[Slagish]

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?

[Ali Shiralian]

Originally Posted by Slagish

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?

You check the engine oil level after filling and starting the car not before. Oil has to get time to reach the reservoir. You probably over filled it and your spark plugs may all get some oil on them . Check with dealer.....

[Slagish]

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.

[m6pwr]

Originally Posted by Slagish

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?

I'd call your dealer Service Advisor or, maybe better yet, your dealer parts dept (they are the ones who give the correct amount of oil to the techs when they do an oil service). You can ask them to look it up in their computer.

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.

[Ali Shiralian]

Originally Posted by Slagish

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.

Your welcome. Call the dealer, better safe than sorry

[Ali Shiralian]

Originally Posted by m6pwr

I'd call your dealer Service Advisor or, maybe better yet, your dealer parts dept (they are the ones who give the correct amount of oil to the techs when they do an oil service). You can ask them to look it up in their computer.

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.

+1

Btw you have had a lot of bimmers wow

[Slagish]

Originally Posted by m6pwr

I'd call your dealer Service Advisor or, maybe better yet, your dealer parts dept (they are the ones who give the correct amount of oil to the techs when they do an oil service). You can ask them to look it up in their computer.

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.

Originally Posted by Ali Shiralian

Your welcome. Call the dealer, better safe than sorry

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.

[m6pwr]

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

[Slagish]

Originally Posted by m6pwr

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

That's crazy. Well, checking the oil level on the car again and it's at the max line. On the screen there does seem to be room for additional oil past the max line so I wonder if the car would actually show above the max line? I will say this tho, for future oil changes, I will definitely only add 6, then slowly add the 7 until the car shows full from now on.

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.

[m6pwr]

Originally Posted by Slagish

That's crazy. Well, checking the oil level on the car again and it's at the max line. On the screen there does seem to be room for additional oil past the max line so I wonder if the car would actually show above the max line? I will say this tho, for future oil changes, I will definitely only add 6, then slowly add the 7 until the car shows full from now on.

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.

I wish I knew the answer to your last question. It's what happens when you have a BMW that's not the run-of-the-mill 7 qt variety.

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.

[Slagish]

Originally Posted by m6pwr

I wish I knew the answer to your last question. It's what happens when you have a BMW that's not the run-of-the-mill 7 qt variety.

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.

Well thanks for the reply again M6PWR, I'm going to drain about 1 quart tonight and check it again. If need be, I'll add if needed. I just don't want to do no long term damage to my car and risk a few thousand dollars in repairs.

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.

[m6pwr]

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.

[focal]

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.

[m6pwr]

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!

[Slagish]

Originally Posted by m6pwr

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.

Well, I went ahead and drained the oil out. Refilled it with about 4.5 quarts and it reading at max. I'll check it again after I drive it a bit and see if it stays at max.

[Slagish]

Originally Posted by m6pwr

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!

Well, after adding the 4.5 quarts everything seems all good. I'm just still baffled how each dealer had a different number as far as how much oil it takes.

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.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by Slagish

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.

25Nm for the Xi models with Aluminium pan
8Nm for RWD with plastic pan

[Slagish]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

25Nm for the Xi models with Aluminium pan
8Nm for RWD with plastic pan

Thank you sir.

[syuan92]

I thought BMW's come with four years of "free" maintenance?

[Slagish]

Originally Posted by syuan92

I thought BMW's come with four years of "free" maintenance?

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.