[spitpilot]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Latest cars must be sensing an overfill in some way. One G30 user has reported a message stating oil level is increasing.

Oil level increasing from where?...If you are below "Oil Maximum"...then yes, as you add oil the level indicator will move up towards "Oil OK"/Maximum....but that's not the issue..The issue is that BMW warns against oil over fill damage..but gives the owner NO WAY to determine if his engine has been overfilled due to whatever reason...lack of training, knowledge of the fill quantitiy or distraction of the shop tech!
If BMW says "sensor will not detect overfill" I'd say they've left us defenseless against engine/cat converter damage!

[Bestodabest]

Fill to specification as per owners manual. Residual oil is negligible. People are overthinking this. There's no need to let the pan drain for an hour or pre-soak the oil filter. All of these things are taken into account by the engineers when these documents are published. No technician in the world is going to go through these steps, because they're just not necessary. Accidents do happen, yes, but at the end of the day, they're being paid flat-rate to perform a straight forward job that is normally reserved for kids making minimum wage.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by spitpilot

Oil level increasing from where?...If you are below "Oil Maximum"...then yes, as you add oil the level indicator will move up towards "Oil OK"/Maximum....but that's not the issue..The issue is that BMW warns against oil over fill damage..but gives the owner NO WAY to determine if his engine has been overfilled due to whatever reason...lack of training, knowledge of the fill quantitiy or distraction of the shop tech!
If BMW says "sensor will not detect overfill" I'd say they've left us defenseless against engine/cat converter damage!

What I'm saying, if the sensor can detect an oil level rising, (diesel dilution), then it must have the 'mechanism' to read a higher level to throw a warning.

Poses the question, why/how can it read a rising level, but not an overfilled level? What's the difference, if the level is likely identical?

[kern417]

If the sensor has a limit, then it can't report anything above the limit. If the max that it can read is the "Max" indicator on the oil level measurement, then it can read as the oil goes up and down until it hits the "Max" point.

I just checked my oil level for the first time and it is right in the middle. I only have 1200 miles on the car. Is this what everyone else's looks like? I also would have assumed that the metered line on top of the "Max" point would indicate if it was overfilled.

[spitpilot]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

What I'm saying, if the sensor can detect an oil level rising, (diesel dilution), then it must have the 'mechanism' to read a higher level to throw a warning.

Poses the question, why/how can it read a rising level, but not an overfilled level? What's the difference, if the level is likely identical?

"Diesel dilution":...now I know why BMW has kept a dipstick for their diesel engines but NOT the gas!
The issue isn't that a focused, informed person (either owner or tech) can read the "oil/filter change quantity" and by following directions, put in the proper oil quantity...
It's about having protection against the eventuality that a distracted or poorly trained/informed person might well dump in the fill for a larger engine and put my BMW at risk of the "engine/cat converter damage" that BMW so strongly warns against in their owners' manuals. They warn us of "potential property damage" in bold type with !!!'s and then give us no way to determine if we are operating our BMW with an overfilled crankcase????? How can they defend this as sound engineering design? ...
I"ve seen more than my share of dealer tech oversights over the years to want the back up of an "oil overfill" warning...that according to BMW's own tech info the current oil sensor used in the various F chassis series motors DOES NOT give!!!
Never had a problem knowing exactly how much oil was in every one of my vehicles...when they all had a simple dipstick!