E36 M3. 182
Jumped in my 182 today and as per usual, checked the oil indication before starting it up. Recently its shown 1 dash and the rest 'o's which equates to just below the max mark on the dipstick, but above halfway between 'max' and 'min'. Today however, it was showing only 2 'o's and the rest dashes. The car was parked up a kerb with the passenger side higher than drivers, so I started it up and drove to some flat road to see if the indication changed.
I pulled up, stopped and turned off the engine, gave it a few seconds then turned the ignition to the first position to check the level again, It was the same on the readout, so I decided to drive it to the nearest garage to get the oil moving, then give it a good few minutes to settle properly and check the dipstick.
On checking again, the dipstick level was bang in the middle of the 'max and 'min' marks, and the in car display read only 2 dashes, one more than usual. I concluded that over the last 2000 miles or so since the last oil change, the oil level had dropped by 2 'dashes' Adding 0.5 of a litre took the level back to the max mark on the dipstick and no dashes on the display.
So, bearing in mind the cars done 139000 miles, would it be reasonable to expect 0.5L / 2000miles worth of consumption, or would it point to an underlying fault within the engine???
I pulled up, stopped and turned off the engine, gave it a few seconds then turned the ignition to the first position to check the level again, It was the same on the readout, so I decided to drive it to the nearest garage to get the oil moving, then give it a good few minutes to settle properly and check the dipstick.
On checking again, the dipstick level was bang in the middle of the 'max and 'min' marks, and the in car display read only 2 dashes, one more than usual. I concluded that over the last 2000 miles or so since the last oil change, the oil level had dropped by 2 'dashes' Adding 0.5 of a litre took the level back to the max mark on the dipstick and no dashes on the display.
So, bearing in mind the cars done 139000 miles, would it be reasonable to expect 0.5L / 2000miles worth of consumption, or would it point to an underlying fault within the engine???