Advise on engine oil

[schnitzered]

Dear sifu'sdoes our engine oil in a stationary car without its engine running thicken over time causing the necessity of an early oil change?

 

[ICEMAN 68]

if it's for a spanking new car ..then i think there should be no symptoms as mentioned above ..

OLD cars which are badly maintained ...then i would say yes as due to the sludge which is being mixed together with the oil ..

i think an engine oil would only gets thicker when it mixes with other purities etc sludge and so on ...

just my 2 cent input

 

[ICEMAN 68]

a write up posted by fellow member : Schwepps in one of the thread

good write up


On whether you should top up, read this first: http://www.ssht.com.au/sludge_lowres.pdf

A surprise visit from the sludge monster
You may also be surprise to learn that running an engine running low on oil for a prolonged period can cause sludge. The detergent and oxidation inhibitors are important components of the additive package that prevent sludge from forming. When an engine is run low on oil, these additives have to work overtime to do their job. There is simply less of the additive package available to do the work of suspending particles and preventing oxidation (thickening) of the oil. Here is a surprising fact, running an engine just one litre low on oil for 55 hours can increase the viscosity of the oil by over 1000%. This is like running really, really, really thick oil in your car’s engine.

 

[schnitzered]

Thanks guys appreciate the response. However i do not think sludge is the problem for the following reasons. Correct me if i am wrong.

My problem is this: I purchased a pre-reg e60 first reg in oct 2008, zero mileage when i bought it in june this year. Therefore i deduce that there is no issue as to running the engine on low oil. Suddenly a few days ago, a yellow symbol with a triangle in the middle appears next to the engine oil label on the idrive under the service requirements screen. then theres an indicator stating that servicing is due in another 600km. .

No reduction in engine oil as the engine oil status shows full bars . The manual is pretty useless as the only description given for the yellow symbol is that "service is required under the law" . When I sent my car to AB this morning the service advisor told me that it was due to the car being left stationary for too long and therefore the oil thickened. The SA used the word "thicken" . I found that a bit dubious but before i kick up some dust i would like to get my facts right.

So all sifus out there , i would really appreciate further deliberation on this issue whicjh i believe would be helpful to other e60 owners

 

[schnitzered]

oh yeah...all the SA told me was oil needed change due to thickening and fixed an appointment for me to get the oil changed.