new BMW - need help deciding

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Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
If you change oil and filter yourself you may want to buy a fluid extractor to siphon the oil via dipstick tube, since the oil filter holder is on top the the engine you can change oil and filter without raising the car with the oil extractor.


this car doesnt have a dipstick!! crazy i know!

sorry about the title, should have said "New to me".
 
Originally Posted By: crw
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
I want a 1 series coupe! Base car.


Me too! Seems like the perfect car. 128i


that's what i was originally looking at. the 328 coupe came along with very few miles on it for less than a new 128, the 3'er is a much nicer car than the 1, IMO, but the 1 definitely has a winning combination. both great cars.
 
Originally Posted By: AngryScientist
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
If you change oil and filter yourself you may want to buy a fluid extractor to siphon the oil via dipstick tube, since the oil filter holder is on top the the engine you can change oil and filter without raising the car with the oil extractor.


this car doesnt have a dipstick!! crazy i know!

sorry about the title, should have said "New to me".

This car doesn't have dipstick tube ? Newer MB engines don't have oil dipstick to check the oil level but they have dipstick tube to siphon the oil with an extractor. My '00 E430 doesn't have ATF dipstick but it has dipstick tube, when I change the ATF I had to buy the ATF measuring device.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

This car doesn't have dipstick tube ?

Yup. Some newer BMW engines don't have dipstick tubes at all. Sucks if you have an extractor.
 
i havent poked around enough yet, but i'm pretty sure there is no dipstick tube at all for this engine.

truth be told, i would not use an extractor anyway. every one of my cars i install a magnetic oil drain plug, i like to check out what metallic particles are present at each oil change. that plus driving the car onto a set of ramps is easy as can be. it is nice that this car has the filter very accessible at the top of the engine.
 
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
I want a 1 series coupe! Base car.


I have a 135i vert with almost none of the fancy stuff. Brilliant car that I can easily top 30 MPG highway... did so from first tank. The things that I did want on the car drove the price on the 128i close enough to the 135i to justify the 35.

Id have loved a 118d vert.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Yup. Some newer BMW engines don't have dipstick tubes at all. Sucks if you have an extractor.

Engine without oil dipstick tube !!! What the heck are those BMW engineers/marketing was thinking ???
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Engine without oil dipstick tube !!! What the heck are those BMW engineers/marketing was thinking ???

They know their customer base.
wink.gif


The cars without dipsticks have electronic oil level sensors. The onboard computer flashes a warning at the driver if the oil is low. For the vast majority of people who buy BMWs these days, that system is a LOT more effective than a dipstick.
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Engine without oil dipstick tube !!! What the heck are those BMW engineers/marketing was thinking ???

They know their customer base.
wink.gif


The cars without dipsticks have electronic oil level sensors. The onboard computer flashes a warning at the driver if the oil is low. For the vast majority of people who buy BMWs these days, that system is a LOT more effective than a dipstick.


Yes, I recall that when Porsche went to electronic dipstick they used the instrument cluster to display a fairly high resolution (more than 10 display segments between "ADD" and "FULL" IIRC) oil level indicator at EVERY START. For all the posts here where we hear about how friends drove cars 4.5qt low on oil and the like, putting the exact reading and warnings in your face every time you start the car could be seen as progress. If it was sold at stores, how many BITOGers do you think would add a precision "oil level" gauge alongside their aftermarket mechanical oil pressure gauge and oil temp gauge? Probably quite a few.

Sure, I might like to have a dipstick in addition, but this must have been talked about a hundred times now and there's always a crowd that reacts with shock and outrage. It's been 10 years since this movement started at multiple brands...

On the other hand, if you're offered a high resolution bar graph of the oil reading on the cluster, the dipstick isn't that big a deal. If the battery is dead or the control computers are fried, I have bigger problems at that moment than determining if I'm 0.1qt low on oil.

Now, if there's no way to bring up a level even using cluster diag/field test mode and all you get is an "oil low" light - that would frustrate me - but I highly doubt that's the way any of the dipstick-less systems are designed. I should investigate.

BTW, oil changes on BMWs with cartridge oil filters are a snap. If you've got any DIY ability at all it can be a 5 minute job. It would take me more time to drive to an oil change place (let alone wait) to have it done for me. I've never once been the slightest bit tempted to use a top-sider.
 
Originally Posted By: m37charlie
Enough of this. My 2009 X5 35d has a dipstick.
But it is electronic.

Charlie


Interesting. My '10 335d does have a dipstick.
 
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada

The cars without dipsticks have electronic oil level sensors. The onboard computer flashes a warning at the driver if the oil is low. For the vast majority of people who buy BMWs these days, that system is a LOT more effective than a dipstick.



I suppose it depends on the execution. BMW sensors (or any electronic sensors for that matter) in general aren't the most reliable, IME.

In the case of our C300, the cluster messages are a bit enigmatic. It just says "check engine oil at next fillup". Initially, I thought this meant that I was running low on oil. If the car did not have a dipstick, that's what I would have assumed and I would have dumped a quart or two in there. But it does have a dipstick, and the level on the dipstick looked full, so I did not add any oil. I just assumed the sensor was acting up. What I found out later when I was doing an oil change, is that message was actually telling me that there was too much oil in there. Dealer had overfilled it. The dipstick did in fact show a little over max.

For older generation like me, who grew up accustomed to dipsticks, having it taken away seems wrong. I don't mind an electronic display on the dash, but please don't take the physical dipstick away from me. Leave it in there as backup. Plus, I love using an oil extractor. Hard to make it work with an electronic dipstick. MB still continues to provide physical dipsticks because they use it to do their own oil changes.
 
Originally Posted By: BobFout
Mmmm BMW 1-series (with gas or diesel)..mmmmmm....


I almost ordered a 128i M Sport in December; Xenons, H-K sound, and the Convenience and Cold Weather packages would have been the only options. Manual seats and no hole in the roof- a perfect daily driver and track toy...
 
My Unimog has both a real dipstick and an electronic level device. But the real dipstick's removal is obstructed by the intake air trunking, which needs to be removed to use it! So I always check my oil level by pressing buttons on the dash. It doesn't even register unless it is 2.0L low - the sump is 29L.
But I also have a cap at the side of the cab leading to a hose leading to the oil pan to add oil without raising the cab, which I can use with a long extractor hose to remove oil for UOA if I am not doing an oil change.

Charlie
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
For older generation like me, who grew up accustomed to dipsticks, having it taken away seems wrong. I don't mind an electronic display on the dash, but please don't take the physical dipstick away from me. Leave it in there as backup. Plus, I love using an oil extractor. Hard to make it work with an electronic dipstick. MB still continues to provide physical dipsticks because they use it to do their own oil changes.

Me too, using an oil extractor to do oil change in a MB is so easy.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada

The cars without dipsticks have electronic oil level sensors. The onboard computer flashes a warning at the driver if the oil is low. For the vast majority of people who buy BMWs these days, that system is a LOT more effective than a dipstick.



I suppose it depends on the execution.


That's not my text that's quoted, FYI.

I agree, though, execution is important but the limited number of dipstickless (shocking: the forum doesn't think that's a real word
smile.gif
) cars I've observed have done it well enough for me.
 
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada

That's not my text that's quoted, FYI.

My apologies. I screwed something up. I was trying to quote something else.
 
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