I've noticed that my '92 BMW 535 has a problem with low oil pressure when parked at an incline. I made two runs getting sand today, and to get the trailer in the right position I had to park the car in the steep area of the driveway. Both times the oil pressure light was on when I started the car, and the second time it even came on as I was backing in. I tried restarting the engine, but same thing. It wasn't until I got the car up on level ground and restarted the engine the light finally went out. Mind you, both times I had to drive up onto the street, reving the engine and with the trailer behind, without oil pressure. Obviously, that can't be good. Is this a design flaw in the engine, or is there something wrong with my car? I checked to oil level afterwards and it was perfect, right below max. I've never had any problems with low oil pressure before.As you can see in this picture, it isn't even that steep:Ulf

Don't mean to scare you but I used to have an '86 535i and was told by several knowledgeable BMW enthusiasts that the engine was virtually indestructible. Well, when I bought it (with about 200K miles) it had a bad leak from the cat which I had rewelded... then I found that I had a tapping noise from the engine... well next time I had a free weekend I took it to my parents' house (about 150 miles away) and reset the valve clearances... noise still there... that's when I started to get worried. On the way back the oil light started flickering when I stopped for tollbooths etc. D'OH! Next time I started the car it immediately spun a rod bearing. Not good. I'd maybe put 2K miles on the car and I had to spend as much as I paid for the car to have a junkyard motor put in it.IOW, get it checked out soon...nate

Low oil pressure, is this a common problem?

Jun 07, 2005 23 Replies

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R. Mark Clayton 21 years ago

Snip

Solid rock has specific gravity of 2.7 - 3.2 density and some sands (such as as Zircon sand) 4.6!

Your weight estimate may be a lot low.

If your ABS is coming on in the dry then the total load or its distribution may be out of limit, however that is what it is there for and although it may indicate that you are pushing it and may not stop in time, you are unlikely to hurt the brakes.

Not so the engine and transmission, which are not going to like dragging a truck load of sand about for very far.

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Ulf 21 years ago

Well, I don't know about "serious risk", driving 55 mph in the right lane is as safe as it gets. Besides, on a twin axle trailer the tongue weight is pretty low, anyway. Of course, towing a trailer twice the approved weight of the hitch still isn't the best idea, so you do have a point.

Ulf

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Ulf 21 years ago

The oil change I did today fixed it. I parked in the same spot idling for several minutes without any issues. The oil must have been lower than I first thought, or maybe it was too thin...

Ulf

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Malt_Hound 21 years ago

I'm guessing that this had everything to do with the hill and nothing to do with the trailer, *except* that the additional weight on the trailer tongue would tilt the car even more than normal for that particular slope.

-Fred W

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