Congrats on the milestone! 60k - it's a brand new car in my mind.
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Congrats on the milestone! 60k - it's a brand new car in my mind.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
+1
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Mileage: 61,242
Yesterday I changed the oil with a ~6.5 liters of Shell Rotella T6 5W40 oil and a MANN filter, o-ring, and crush washer.
Also gave her a much deserved bath, although it's now covered in pollen again so that was an exercise in futility.
Nice!!
Welcome to the Brotherhood of Rotella.
The Brotellagade.Quote:
Originally Posted by 704sw
Haha ain't that the truth! I hate this time of year, and now that I have a dark car...I hate it even more. luckily we're in for some rain this weekend to hopefully knock all that nasty pollen out of the treesQuote:
Originally Posted by BMWCurves
...and onto my car haha. I’ve given up at the moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cadeez
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Precisely. Attempting to clean your car now is a waste of time. My neighborhood is covered with those damn pollen trees, it's insane.Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWCurves
Just don't let it accumulate in the door jams from rain, etc. I did that once and it was like concrete trying to get it off
I moved my grandmother's car today and it's been sitting for months which has included cycles of pollen and rain. The wipers were nothing short of glued to the windshield. I had to physically tear them out of their stuck position.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sockethead
Mileage: 62,307
- Refreshed the front roundel after the clear coat had started cracking (not sure why). I got it as a bundle for two since the roundel on my sister's 330Xi was really bad.
- Checked the oil level since having changed the oil a few weeks ago with Rotella T6 and a low level oil light was triggered on Sunday. Sitting just a smidge below full.
- Topped off the coolant with distilled water.
How many miles between the oil change and the yellow light trigger?Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWCurves
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I’m guessing it’s a faulty sensor as he said the level was just below full...Quote:
Originally Posted by san
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Ah I thought he added oil and now it’s a smudge near full. Didn’t think it would be a faulty sensor as he replaced it recently...Quote:
Originally Posted by slater
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Quote:
Originally Posted by san
San is correct, I changed my sensor only last year if memory serves. The oil light went on approximately two months after I changed it. I'm not concerned, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I live on a hill and no matter what direction I go I have to go downhill for a solid 5 minutes, which probably pushes oil away from the sensor in the oil pan, giving a higher chance for triggering a false positive for low oilQuote:
Originally Posted by slater
My oil light came on soon after I swapped it too... because it was low on oil :)
My oil level sensor is a little weird. It’s accurate when it comes on and it’s usually half a quart low. But the light doesn’t come on if I drive too little or too much. If I drive a mile or two it doesn’t come on even if the oil level is low and it doesn’t come on if I drive more than 30 miles or so. So if I’m making only trips more than 30 miles, then my oil level sensor won’t tell me that the oil is low. I can understand it not coming on when I haven’t driven enough cause it’s probably the intended design to prevent a false fail.
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I noticed this behavior in my car as well... it's always after a longish trip that is comes on
I think the dipstick is a crap measurement on these cars. I went through the same ordeal -- yellow oil light comes on after shutting off the car, check the dipstick, level is perfect, wtf, repeat. I finally changed the sensor thinking that it was faulty, but noticed that I only drained maybe 5 quarts of oil when I was doing it...dipstick still read normal...fudge
ahh heck, i had no idea... oops. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by san
yeah, i guess that's possible. does it to it in your sister's car under the same conditions?Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWCurves
Yup. I just keep it at the top of the range on the dipstick and assume it’s good enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZHPizza
Not that I know of but she doesn’t visit my folks’ place that often so I’m not sure. What’s interesting is my father has mentioned the same issue, but it’s more rare than in my car (maybe once every 3-4 months vs my ~1 month)Quote:
Originally Posted by slater
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My oil changes usually only come up with a bit over 5 quarts too. I wonder if the dipstick could lose accuracy as it ages.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZHPizza
If the dipstick was removed to change the o ring or for whatever reason and it wasn’t seated properly even by a few mm, that can cause quite a big variation in its reading. Left alone I can’t see how it would lose it accuracy.Quote:
Originally Posted by holyc0w
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That's a very good point San!
Every oil change I do ends up taking between 6-7 quarts (oil filter takes some in as well). What are you guys doing?? lol
I actually chuckled when I read this. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by holyc0w
Just for everyone's reference, the manual states that the vehicle's engine should be warmed up and checked a few minutes after shutting the motor off.
The exact text is as follows. As obvious as it may seem, there are a couple of points that some people miss, mainly Steps 1 and 2.
Checking the oil level
1. Park the vehicle on a level surface
2. Switch the engine off after it has reached normal operating temperature
3. After approx. 5 minutes, pull the dipstick out and wipe it off with a clean lint-free cloth, paper towel, or similar material
4. Carefully push the dipstick all the way into the guide tube and pull it out again
5. The oil level should be between the two marks on the dipstick.
I only bring this up because for years I would check my oil level when the engine was completely cold. This is how I thought you were supposed to check it, but then I read that in the manual and scratched my head. My garage floor is pretty level, but not entirely (car rolls slightly in neutral), so that could potentially mess with a reading as well.
Did you check if there was a difference when doing it cold versus warm?Quote:
Originally Posted by az3579
There does seem to be a difference. Unfortunately the difference isn't consistent... sometimes it shows more when cold, sometimes it shows more when warm. It's really weird.Quote:
Originally Posted by holyc0w
Using logic, I'd imagine checking it warm would show a lesser amount. Therefore, I go with the warm measurement, because I'd rather have a touch more in there than a touch less (since my car uses a lot of oil in general).
Technically warm would show more due to the expansion of the fluid. I think depends more on how long you wait to check after turning off the engine... It takes a while for everything to drop back into the pan
Oil being sucked up into various places is why I would have thought it to show less. Interesting point you bring.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sockethead
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Mileage: 64,659
Not too much to report. I put ~1,000 miles on the clock over the past few days during Fall Break and the car ran like clockwork. I drove down from Portland to Bend, then up to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands in Washington. Averaged about 31+ mpg to Bend and back, and about 25 mpg to San Juans and back (a lot of puttering around Orcas hurt the mileage). It was a very nice break from med school.
Other odds and ends I may or may not have mentioned:
- Having recently sold my interior and having an infusion of cash, I'm finally considering replacing the cracked windshield. The growth of the crack has stopped so I don't think there's eminent danger of it getting worse, and as a result there's no rush to get it fixed (other than the constant, glaring reminder of it every time I get in the car). I need to call around to BMW dealerships and see who they use for replacement windshields (or any suggestions you guys have).
- The car is filthy. I haven't had time with school to wash it or basically do much of anything for it. Hopefully next weekend.
- I scratched the front passenger wheel thanks to parallel parking in a "construction area" on some gravel that was actually very loose and the gravel gave way, causing the whole car to slide into the side walk :facepalm
- My maintenance spreadsheet shows every basic scheduled maintenance item is up to date except for a brake fluid flush, and I'm probably due to rotate the tires (every 5k miles).
- I plan to "store" this car at my folks' place and test out using my grandmother's Honda Civic (2006, 14k miles) since parking at my apartment is street parking and my car just gets filthy sitting there. But that process may take a while with limited free time.
Good to hear, man. 2006 Civic with 14k miles ?!?! Amazing.
Glad you're still driving the whip bruh
Find you an independent windshield guy (not Safelite, etc) and ask him if he can get Pilkington glass for a BMW. That's the OEM stuff and not much more expensive than the recycled trash glass that Safelite uses.
It's lived a very rough 14k miles with my grandmother behind the wheel. Every body panel has some sort of scratch/dent. The left tail light was spray painted a beige color to cover up some stuff. A grandmother original!Quote:
Originally Posted by fredo
I really had trouble finding a decent independent windshield person around town. One I called refused to use anything but what they wanted, and another wanted $600+. My mechanic said to call local BMW dealerships and see who they contract out with to repair windshield issues and contact them directly.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZHPizza
Yikes do you have the rain sensor? I could see some guys not wanting to bother with that with how finicky they are.
I do have a rain sensor, but that never even came up in the conversation.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZHPizza
Mileage on 01/01/18: 59,670.
Mileage on 01/01/19: 66,567.
Total miles driven in 2018: 6,897
Bump. [emoji56]
Damn so Jealous of how your miles are. In my BRZ I was on point to set and average of over 20k a year but I totaled it. The ZHP has way less of a commute but still sees about 12k miles a year. The only reason I'm not over 150k yet is because I've been driving my GF's Fiesta ST while the ZHP was getting some much needed TLC.Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWCurves
Four year anniversary! (update)
So not a whole lot has been going on with the car recently (see: just driving it), but it occurred to me that yesterday was my four year anniversary of ownership! Over that period I've driven it 18k+ miles. That might be quite low to a lot of you, but I live relatively close to everything in Portland so my commutes are pretty minimal.
I still am enamored with this car. It's small, light, quick as I need, and as James May says, it gives me all the right "fizzing" sensations. It has its foibles such as rattles, a random day of a Christmas-tree-cluster-itis, and an intermittent, unidentifiable, mild grinding noise on startup, but I love it each and every day. I get thumbs ups every so often from other drivers and everyone that gets a ride remarks how much they like it. I'll never give it up until it stops putting a smile on my face.
Updates: Not too many of note. Medical school has kept me very busy so unfortunately the car gets less and less attention beyond general maintenance.
- Oil change: changed the filter, the little green o-rings, and used Shell Rotella T6 5W-40. I sent a sample off to Blackstone for the first time, it'll be interesting to see what they say.
- Brake fluid flush: It was due for its annual change. I used ATE SL6-1. I still don't trust myself to get all the bubbles out of the system, so I had my mechanic do it. It was nice excuse to chat with him as well, and get to meet the new mechanic they have over there now. They had a B7 RS4 in for several items that was being covered by some bumper-to-bumper warranty so they were tearing that thing apart.
- Rotated tires: I was on my sister's snow tires for about two months out of fear of snow storms, but they never really came to fruition, so I was more just inconvenienced for two months. Whoopie. Downside is that the rear passenger tire of my summer tires is more worn despite them all being inflated the same pressure. Not sure what that's about, but for now it's rotated.
Things that still need to be done:
- I purchased an M3 front sway bar off of eBay during some promotion. Now I need to find a Cic rear sway bar and swap both in. Probably won't get to that for a while.
- M3 motor mounts. They're two years old at this point and I still haven't installed them.
- I still need to replace the windshield. I attempted to repair it myself with one of those sealant kits, but I failed miserably, and potentially made it worse. For now, it's not affecting anything mechanically, just my soul.
- Identify various rattles. There's one I know is from the glovebox handle, but haven't had a chance to see how I can fix that. Another sounds like it's coming from the rear passenger wheel area, really hoping nothing is going wrong there.
- It desperately needs a paint correction and a ceramic coating, but I'm holding off until the summer.
Other than that, nothing major to report. I'm taking it up to the San Juans tomorrow, so it'll give me a chance to see if any codes I cleared on PASoft will return.
Hope all is well with y'all! I miss checking in with you guys.