07-13-2014, 06:46 PM | #1 |
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More than 7 quarts of oil on a 320xi?
So I did my first oil change today on my 14 320xi. After adding 7 quarts, I checked the engine level and it was on the max line.
After driving to the store and back, I did it again and this time it was about 1/3 from the low level line... So I'm wondering if anyone else had this issue before? I did check the drain bolt and it was not dripping at all. Is it just me or does this engine takes more than 7 quarts? |
07-13-2014, 07:02 PM | #2 | |
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07-13-2014, 07:12 PM | #3 |
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Ok this is weird, after letting my car sit for an hour, I checked it again and this time the car tells me it's at the max line again.
This is my first bimmer so I don't know what to expect. Thanks for the reply Ali, I'll be sure to ask my dealer tomorrow. |
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07-13-2014, 07:40 PM | #4 | |
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You may have overfilled the engine - - by a considerable amount. The 3.0 six cyl BMW's take 7 qts. Yours is a smaller 4 cyl 2.0 liter engine and I'm guessing it takes about 5 qts of oil and that's with a new oil filter. If it were me, and you find you have overfilled the engine, I would loosen the drain plug (but don't let it fall out) enough to get the oil leaking past at a pretty good rate, and drain some of the oil. If your overfilled by 2 qts I'm not sure it's a good idea to drive the car much, or at least keep it low revs. The oil in the sump may get whipped up - aerated - by the crank being so close to the over-filled level. Not good for oil or engine. If you're not comfortable trying that, then you can take it to the dealer, but drive very easy. I had an e46 M3 and had to do this each time I took the car in for an oil service - it was always overfilled by about a quart. Long story but the techs couldn't tell the difference between oil that came in a quart bottle and oil that came in a liter bottle. BMW NA even put out a service bulletin on it. Anyway, I got used to doing it. It's not that hard if you don't mind hot or warm oil drooling down into your arm pit. You'll have to experiment a little. Checking the oil level is not that easy on the new bimmers without a dipstick. You'll have to check the oil at op temp and on a level surface.
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07-13-2014, 09:16 PM | #6 | |
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07-14-2014, 08:39 AM | #7 | |
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Fellas I really appreciate the feed back! I just called my parts rep and my car does take 7 quarts. I did double check and it was quarts and not liters that was added. The N20 engine has 3 different oil filter part numbers for it. Service reps mentioned it depends wether the engine has the plastic oil pan or the aluminum. Mine does has the aluminum and he mentioned it takes 6.8 quarts of oil. After checking my oil level again today, my car reads full. So it seems everything is ok. I did ask about my situation and he did relate that if I checked it just after driving it without time for the oil to settle it might read lower than normal, but without looking at the car there's no way to know for sure. Although not the most reassuring answer, I do feel comfortable with that info and so far everything seems fine, if the car throws any errors or warning in regards to the oil, I'll be sure to drop it off at the dealer. Thanks again. Last edited by Slagish; 07-14-2014 at 08:52 AM.. |
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07-14-2014, 10:48 AM | #8 |
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I may have given you poor advice re the source for correct oil capacity. I called several dealer parts dept and got the following answers: "7 qts - all BMW's take 7 qts", asked to check TIS, came back "6 qts": another dealer "6.5 qts".
Here's what Pennzoil site says, 5 qts (1.27 gal). http://lubematch.pennzoil.com/recomm...e=18&brand=121
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07-14-2014, 02:49 PM | #9 | |
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Looking at that Pennzoil website that relates 1.27 gallons, that's only 5.08 quarts. Now I want to try to find the actual maintenance Manual for my car. So how often would these techs actually put "6" or "6.5" when you take in your car for service. For that matter the full 7 like I did. Last edited by Slagish; 07-14-2014 at 02:57 PM.. |
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07-14-2014, 04:13 PM | #10 | |
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I talked with a Service Advisor I know at a dealer rated as 5 star by DealerRater.com. He checked for me with a tech and said the 320i takes 6 qts with filter, and recommended initially filling with 5.5 qts and then checking the oil level with engine hot and on a level surface, using the iDrive procedure described in the owner's manual (engine running at idle in Park). So it sounds like you're about a quart overfilled. Forget about buying the service manual. It comes as software (that will only run on a MicroSuck platform) and is very expensive. Whenever I had a question about oil capacity I would go to the dealer parts dept and ask them to look it up on the TIS software, and swivel the monitor around so I could look at it with my own eyes.
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07-14-2014, 04:28 PM | #11 | |
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I did speak with a different dealer and the service rep mentioned 6.8 quarts, when I asked him to verify it with the maintenance manual, he couldn't find it and offered to call me back with an answer. I asked him to transfer me to the Parts the department and a gentleman answer with 6 quarts, after asking him to verify with the TIS he related 5.3 quarts. Amazing how everyone has different numbers and no one knows for sure. Baffles me. I will surely drain 1 quart and check it again. I don't want it to foam up since I did add 7 quarts. In all honesty tho, I did drained it for over 20 minutes, plus removed the filter and cap while it drained. Not sure if that will require any additional oil since it was mostly completely empty, barely dripping out of the pan. Its going to be a messy night. Heck, I'm almost temped to just drain the whole engine and just adding new oil. Would you guys recommend that? Worst off I'll be is $37 in oil, and time. Do you guys know if theres a difference in amount of Quarts that the N20 with the plastic Oil pan takes vs the one with the Aluminum? The parts gentleman said that their wasn't since it was the same engine. I'm a bit skeptical tho. Last edited by Slagish; 07-14-2014 at 05:17 PM.. |
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07-14-2014, 05:30 PM | #12 |
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Yes it will be a bit messy. Have your replacement qts ready. If the drain plug comes out, there'll be no turning back - you'll have to let all the oil drain. I've been there.
Funny, to me the 5.3 qts sounds the most logical. That is what my 328d took with a 2 liter four cylinder similar in engine size to your 320. So 5.5 qts would work perfectly. Good luck.
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07-15-2014, 04:45 AM | #13 |
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my 2013 328i took almost 7 quarts at a recent mid cycle change (don't want 22000Km changes). Even the mechanic was surprised. My previous E60 545i took about the same. Figured my 28i would cost me less to change oil.
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07-15-2014, 08:50 AM | #14 |
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For both the 320 and 328, the Turner Motorsport site shows 5 qts or 5 liters as the correct fill for an oil change incl filter -http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-198569-f30-328i-320i-2012-maintenance-service-package.aspx.
Apparently if you overfill the engine, the oil level measuring system in the iDrive won't tell you that you've overfilled!
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07-16-2014, 04:11 PM | #15 | |
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07-17-2014, 02:54 PM | #16 | |
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Off topic here but does anyone know the torque specs for the oil pan bolt? I did tried searching but the only one I found was for the plastic plug. Mines the aluminum oil pan. |
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07-18-2014, 05:21 AM | #17 | |
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25Nm for the Xi models with Aluminium pan 8Nm for RWD with plastic pan
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07-19-2014, 06:45 PM | #19 |
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I thought BMW's come with four years of "free" maintenance?
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07-19-2014, 09:50 PM | #20 |
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They do, but me personally, I don't like waiting for the 10k oil change interval and rather due it on the half way mark. For my car it's the first oil change and they said I can either pay $145 for an oil change or wait for the free service at 10k miles.
So I went to the service department and bought a oil filter ($10), oil filter wrench/adapter ($40), and the oil for my car($6/quart) and only cost around $92. That wrench/adapter you can buy online at a way cheaper price. But I didn't want to wait for it. Now if you get the castrol edge brand oil for 5 quarts out by me it's only $27. Plus oil filter from BMW @$10. Theres a huge mark up for an oil change and besides I rather do it myself. I'm sure if you're buying a BMW, you can afford oil change if you want to pay for it. But there's nothing more gratifying than doing it yourself. Especially now that I know it's no more than 5 quarts. |
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