Engine oil capacity

[calamiti]

Did an oil and filter change on my '97 ti with m44 engine. My owners manual says i would need a little over 4 liters of oil to refill it. I actually used over 5.5 liters! Checked the oil level repeatedly thinking i had overfilled it, but even after leaving the oil to settle for an hour the oil level is spot on. Where's the extra oil going? Is the handbook telling me "porkies"?

[adamud]

I know I use 5.3 quarts everytime I do an oil change, including the oil filter.

[calamiti]

Good to know I'm definitely not overfilling it!

[BMW_318TI]

Just look here: http://www.kroon-oil.com/uk/

[tiFreak]

are you sure you're not just confusing liters with quarts (I don't see why you British people can't just use gallons and feet like the rest of the world)

[calamiti]

Weird situation here in the U.K. We measure road distance in miles but use milimetres when taking measurements. We used to measure liguids in gallons but now use litres, probably to disguise how expensive it is. £1.09 for a litre of petrol, sorry, gas. So a gallon is about £5.00, (that's $10.00 to you), but there are two grades. We express weights in pounds and stones, (14 pounds in a stone), but items are sold in kilos. Totally bizzarre, but that's what happens when you live next door to the French!

[thesk8nmidget]

Originally Posted by calamiti

but that's what happens when you live next door to the French!

ahaha thats funny

[cooljess76]

Just changed my oil yesterday with Castrol Syntec SAE 5W-30. At a little over 6 bucks a quart, why would anyone want to overfill? I used just over 4 quarts and the level is right between the two marks on the dipstick. It says on page 133 of the owners manual that the m44 takes 4.1 quarts(4.5 liters).

Page 84 says:

Originally Posted by BMW owners manual

To obtain precise readings:
Check with engine cold, before starting.
When checkingwith the enginewarm,
wait briefly for the oil to drain back
down into the oil pan (e.g.,while refuel-
ing).
Push the dipstick all the way into the
measuring tube.
The oil must be between the two gradu-
ations.

The next paragraph contains important information also:

Originally Posted by BMW owners manual

The space between the two marks on
the dipstick corresponds to approxi-
mately 1.1 US quarts (1 liter). Do not fill
to beyond the upper graduation on the
dipstick. Excess oil harms the engine.
Because it would be consumed within a
short period, it would also result in an
abnormally high rate of oil consump-
tion.

Do whatever you guys want to your cars, but I think that 5.5 liters is waaaay too much. It's definitely not good for your seals.

[CirrusSR22]

I put 5 liters (5.3 quarts) in my M44 and it's precisely to the top tick mark on the dipstick. I think 5 liter jugs of oil are common outside North America. True? That would be SO handy!

I swear my owners manual say 5.0 liters.

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

I put 5 liters (5.3 quarts) in my M44 and it's precisely to the top tick mark on the dipstick. I think 5 liter jugs of oil are common outside North America. True? That would be SO handy!

I swear my owners manual say 5.0 liters.

That's really strange. Mine and the OP's manuals both say 4.5L. Our cars are both '97's but I'm pretty sure his is a euro m44. I guess it's possible that I might have the wrong manual and perhaps the euro m44 has a higher capacity? Could someone please verify and check pages 133 and 84 in their owners manual. Cirrus, I keep my level in the middle of the two hash marks on the dipstick. Are you inserting the dipstick completely into the tube or are you inserting it until the o-ring hits the top of the tube?

[2ndBimmer]

Mine takes somewhere in the 4.5-5qt range.

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by 2ndBimmer

Mine takes somewhere in the 4.5-5qt range.

thanks, do you have an owners manual?

[CirrusSR22]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

That's really strange. Mine and the OP's manuals both say 4.5L. Our cars are both '97's but I'm pretty sure his is a euro m44. I guess it's possible that I might have the wrong manual and perhaps the euro m44 has a higher capacity? Could someone please verify and check pages 133 and 84 in their owners manual. Cirrus, I keep my level in the middle of the two hash marks on the dipstick. Are you inserting the dipstick completely into the tube or are you inserting it until the o-ring hits the top of the tube?

I insert the dipstick all the way in. My car loses some oil, and seems to "naturally" want to sit about halfway between the marks. It slowly drops from the top tick-mark, to midway over a couple thousand miles. It then stays at the mid point. Thus, I think I would be just fine with a 4.5 liter fill like your newer manual states.

My car is a 3/1996 build, which I think is a very early M44. The owners manual (pg. 120) does say the engine takes 4.2 quarts (4.0 liters). But I have a little "Supplementary Owner's Manual" booklet in my leather document case. That supplement says 1.32 gallons of oil (5.0 liters).

Actually, now that I look at it closely my original owners manual has data on the M42 engine I think the M44 got put in the cars before the new owners manual did. Also, my supplement says my engine is a 1895 cc , 6 cylinder. BMW got a bit sloppy with their manuals.

[CirrusSR22]

So, it looks like they suggested 4.0 liters for the M42, then upped it to 5.0 liters when the M44 first came out. Later they dropped the capacity to 4.5 liters as the newer(newest?) manual states.

I wonder if they dropped to 4.5 liters because of what my car does; spits that .5 liter out naturally.

[cooljess76]

My supplementary owners manual only covers the clock, OBC(which I don't have) and the hood release and latching mechanism. Since your car seems to lose oil and then stay at the halfway mark, why not just fill it to the halfway mark?

I normally drive my car 6000 miles between oil changes and I usually have 2 green lights remaining on my oil service indicator display. My oil level stays right in the middle during the whole 6000 miles. I also like to change my oil filter at 3000 miles, although this last cycle I didn't change the filter halfway between oil changes. Yesterday was the third time I've changed the oil in this car since I've only driven it 16k miles since I've owned it. I've been using Castrol Syntec 5W-30 and everything seems alright. It's a relatively new engine with only 37k miles on it.

I think your oil consumption issue is explained in the manual where it says "excess oil harms the engine because it's consumed in a short period". I think it burns off the excess which could clog the cat, foul plugs or some other funky stuff.