My BMW DOES have an oil dipstick!

[wavinwayne]

I've known since I got my 2016 535d a few weeks back that you can check the oil via the iDrive system. A quick google search showed that BMW did away with oil dipsticks quite a while back, and my wife's X3 is an example of a dipstick-less BMW. So naturally I assumed my 535d didn't have a dipstick. I was looking up something unrelated today and discovered by chance that BMW DID include a dipstick on the N57 diesel engine that my car has! Mine is an exception to the rule. See red circle in pic. Sure, it's a silly thing to get excited over, but as another BITOGer said in another thread, I like "checking the oil with the dipstick the way God intended"

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

So how long are you going to wait after hot shutdown to check it?

 

[wavinwayne]

So how long are you going to wait after hot shutdown to check it?

I don't know, and the owner's manual doesn't specify. An hour?

 

[vavavroom]

I don't know, and the owner's manual doesn't specify. An hour?

Check after 15 minutes and 30 seconds. Just check it cold.

 

[Frankrank]

Most of the 8 cylinders have dipsticks now. Heard the techs didn't want to waste time waiting for idrive to give the oil reading.

 

[billt460]

The 2 most stupid and useless things the automotive industry has yet to come up with, are engines without oil dipsticks, and capless fuel tanks. Both offer overly engineered and complex "solutions" to problems that never existed.

 

[billt460]

I don't know, and the owner's manual doesn't specify. An hour?

I always wait until the following morning to check the oil, after it and the filter are changed. After I drain my Jeep, I have to wait almost 20 minutes until it settles to just a single drip every few seconds.

So overnight gives every opportunity for it to all drain into the pan...... Or at least all that's going to. That, and I know my garage floor is the most level piece of concrete on my property.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I don't know, and the owner's manual doesn't specify. An hour?

I was sort of joking but it's probably 5-10 minutes if my memory is correct.

 

[wavinwayne]

I was sort of joking but it's probably 5-10 minutes if my memory is correct.

I'm still learning this car, and diesels in general, so I figured based on your username you might have been trying to save me from a dumb mistake.

 

[4WD]

The 2 most stupid and useless things the automotive industry has yet to come up with, are engines without oil dipsticks, and capless fuel tanks. Both offer overly engineered and complex "solutions" to problems that never existed.

Close

no dipstick
stop/start
no fuel cap

 

[billt460]

Close

no dipstick
stop/start
no fuel cap

Yes, "Stop/Start" ranks right up there with the most useless.

 

[Oliveoil2]

I check all my cars in the morning, cold.

 

[MCompact]

That's one thing I like about the C43; it too has a dipstick.

 

[zray1]

Does this BMW have an automatic transmission ? If so, does it have a transmission dipstick too ? That would be cool if it did.

Z

 

[wavinwayne]

Does this BMW have an automatic transmission ? If so, does it have a transmission dipstick too ? That would be cool if it did.

Z

Yes, it is an auto and no it doesn't have a transmission dipstick. I wish it did.

 

[The Critic]

Yes, it is an auto and no it doesn't have a transmission dipstick. I wish it did.

Nah, ATF level changes too much depending on fluid temp. Most people are misled by the dipstick readings.

 

[zray1]

Yes, it is an auto and no it doesn't have a transmission dipstick. I wish it did.

My 2002 Jaguar XKR has an automatic transmission sourced from Mercedes, the 722.6. No traditional dipstick there either. But it does have the tube provision to use one, an ungainly affair but one gets used to it

 

[dumkid]

Nah, to check the atf in a bmw, you don't unless you're desperate. you drive it around until a certain tranny temperature is reached, stick your hand past the exhaust, and undo a little plastic plug. Or you wait until it breaks

 

[edyvw]

The 2 most stupid and useless things the automotive industry has yet to come up with, are engines without oil dipsticks, and capless fuel tanks. Both offer overly engineered and complex "solutions" to problems that never existed.

Removal if oil dipstick makes meeting emissions much easier in certain engines. In diesel there was no need to remive it, and they never did.

 

[edyvw]

Does this BMW have an automatic transmission ? If so, does it have a transmission dipstick too ? That would be cool if it did.

Z

There is no dipstick in BMW transmission for 25+ years. And if there was, why would it matter?