Time for hot vs cold old to drain into pan

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According to Mercedes, for oil level checking purposes, hot is 5 minutes, cold is anywhere up to 30 minutes:

Originally Posted By: Mercedes
Notes on checking engine oil level

With the engine at operating temperature, the vehicle must have been stationary for at least 5 minutes with the engine turned off

With the engine not at operating temperature, the vehicle must have been stationary for at least 30 minutes with the engine turned off
 
Meh, My 83 533i has a low oil level light that goes off when the oil is right at the line on the stick. It got so I relied on the light and never checked the stick. All E-28 have this. Also a low coolant light. You had to be a complete dumbkopf to overheat or seize an engine
 
That makes sense, hot oil will drain back to the pan faster, but not sure how the engine would ever be cold and only sitting for 30 minutes.

I guess only if you just move it to a flat surface on a cold start and then try to check it the oil would still be cold, so if you're car sat all night in an inclined driveway and you moved it to the street because it's level and the oil was still cold your reading wouldn't be accurate because the bleed down would be slow, especially with a viscous oil like 20w50.

Either way my sitting for just a couple minutes readings after hot are pretty much in line with sitting all night. You can get a fairly accurate reading easily right after the engine is shut down in most cars.
 
Are we talking about checking or draining? If checking, is Mercedes taking into account ambient temperature like sunny Florida vs winter in Alaska?

I just check my oil cold in the morning. I drain when it's warm or hot.
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
Meh, My 83 533i has a low oil level light that goes off when the oil is right at the line on the stick. It got so I relied on the light and never checked the stick. All E-28 have this. Also a low coolant light. You had to be a complete dumbkopf to overheat or seize an engine



Or have a sensor malfunction.
 
Originally Posted By: Charlie1935
Originally Posted By: andyd
Meh, My 83 533i has a low oil level light that goes off when the oil is right at the line on the stick. It got so I relied on the light and never checked the stick. All E-28 have this. Also a low coolant light. You had to be a complete dumbkopf to overheat or seize an engine



Or have a sensor malfunction.
BMW check items fail positively. You will get a warning light if the sensor fails. If you then dont fix them or jump them out.....
 
I think what they're saying is that if the engine at full operating temp, you can check the oil after 5 min.

If the car drives 1/4 mile and gets shut off, you have to wait 30 min. for all the oil to drain to the pan.

They must have found that cold oil takes longer to drain down.
 
Originally Posted By: Tobygot
I think what they're saying is that if the engine at full operating temp, you can check the oil after 5 min.

If the car drives 1/4 mile and gets shut off, you have to wait 30 min. for all the oil to drain to the pan.

They must have found that cold oil takes longer to drain down.


Bingo!
 
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