Awhile back I watched a Scotty Kilmer video in which he was bashing BMW (rightfully so) for removing the oil dipstick from one of their models. My daughter is a nanny and drives the family vehicle to transport their kids. It's some type of Volvo SUV and apparently has no dipstick either. She looked all over that engine and even sent me pics trying to find one and it's absent. Problem is when she was driving it she got a warning 'low oil level, pull over to a safe stop immediately' or something to that effect. So these lame European car manufacturers think a sensor is a safer bet than a dipstick?
Engineering Dipsticks Leaving Out The Dipstick?!?
- Thread starter CommandoDude247
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Question, when was the last time you saw one of your neighbors checking their oil?
If engineers removed the dipstick then we, mere mortals should not be questioning this. As the saying on here goes "engineers know best" lol
For the vast majority of people who never pop the hood the sensor seems like a good idea.
Cost savings. My Silverado has a low oil level sensor AND a dipstick.
Unless it's one of those fancy electronic dipsticks that can read the exact level in the pan and displays it on the dash computer in real time. The Lexus LFA is one example that does this.
Unless it's one of those fancy electronic dipsticks that can read the exact level in the pan and displays it on the dash computer in real time. The Lexus LFA is one example that does this.
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Originally Posted By: CommandoDude247
Awhile back I watched a Scotty Kilmer video in which he was bashing BMW (rightfully so) for removing the oil dipstick from one of their models. My daughter is a nanny and drives the family vehicle to transport their kids. It's some type of Volvo SUV and apparently has no dipstick either. She looked all over that engine and even sent me pics trying to find one and it's absent. Problem is when she was driving it she got a warning 'low oil level, pull over to a safe stop immediately' or something to that effect. So these lame European car manufacturers think a sensor is a safer bet than a dipstick?
You're just now discovering this?
I've got a 2005 that doesn't have a dipstick. I can validate the sensor accuracy with a separately purchased "special service tool"...which looks remarkably like a dipstick.
Oil level is checked via menu on the dash.
Further, a properly engineered car from 1932 has an oil level gauge.
Dipsticks were a cheap alternative for economy cars...
Awhile back I watched a Scotty Kilmer video in which he was bashing BMW (rightfully so) for removing the oil dipstick from one of their models. My daughter is a nanny and drives the family vehicle to transport their kids. It's some type of Volvo SUV and apparently has no dipstick either. She looked all over that engine and even sent me pics trying to find one and it's absent. Problem is when she was driving it she got a warning 'low oil level, pull over to a safe stop immediately' or something to that effect. So these lame European car manufacturers think a sensor is a safer bet than a dipstick?
You're just now discovering this?
I've got a 2005 that doesn't have a dipstick. I can validate the sensor accuracy with a separately purchased "special service tool"...which looks remarkably like a dipstick.
Oil level is checked via menu on the dash.
Further, a properly engineered car from 1932 has an oil level gauge.
Dipsticks were a cheap alternative for economy cars...
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I've got a 2005 that doesn't have a dipstick. I can validate the sensor accuracy with a separately purchased "special service tool"...which looks remarkably like a dipstick.
If I retire back to the UK I might make it a hobby to pose as a buyer of one of these pieces of junk, get to the point of signing the finance agreement, and then ask how you check the oil.
(Here the salesman certainly wouldn't know. I was at a car show a few years ago and asked to see the engine, I think of a VW Polo, and it took several suits 15 minutes to open the bonnet, by which time I'd lost the little interest I had)
I've got a 2005 that doesn't have a dipstick. I can validate the sensor accuracy with a separately purchased "special service tool"...which looks remarkably like a dipstick.
If I retire back to the UK I might make it a hobby to pose as a buyer of one of these pieces of junk, get to the point of signing the finance agreement, and then ask how you check the oil.
(Here the salesman certainly wouldn't know. I was at a car show a few years ago and asked to see the engine, I think of a VW Polo, and it took several suits 15 minutes to open the bonnet, by which time I'd lost the little interest I had)
This is my only complaint about our current (2017 330i) and previous (2011 328i) BMWs. The sensor is great but every car still needs a dipstick. The problem is you cannot get an accurate reading on oil level until after the car has been running for a while if you are driving or about a minute if you are sitting still with the car running at operating temperature to do a "measurement". If the car was really low on oil (for example if it drained out over night because of a leak), it would be too late before you got a reading before the engine went south. In addition, you can tell a lot about an engine by just looking at the oil. For those that take their cars to a shop for an oil change, you cannot even verify that the shop actually changed the oil by looking at the dipstick. Actually, for the 328i, there was never an issue because the engine never used a drop of oil. Too soon to tell for the 330i.
For my vehicles, no dipstick would be a showstopper. However, my wife likes BMWs so that is what she gets.
For my vehicles, no dipstick would be a showstopper. However, my wife likes BMWs so that is what she gets.
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Mercedes did that with the early W211 E320's. In a series of cost cutting, it came back in later years. They do the same with the transmission, you have the buy the dipstick separately. And it's a generic dipstick so you can't leave it in, it's too long. In the later years they got rid of the dipstick for the transmission fluid entirely, now you have to warm up the car and fill it til the fluid starts coming out, no dipstick tube at all.
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I've got a 2005 that doesn't have a dipstick. I can validate the sensor accuracy with a separately purchased "special service tool"...which looks remarkably like a dipstick.
If I retire back to the UK I might make it a hobby to pose as a buyer of one of these pieces of junk, get to the point of signing the finance agreement, and then ask how you check the oil.
(Here the salesman certainly wouldn't know. I was at a car show a few years ago and asked to see the engine, I think of a VW Polo, and it took several suits 15 minutes to open the bonnet, by which time I'd lost the little interest I had)
No need. They do know. The sales folks at a Mercedes dealership might surprise you.
Just walking into one might be too much of a step up from the junk you're used too...
It's probably best if you stick to the jalopy you're driving...
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I've got a 2005 that doesn't have a dipstick. I can validate the sensor accuracy with a separately purchased "special service tool"...which looks remarkably like a dipstick.
If I retire back to the UK I might make it a hobby to pose as a buyer of one of these pieces of junk, get to the point of signing the finance agreement, and then ask how you check the oil.
(Here the salesman certainly wouldn't know. I was at a car show a few years ago and asked to see the engine, I think of a VW Polo, and it took several suits 15 minutes to open the bonnet, by which time I'd lost the little interest I had)
No need. They do know. The sales folks at a Mercedes dealership might surprise you.
Just walking into one might be too much of a step up from the junk you're used too...
It's probably best if you stick to the jalopy you're driving...
Who here, apart from me, has a vehicle that burns or leaks enough oil that it needs to be topped up between changes ? If so, save the planet and fix your car. Change the oil and filter, add the recommended amount of oil and drive until the next oil change and do it again. If there is an issue, the low level light will come on.
The old Rover 75, 1950, had an oil level gauge - you pressed a button and the fuel gauge turned into the oil level gauge. We also had some CNG and LPG cars that did the same thing, when on gas the petrol gauge was the gas gauge.
The old Rover 75, 1950, had an oil level gauge - you pressed a button and the fuel gauge turned into the oil level gauge. We also had some CNG and LPG cars that did the same thing, when on gas the petrol gauge was the gas gauge.
Originally Posted By: Silk
Who here, apart from me, has a vehicle that burns or leaks enough oil that it needs to be topped up between changes ? If so, save the planet and fix your car. Change the oil and filter, add the recommended amount of oil and drive until the next oil change and do it again. If there is an issue, the low level light will come on.
The old Rover 75, 1950, had an oil level gauge - you pressed a button and the fuel gauge turned into the oil level gauge. We also had some CNG and LPG cars that did the same thing, when on gas the petrol gauge was the gas gauge.
Several vehicles burn oil even near new. Poor design mostly. Not much you can do to fix it.
Who here, apart from me, has a vehicle that burns or leaks enough oil that it needs to be topped up between changes ? If so, save the planet and fix your car. Change the oil and filter, add the recommended amount of oil and drive until the next oil change and do it again. If there is an issue, the low level light will come on.
The old Rover 75, 1950, had an oil level gauge - you pressed a button and the fuel gauge turned into the oil level gauge. We also had some CNG and LPG cars that did the same thing, when on gas the petrol gauge was the gas gauge.
Several vehicles burn oil even near new. Poor design mostly. Not much you can do to fix it.
and those stupid sensors are usually wrong. BMW has had a lot of problems with this, with the oil light coming on when the oil level was fine, so people added oil when they shouldn't have.
My 85 year old oil level gauge works flawlessly.
I can check the oil level without needing a rag.
Or getting my hands dirty.
85 years later, and you guys WANT dipsticks?
What next, bring back tube tires? Operator-dialed party line phones?
I can check the oil level without needing a rag.
Or getting my hands dirty.
85 years later, and you guys WANT dipsticks?
What next, bring back tube tires? Operator-dialed party line phones?
After BMW initiated that no dipstick nonsense I was talking to a pretty "with it" salesman and he told me most of his customers have no interest whatsoever in what's going on under the hood of their new Bimmer. They actually liked the feature as it kept one from soiling their hands if they felt the need to check the oil.
Here at the bitog asylum that's just crazy......
Here at the bitog asylum that's just crazy......
...and you complained that I insulted you in a post in another thread?
I at least had the decency to offer you an apology.
Anyway, WRT Mercedes dealers, you're on point.
When we owned W123s as elderly as your old V-12 is now, the parts people could get you anything you needed for a reasonable price even if it had to ship from Germany.
Mercedes dealers are really pretty good and the cars mostly are as well.
Things usually work on a Benz and even our old W201 had a dashboard indicator for low oil level although it had a dipstick as well.
The designers probably figured (correctly) that most owners would never check the oil so they included a warning light on the dash which would illuminate when the engine was about two quarts low out of six quarts total.
The 123s had no such warning, but there was no way that the engine would ever be low on oil as long as the owner observed the recommended drain intervals.
Dipsticks are nice to have but since so few owners ever use them to dispense with them seems like not much of a loss.
I at least had the decency to offer you an apology.
Anyway, WRT Mercedes dealers, you're on point.
When we owned W123s as elderly as your old V-12 is now, the parts people could get you anything you needed for a reasonable price even if it had to ship from Germany.
Mercedes dealers are really pretty good and the cars mostly are as well.
Things usually work on a Benz and even our old W201 had a dashboard indicator for low oil level although it had a dipstick as well.
The designers probably figured (correctly) that most owners would never check the oil so they included a warning light on the dash which would illuminate when the engine was about two quarts low out of six quarts total.
The 123s had no such warning, but there was no way that the engine would ever be low on oil as long as the owner observed the recommended drain intervals.
Dipsticks are nice to have but since so few owners ever use them to dispense with them seems like not much of a loss.
I don't mind having no dipstick. With a 6+ quart sump, a light telling me I'm a quart low is adequate.
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