fill it up spot on.
What concerns me is that the recommendation in that document is to let the level drop all the way down to "min" B4 adding any oil (and it says that you will be 1.2L low at that time)! Knowing that turbo motors are big heat generators and that some mfgs have had issues with excess heat causing premature failures...I"d not want to drive around in summer heat 100+ being down over a quart since oil is cooling as well as lubrication fluid!...I'm gonna add when it gets 1/2 down..just only 1/2 quart.

[tpliquid]

My "max" bar was not lit when I measure before I changed the oil. I drained out almost 6 quarts of oil. I filled back in 5.8 quarts or so. Drive around for 15 minutes and remeasired the oil. Measurement says oil level OK. Max bar was not lit.

Edit. Oh I didn't know oil filter had a drain plug. I guess I'll look for that next time.

[spitpilot]

Originally Posted by tpliquid

My "max" bar was not lit when I measure before I changed the oil. I drained out almost 6 quarts of oil. I filled back in 5.8 quarts or so. Drive around for 15 minutes and remeasired the oil. Measurement says oil level OK. Max bar was not lit.

Edit. Oh I didn't know oil filter had a drain plug. I guess I'll look for that next time.

So you put in more than BMW says is the correct change quantity and your oil level graphic in the I drive screen doesn't read above Max?....

That would confirm for at least this level of overfill the car won't give us any warning....I'm taking bets that BMW's tech info is current and no matter how much oil is dumped in, nothing beyond the reassuring message...."Max" and "Oil Level OK" will be seen on our I drive screens!
Wait till the product liability lawyers get hold of this and point out that BMW's owners's manuals warn about dangers of engine/cat converter damage from overfilling and instruct them to take immediate corrective action...but BMW has given us NO way to have knowledge of this problem!

Cat converter for these cars isn't cheap ($2K+) and given the complexity on the back of our engines it will cost probably $1K labor to get it replaced...enough to get some a bit upset I'd say...including me.

[tpliquid]

Correct. I actually put in less than I took out just to be safe. I checked level 4 times each time max bar never Lites up.

[spitpilot]

Yup...it will never read past max since the new generation oil sensor (used in all current models series BMWs) was "thoughtfully" engineered NOT to sense "oil overfilled" condition!
Hope everyone saves a copy of the BMW tech doc I published earlier...I'll put it here again...it will come in handy if and when some distracted or undertrained tech overfills your oil and your CAT has an early demise!....
I'm betting on a class action product liability lawsuit on this issue when a lot of the F series cars are out of free maintenance and get taken in for oil changes somewhere other than the dealerships!...
BMW can't just stand there and point out the warnings in their owners' manuals about risks of property damage due to oil overfilling at the same time they give owners NO way to tell if they are operating their vehicles in this condition, without incurring some product liability for the potentially very expensive repairs that ensue!

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by spitpilot

What does your "electronic dipstick" read now?...If this is your factory fill...I bet it reads "Max Oil OK"....at top of the dipstick icon....mine did..and having read that others had drained some out to find out if BMW was overfilling at the factory to mask oil consumption issues (word is they've done this and other "shenanigans" to keep issues from owners). I drained my fillter 3 times B4 the icon read below "MAX" ( total drained...about a quart). The 5.2L # I posted is out of BMW's ISTA tech info so I"d dump in 5 quarts then run measurement (has to be warmed up) look at the reading and the chart in my attachment shows how far from full various reading are so you can fill it up spot on.
What concerns me is that the recommendation in that document is to let the level drop all the way down to "min" B4 adding any oil (and it says that you will be 1.2L low at that time)! Knowing that turbo motors are big heat generators and that some mfgs have had issues with excess heat causing premature failures...I"d not want to drive around in summer heat 100+ being down over a quart since oil is cooling as well as lubrication fluid!...I'm gonna add when it gets 1/2 down..just only 1/2 quart.

In a nutshell you don't believe BMW has the engineering prowness to insure the engine won't develop excessive wear when the oil light comes on.


Food for thought, engine oil begins to slowly degrade once you open the bottle. So would you rather continually add slightly degraded oil in increments of less than 1 liter of an entire bottle of fresh oil?

[spitpilot]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

In a nutshell you don't believe BMW has the engineering prowness to insure the engine won't develop excessive wear when the oil light comes on.


Food for thought, engine oil begins to slowly degrade once you open the bottle. So would you rather continually add slightly degraded oil in increments of less than 1 liter of an entire bottle of fresh oil?

You have misread my posts....I'm not concerned with the "oil light" (low oil pressure warning light) or the ability of the oil level measurement system ( driven by the oil pan sensor) to detect and warn about the oil level dropping to an unsafe level.
What I am criticizing BMW's engineering about is that in their own tech documentation they clearly state that the latest generation (used in all the most recent model series) of oil level sensor WILL NOT WARN of an overfilled crank case (as opposed to the one in my E90 which the owners' manual clearly says will warn of "oil overfilled").
My X1 F48 owners' manual gives not one but two BOLD FACE !!! warnings of risk of property damage (engine and catalylic converter) that arise from operating the vehicle with excessive engine oil. They instrucct the owner to immediately take the car in to a dealer or other qualifiec repair shop to correct the problem...But as you can see from the attached BMW tech document...the current OIL LEVEL system is NOT capable of giving us any clue as to this problem!..See the last statement in the chart;
"Attention: The sensor does NOT identify overfilling!"
So when some tech dumps in a fill for the old N52 engine (7+ quarts) instead of the 5.2 quarts for the current turbo 4 cylinders and your cat overheats and burns out leaving you with a $3000 repair bill....who is at fault?

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by spitpilot

You have misread my posts....I'm not concerned with the "oil light" (low oil pressure warning light) or the ability of the oil level measurement system ( driven by the oil pan sensor) to detect and warn about the oil level dropping to an unsafe level.
What I am criticizing BMW's engineering about is that in their own tech documentation they clearly state that the latest generation (used in all the most recent model series) of oil level sensor WILL NOT WARN of an overfilled crank case (as opposed to the one in my E90 which the owners' manual clearly says will warn of "oil overfilled").
My X1 F48 owners' manual gives not one but two BOLD FACE !!! warnings of risk of property damage (engine and catalylic converter) that arise from operating the vehicle with excessive engine oil. They instrucct the owner to immediately take the car in to a dealer or other qualifiec repair shop to correct the problem...But as you can see from the attached BMW tech document...the current OIL LEVEL system is NOT capable of giving us any clue as to this problem!..See the last statement in the chart;
"Attention: The sensor does NOT identify overfilling!"
So when some tech dumps in a fill for the old N52 engine (7+ quarts) instead of the 5.2 quarts for the current turbo 4 cylinders and your cat overheats and burns out leaving you with a $3000 repair bill....who is at fault?

If you're one to worry about overfill just keep the work order because it states the number of bottles and/or the amount of oil dispensed. That's your proof.

[spitpilot]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

If you're one to worry about overfill just keep the work order because it states the number of bottles and/or the amount of oil dispensed. That's your proof.

I grew up in the era where most young men were involved with the cars more than just keeping the gas tank filled and driving them to the car wash. I've enjoyed "keeping my hand in" with every vehicle I've owned from Alfa to VW...since the internet gave birth to Car Forums...I've been active on the ones pertaining to what's in my garage...and I've seen enough posts about "dealer overfilled" my oil (when we had dipsticks to give you that information and used them)...it's been a prevalent practice to mask a thirst for oil on the part of some engine designs...and I'd be more than mildly surprised if it's not part of the reason that BMW "thoughtfully" engineered the ability to detect excessive oil quantity out of their current oil level measuring system!
Mistakes do happen..what's on the work order doesn't always reflect what actually was done to your vehicle..and with the increase in "distractions"...say your tech gets a break up text right in the middle of taking care of your vehicle...etc...Or just plain lack of training/focus...BMW's took 7 quarts..now only 5.2..I've seen posts recently where folks reported that a shop filled to the old level in error.

Bottom line...if your BMW is subject to serious damage if you operate it with excessive engine oil..isn't it the responsibility of BMW to provide you with the information ( as you had with the old fashion dipstick) to avoid such damage?

I'd bet lawyers will have a field day with the obvious liability of BMW for such damage, since they strongly warn owners to take immediate action to avoid property damage and then designed their vehicles to NOT provide any warning of the potentially damaging condition to their customers!

[IN54NITY]

5.25 Liter (5.55 quart) ) is correct. That is the used oil amount I measured that came out of our 2016 X1 with a B48 motor.

[Bluemill]

The new 3 series comes with the B48 engine. I let the "salad" oil drain for 15 minutes, with the cap off. The usual "string" draining had ended, and it was down to a drop about every 10 seconds. The car was dead flat. I could not believe how thin the oil was, it was like water. Temperature outside was low 70's, and I drove the car 6 miles in 10 minutes. The temp gauge was registering dead middle.

Knowing there isn't a lot of common knowledge on the oil capacity of the engine, I had prepped carefully on measuring what was drained. The odometer read 1082 miles. I had saved a 5 quart oil container which prior to pouring, I marked the full line on it. I also had saved a graduated 1 quart container for the remaining oil over 5 qts.

It measured exactly 5 1/2 quarts.

On the filter cap I noticed the Mahle name, not Mann. The filter has a plastic nipple on the bottom of it which fits in a corresponding hole in the filter housing. The cap has a mushroomed screen in it that snaps into the top of the filter which makes removing the old filter from the housing easy. It's not easy to pull the old filter off of the bottom of the cap. Be careful installing the new filter.

Best always,

Bluemill