[BEAR-AvHistory]

Roll the dice at the end of the day if you lose you need an engine. If you win you already got 2K miles so there is no reason to think it will not last over the long haul. Do the required inspections, bore scope, compression test & oil analysis to reduce catastrophic failure anxiety.

[zeikei]

Since you said you got red light for low pressure it means you have truly had your oil level below the pickup. Did you get the yellow level warning at all before the red one? If not, the oil came out very quickly or the level sensor has not worked.

Because of the low pressure it is very likely that some damage has occurred. Is it something that will make it fail next week, month, year or never who knows. My recommendation is to roll the dice and if the engine fails then swap a used engine in there at an indy shop.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by zeikei

Since you said you got red light for low pressure it means you have truly had your oil level below the pickup. Did you get the yellow level warning at all before the red one? If not, the oil came out very quickly or the level sensor has not worked.

Because of the low pressure it is very likely that some damage has occurred. Is it something that will make it fail next week, month, year or never who knows. My recommendation is to roll the dice and if the engine fails then swap a used engine in there at an indy shop.

Until reading your comment on the "red light", I was of the opinion it was a low oil level light.

Originally Posted by EddieMorra

Hey guys I am looking to get some advice on whether I should keep or sell my car. I have a 2015 328i with 43k miles on the odo. I changed my own oil at 41k because I am a second owner and the free maintenance didn't transfer. My dumbass stripped the drain plug and didn't realize it. Two days later the low oil light comes on, I drive for about 4 miles until I pull over and have it towed to the dealer......

Had to read through again and see I missed the comment in the later post, a change to the red low oil pressure light. Changes the whole scenario for me.

Can't understand how the OP got to that situation, with a simple leak, when there should have been ample warnings, ahead of a low pressure light.

[Billfitz]

We don't know what the OP saw, other than a warning light. I've never had a low oil warning so I don't know what it looks like. If it took two days of driving for it to come on after changing the oil and the car sat in the shop for maybe a week before they found it to have a quart in the pan it wasn't exactly gushing out.

[zeikei]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

We don't know what the OP saw, other than a warning light.

That is true, I was relying on this post by OP where he indicated that he noticed which warning it was:

Originally Posted by EddieMorra

The plug was screwed in too tight and the threads damaged it never fell out. The oil was leaking through that over the course of 2 days until the Red low oil pressure light came on when I was on the highway.

BMW has had for a long time yellow light for level and red for pressure, I assume it is like that for F series as well. But if it was pressure warning then it is strange if the level warning did not come well before that.

[EddieMorra]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Until reading your comment on the "red light", I was of the opinion it was a low oil level light.

Had to read through again and see I missed the comment in the later post, a change to the red low oil pressure light. Changes the whole scenario for me.

Can't understand how the OP got to that situation, with a simple leak, when there should have been ample warnings, ahead of a low pressure light.

Yeah that would've been ideal. Unfortunately the yellow light never came on, when it came on it was red.

[bimmer456]

The oil level sensor in these cars is not precise. Not sure why you need to run the engine to check oil level rather than a dip stick. Damage will have occurred by the time you get a reading.

[natesi]

My guess is everything is fine. Could do some tests, like others have suggested, and then make a decision.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by EddieMorra

Yeah that would've been ideal. Unfortunately the yellow light never came on, when it came on it was red.

No Check Control warning symbol? No warnings, no 'bings' on start ups? If oil level was dropping over two days, once a quart was lost there should have been some flag up of low level and need to top up.

Seems so strange if no pre warnings, as if the engine lost all the oil on the final trip, to show a red low pressure light.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

The oil level sensor in these cars is not precise. Not sure why you need to run the engine to check oil level rather than a dip stick. Damage will have occurred by the time you get a reading.

What do you mean not precise? more than 0.5 litre out? (Mine is accurate to ~0.20 litre). Appears OP lost about 5-litres with no warning of low oil. ECU is monitoring oil level all the time, (once initial conditions are met), so can flag a low warning at any time. If it isn't working it will throw a warning it isn't functioning.

[Wires]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

The oil level sensor in these cars is not precise. Not sure why you need to run the engine to check oil level rather than a dip stick. Damage will have occurred by the time you get a reading.

You're supposed to run the engine WITH a dipstick, stop and check. That is in the manual of all cars. Oil is pumping through the engine. The optimum reading is when it's not sitting in the pan since that is the true oil level.

Same deal of every auto transmission since the 70's. They all have a hot oil reading area and a cold oil reading area for this purpose.

I don't know why you'd say "it's not precise". It comes on when you are 1/2 litre low (which is 1/2 the hash marks on a normal dipstick). You'd see that indication when the engine is running (something the dipstick WILL NEVER TELL YOU), so I'd have to disagree with everything you said.

[bimmer456]

So how do you get a cold reading? I don't want to run the engine if there is no oil just to determine there is no oil.

[Wgosma]

Originally Posted by bimmer456

So how do you get a cold reading? I don't want to run the engine if there is no oil just to determine there is no oil.

In a situation where an engine had NO or excessively low volume/level of oil you would be warned (lamp on console) as soon as you press the start button. Sensor is energized and transmits level info immediately.

I'm not certain on this but it may well be in the case of NO oil the ignition/starter may well be disabled, motor won't turn over. That would seem a logical design, and that's better 'protection' than car with mechanical dip stick and NO or excessively low oil level.

[EDWYER]

Just before my car was taken it was due for an oil change. 3 weeks later I get the car back and on way home get the low oil warning. 9000 miles since and drives great. My guess it's fine.

[EddieMorra]

Originally Posted by ProjectBoost

Just before my car was taken it was due for an oil change. 3 weeks later I get the car back and on way home get the low oil warning. 9000 miles since and drives great. My guess it's fine.

Did you have it checked after the oil warning came up?