Over 8 litres of oil in my car (hope it's not damaged)

[Vince70]

Today I thought I would give my Z3 a mini service( oil, oil filter , air filter and coolant change )

The only time it's been on the road since buying it was the 100 odd mile drive back and the lady I bought it from said the oil and water was ok so off I went.

 

It drives like a dream I must say and the engine is a real peach but as I'm going to tax and insure it from the 1st may I wanted to give it the once over beforehand.

 

So the bonnet was opened and started the service and I had a right palaver getting the filter undone with the proper tool as it was done up with such force and when I removed it the filter element was squashed into the filter cup so I think the offspring of Guy the gorilla must be servicing cars these days..

 

Also the coolant was extremely low but it doesn't overheat and it was nice and clean so I think the head gasket is ok..

 

So is there any damage I should look out for seeing that the car is only supposed to take 4 litres of oil (without filter change) and it had over double of the amount it should have.

 

But at least the garden fence got a nice coat of a good 8 litres of fully synthetic 5/40 if nothing else.

[stripped fred]

I wouldn't have thought there was room for twice the proper amount!

[DSdriver]

What did the dipstick read before you drained the oil?

And what does it read now?

[nigel bickle]

Coolant low. Too much oil.

 

Hhhmmmmm.....

[Albert Ross]

Are you sure the oil was 100% oil and not 50% coolant?

[Junkman]

The oil capacity of a six cylinder BMW is 7.5 litres.

[stripped fred]

I'd put more than 4 litres back in then!

[Vince70]

To be honest you couldn't see the oil level on the dipstick as it was way past the max..

 

My theory is that is why she kept adding more and more..

 

I would of expected lots of blown gaskets and seals but it's looking oil tight with no leaks at the moment.

 

It's only a little 4 pot 1.9 and the book says 4.5 with filter change but I did my fathers E36 compact (same lump) the other week and it took closer to 5 I think to get it just under the max..

 

The oil that came out looked dirty but it didn't look like it had been contaminated with any coolant.

[Taff]

vince, if it were mine I would:

 

top it up to the correct mark on the dipstick. and get it as close as possible without being to anal about it.

double and treble check the coolant level

start it up, let it reach working temp while you sip a cuppa and keep a quiet eye on it.

switch off, proper check with a torch for leaks

test drive

go home, switch off, proper check with a torch for leaks

let her cool down completely (leave it overnight if possible) and then check everything again, top up if necessary.

 

of course, it's not mine....

[saucedoctor]

BMW Z3

 

Engine 19 4 E1, 115BHP is 4.0 litres with filter

Engine 19 4 S1, 140BHP is 5.0 litres with filter

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I think if there's no obvious leaks or funny noises, it'll be absolutely fine

[Vince70]

I've just checked it again now that it's parked up in the garage back on the level and it's reading slap bang between the Min and Max mark on the dipstick and that's with about 4.75 litres of oil in the sump.

 

The oil is still a nice toffee colour at the moment and the coolant is still nice and blue so I'm just going to keep my fingers and toes crossed that I've not bought a pup and keep a close eye on the levels.

 

I used my trusty Pela pump again to get the oil out and I can't recommend the thing enough as it really does make light work of oil changes and because it's so easy to use I find that I always go overboard with changing the oil on my cars..

 

I was being quite conservative about the amount of oil I got out as I filled my Pela pump up till it was coming out the top plus I also got a good two litres extra out once I cleaned up the mess from the overflowing pump the first time I filled it to the brim.

 

Mines the 140 bhp model so at least it was only about just over 3 litres over the Max rather than 4 litres..