New six cylinder engines have no dipstick

It's only a matter of time until you'll get a sealed-for-life engine in BMWs I reckon. It's alomost possible even now; the Northstar V8 for instance.) I'd still prefer to replace the fluids on a regular basis whether the manufacturer's service data said I needed to or not. JB

And even in the late 70's, some (normally older) people still believed that they had to remove their heads and carry out a decoke every 30,000miles and rebore at 60,000!! Like any other technological advancement before, it would take quite some time to be accepted by the majority of the population, with a small % never ever accepting it. (Look where we are now as regards people not wanting to accept the ability of a modern synthetic longlife oil to work for 13,000 miles, wasting money by changing it at 7000ish) Badger.

Perhaps, but somehow going from a linear mechanical display of oil level (aka dipstick) to a binary indication (idiot light) does not seem like progress to me...

Perhaps if they provided and "oil level indicator" in the check control or something that told me how low the oil was, not just when it was too low? I can't believe that would be all that expensive and it sure would be cool...

-Fred W

I'm guessing its like the CSL with a "digital dipstick" on the OBC which shows the level to .1l (I think).

That I can live with. Until it breaks (seen loads of 15+ year old BMWs with faulty oil level idiot lights). Dipsticks tend not to break, and I imagine they're cheaper.

Both my E39 528 at 80,000 miles and my 150,000 mile ancient Rover SD1 with the Buick V-8 will run to oil change time without needing topping up. However, as with all my cars, I drive them gently until fully warm.

But both have low oil level warning systems anyway.

I'm happy to see the dipstick go. When last did you dip your fuel tank to know the level? ;-)

Which of these benefits BMW and/or its repair facilities?

I think this is a flawed analogy. If you run out of gas because of a faulty gauge/warning light, your engine will stop, perhaps inconveniently, and you will undoubtedly stress your fuel pump. If your oil sensor fails, your engine can fail, a much worse situation. Call me old fashion, but I just can't see not having a way to physically check oil levels.

- Jon

Cute but lame.

So, does this device show the inevitable post-service over-filled condition?

No?

Fair enough. I've not seen an E90. So does it have an oil level indicator telling the driver how much oil is in the engine, similar to the fuel gauge? Does it have a system to prevent overfilling the engine? If the answer is no to either question, your analogy is very flawed. Would like a car without a fuel gauge and instead only an indicator that warns the driver when fuel is low?

Especially considering BMW's shitty electrical systems. I wouldn't trust one of their dials for something like this, ever. Besides, pulling out an oil dipstick is something all men are supposed to enjoy. There's nothing like pulling that stick out, and feeling and eyeballing that oil between the thumb and index finger, right?

-- Cliff

I know this question was rhetorical, but I would counter that both attributes would directly and indirectly benefit the manufacturer.

They don't break - less repairs under warranty which is completely funded by the manufacturer. Direct financial benefit.

They're cheaper? Well, that's pretty obvious. If they don't cost as much to make and yet they get the same price from a consumer, well, that goes right to the bottom line...

Now, there's one more thing that you can do with an electronic oil level gauge that you can't do with a dipstick and that's record the oil level in the ECU memory in the event of a failure. That could be a way for the manufacturer to dodge major warranty claims based on negligence.

-Fred W

The low oil level light does that for you.

A main dealer puts a measured amount of oil in from his bulk supply. If you're changing the oil yourself, you too should do just this.

Of course if you rely on an instant service place then that's up to you.

But tell me, how do you rectify this 'inevitable post-service overfill'?

How do you check the oil levels in your gearbox and final drive? Failures of either of these would be an equally catastrophic event. And I'm old enough to remember these too having dipsticks.

I guess I'm not clear. I worry that the sensor or light itself will fail thereby not warning about low oil level. No way for a dipstick to fail. Only failure is to not check and in that case the miscreant gets what he deserves. Hmmmm, maybe I am a luddite. In fact, I can remember using a stick to measure the amount of gasoline (I should say petrol) in my old MG TD. It had a low gasoline light that was flacky at best and was very difficult to see in the daylight. By the time I had a '53 Jag XK120MC I had a real gas guage, of course then I had the flacky fuel pump oh so conveniently placed underneath the car -- much sport to get out and under and wack it to get it going again.

- Jon

Actually, this is easy to do. Simply remove the filler plug and confirm that fluid is just at lower edge of hole. While I don't do this with the frequency of cheking my oil, I do check periodically and I support the petroleum industry by replacing tranny and diff fluids every 50K miles, not believing that any lubricant is "lifetime." But then I keep cars for a minimum of 10 years, often more. Usual clutch life in excess of 185K miles.

- Jon

Foo. Now you actually have to jack up the car to change the oil. ;-(

First, you check the dipstick when you get the car back - from Audi main line service...