Oil Change when only the front of vehicle is lifted?

[Delta1Seven]

So I just did my first oil change at 4500 miles. I only jacked up the front of the car whe I did the change, so the car was angled back in my garage.

Anyways, I only drained exactly 5L of oil. My car said I was at 80% oil (checked earlier in the week). Does that sound right? Did I burn 1.5L of oil in my first 4500 miles?

Or did I not successfully drained all my oil since my car was leaned back on the jacks? I only had to add approx. 6.2-6.3L of new oil for the car to read full.

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[zrk]

Did I burn 1.5L of oil in my first 4500 miles?

Did your oil light come on?

 

[32bitsofGil]

It is possible you are burning at that rate. It is also possible your oil level sensor is malfunctioning, I recommend you begin monitoring this information via the canbus. The iDrive system sucks for monitoring this and can be deceiving. The raw data output on canbus shows the oil level in the pan output in mms. 90mm should be the full level. 80mm I think is when it fires the warning.

 

[Delta1Seven]

It is possible you are burning at that rate. It is also possible your oil level sensor is malfunctioning, I recommend you begin monitoring this information via the canbus. The iDrive system sucks for monitoring this and can be deceiving. The raw data output on canbus shows the oil level in the pan output in mms. 90mm should be the full level. 80mm I think is when it fires the warning.

What is canbus?

 

[32bitsofGil]

What is canbus?

Your OBD port. You can plug in a little bluetooth module and use an app called Bimmerlink to monitor those raw values on your cars network.

 

[Loco38SUP]

A small amount of oil will pool at the back of the pan if car isn’t level when doing oil changes.

-RJM

 

[zrk]

Your OBD port.

Sort of! But not quite. For everyone not familiar with CANBus, CANBus is the network that electronics in your car travel over (how the body control module talks to the DME, and how the steering wheel buttons change the cruise control). It's like a little isolated internet for your car, except it has its own protocol.

 

[32bitsofGil]

Sort of! But not quite. For everyone not familiar with CANBus, CANBus is the network that electronics in your car travel over (how the body control module talks to the DME, and how the steering wheel buttons change the cruise control). It's like a little isolated internet for your car, except it has its own protocol.

My oversimplification did not do it justice as you did with your explanation.

 

[zrk]

My oversimplification did not do it justice as you did with your explanation.

I saw you say "network" at the bottom, so I wasn't really referring to you in my reply, but the general population here.

 

[Delta1Seven]

Your OBD port. You can plug in a little bluetooth module and use an app called Bimmerlink to monitor those raw values on your cars network.

I have bimmerlink and the bluetooth module. How exactly do I monitor these values? Thanks in advanced!

 

[32bitsofGil]

I have bimmerlink and the bluetooth module. How exactly do I monitor these values? Thanks in advanced!

I use the dashboard and I think it's "raw oil level"
Add that to your bimmerlink dashboard and it should show you when connected the oil level in mm.

@Loco38SUP has a great informative thread on this topic that helped me when I was facing issues with the oil level sensor and oil pump.

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