Pulling the dipstick does a lot more than measure oil level. That quick swipe of a clean rag to wipe the dipstick before reinserting will tell you a lot about the condition of the oil as well. While modern detergents turn the oil dark very quickly, you can spot REALLY blackened oil immediately, as well as spot the presence of water (leaking head gasket?), and if you've taken the time to magnetize your dipstick, you can even spot fine metal particles with a loupe.

While the electronic sensor may be a good idea, it really requires a fool-proof backup system. Besides, if you owned a car with an exterior hood release, you always had an excellent break-in tool at hand if you locked your keys in the car.

 

I'm not defending the sensors in any way (like you, I'm sold on dipsticks), but, in this case, from the image you posted, the sensor doesn't seem that far off. It showed only a little below the MIN mark (which is usually one quart down). One quart apparantly filled it up to the FULL, OK, green range. So, if the sensor IS off, it's not off by that much.....not enough to make much of a difference. It would probably take more of an overfill than that to get foaming in the crankcase.


Agreed....that's just nonsense. But being just one or two quarts low won't necesarily damage it in start-up. First, unless you've let the engine sit a long time without running, you probably still have a thin oil film sitting on the moving parts from when you last shut the engine off....that will probably prevent metal-to-metal contact on start-up. Second, most engines aren't damaged, esecially if they are just idling, until they run for a while below about 5 PSI or so of oil-pressure...which is what most oil-pressure idiot-lights are set to. Third, cold oil takes longer to start flowing on a cold start than warm oil, but when it does flow, it has a higher PSI because it is thicker.


I wouldn't go 15K on an oil change, even with the best synthetics, no matter what the Owners' Manual says. The oil viscosity itself may not break down, but the oil's additive-packages do.

 

Most luxury car buyers don't want to check the oil, plus it's probably considered "low-tech" for their high-tech cars.

For me, I'd like to have both.

 

I will assume that you have never ever used a dipstick in your life. If you had, you would not have posted this very comment.
Generally, in most cars, the difference between the MIN-MAX on the dipstick is 1 Quart.

I hope this helps!

 

I think you are misunderstanding Och's post. He seems to be well-aware that the difference between MIN and MAX on the dipstick is usually about one quart. What he was concerned about was the oil-sensor in his car being off, because one quart filled it up to MAX from a little below MIN on the screen. I pointed out, however, that, in this circumstance, it probably didn't make much difference, because the screen really didn't seem to be that much off....it probably wouldn't cause any typical overfill problems with the oil pick-up or crankcase-foaming.

 

I would be happy to be wrong MM. But I think Och was under the impression that minimum is like empty i.e. almost no oil and hence surprised that 1 Qt brings it to Max. It is possible that on the Bimmer the difference between MIN-MAX is 3/4 qt and since the mark was below MIN, 1 qt was sufficient. Additionally the computer also instructed him to fill 1 QT. So why is he surprised with 1 QT being sufficient?

 

Bring back the dipstick! I like getting my hands dirty. Cars are getting way too complicated than they need to be.

 

i like the dipstick for the reasons that lil4x mentioned.