E46 Check Oil light

[E46Fanatic]

Just started last week, whereby the oil light comes on (yellow) after I start the car and goes off within 5-10 seconds. Looked at the oil level and its full as far as I can tell.Spoke to Stuttgart mech and he says its a common problem for the sensor to KO for the E46... Replacement for the sensor + labor is around Rm800 and he advised me to just ignore it instead of changing it..Anyone of you have this problem before due to faulty sensor?

 

[BMW9700]

Originally posted by E46Fanatic@Dec 9 2005, 12:34 PM
Just started last week, whereby the oil light comes on (yellow) after I start the car and goes off within 5-10 seconds. Looked at the oil level and its full as far as I can tell.

Spoke to Stuttgart mech and he says its a common problem for the sensor to KO for the E46... Replacement for the sensor + labor is around Rm800 and he advised me to just ignore it instead of changing it..

Anyone of you have this problem before due to faulty sensor?

i have the same problem and had it for 2 years now...the yellow oil light stays on for about 10secs after starting..just ignored it...not sure of the cost for replacement of the sensor though..

regards

 

[mini_jeff67]

RM800 for a sensor? !!! &^%^%#%$

 

[ace99]

oil sensor so expensive ah?

how come?

 

[3er]

Ok. Another one to watch out for for E46 owners out there.

 

[breyton90]

aloo,


im facing the same problem oso..talk to my mechanics,,he said there could be a problem with the oil pump..but havent got it check yet....will let u know the results once it is done

 

[E46Fanatic]

Wah if its the oil pump its bad news for the engine.... Anyone know if the oil pump is electrical based or driven by a belt by the engine and is purely mechanical?

 

[MONTOYA]

why not auto-rx it. no harm trying if this is due to sludge buildup on the oil pump and sensors, you might just get a cheap DIY repairs.

 

[mini_jeff67]

"auto-rx" ??? What's that and how do we do it?

 

[MONTOYA]

checkup this link to ARX.

 

[mini_jeff67]

Thx Montoya... U think the warning light may be due to sludge?

 

[E46Fanatic]

Unlikely there is significant sludge buildup in the engine which caused the sensor to fail (57k kms on the odo). It may be the oil pump, as suggested, but if its mechanically driven, then the chances of it going weak is more unlikely.

Anyway, the warning light is not very consistent, and I'll try topping up anohter .5 - 1 ltr of oil to see if its really a low oil symptom.

 

[MONTOYA]

if it is something mechanical or electronic related. ARX is no good!!!

 

[E46Fanatic]

The check oil light has gone away after 0.5 ltrs top up of Mobil 1... Good to know its not the sensor.. Bad to know the car was burning oil. The dipstick seems to indicate that its enough tho... Hmmm

 

[ace99]

strangely, i got this check oil light when my car is around 10k km time. now is gone..

 

[E46Fanatic]

Yes the M54 is notorious for oil burn during the first 10k kms. I did my oil services at 1k kms and 5k kms and 10k kms (kiasu maar) so I didnt get the light coming on vs. folks who waited for the first 25k kms oil svc.

I am still doing oil changes every 10k kms, and have never had oil burn issues till now. I am hoping its one off. I have heard of folks who had a lot of oil burn during massive jams (e.g. CNY drive jam from Ipoh to KL), only to have it completely go away when the commute was back to normal. I have stuck in jams alot lately so maybe its my turn this time.

 

[leonard]

I got the same problem till today, checked with 2 mechanics and the indicated that it is fine to live with it. However, if the light is red colour, I was told that it is due to pressure in the engine and it is major problem. Any comment ??

 

[bmchai]

happenned to me once...

guess its just low engine oil kua....

after service, no lights anymore....

 

[paksu]

Just started last week, whereby the oil light comes on (yellow) after I start the car and goes off within 5-10 seconds. Looked at the oil level and its full as far as I can tell.

Spoke to Stuttgart mech and he says its a common problem for the sensor to KO for the E46... Replacement for the sensor + labor is around Rm800 and he advised me to just ignore it instead of changing it..

Anyone of you have this problem before due to faulty sensor?

hello...
mine oso the same, it's just happened few month ago... and mechanic oso told me the same... oil sensor going faulty... so as of now just to ignore it lah...

 

[E46Fanatic]

hello...
mine oso the same, it's just happened few month ago... and mechanic oso told me the same... oil sensor going faulty... so as of now just to ignore it lah...

I ended up changing the sensor before I sold my car for the new owner. Did it at AB, which was about RM800 + oil change = RM1.4k. The oil costs in AB has risen over the years, used to be Rm200+ now its like RM500+. Anyway, outside shops will do an non-BMW part oil sensor change, where they collect your oil and fill it back into the engine for ~RM360. If you refresh your oil it'll probably be around Rm500-600 in total. Best to change it during a scheduled oil change.

My advise, while its harmless, you'll likely want to change it if you are planning to sell the car one day, so might as well just change it and enjoy driving the car without the yellow light coming up for the first few seconds of driving.