[moldcad]

Did an oil / filter change at 10,500 km so didn't use my BMW Service (used an indy BMW shop I've known for years). Unfortunately, the guy wasn't looking very convincing doing this simple job - he admitted mine is his first F22... Anyway - after the change we did the initial check, and the scale was all green bar almost touching the max mark; to my question he answered if there was too much oil, the upper end of the scale would have gone yellow.

Is he right, or should I make him remove a little oil? Also, what is the "half an hour driving" oil check procedure the manual mentions - how is it done, and what for if the "Stationary" (detailed) measurement was fine?

PS. After re-reading the manual, I guess the min. 30 minutes of driving is necessary for the Status Display to activate; it says:

Requirements
A current measured value is available after approx.
30 minutes of driving

So if I'm right, it takes 30 minutes of driving for the system to be able to display "oil low - add the oil" type of message, right?

[Zooks527]

You're fine. Personally, I prefer to see the oil level touching the MAX line. The crankcase has enough headspace for some oil over the nominal 6.9 qt capacity.

If you're worried, drive for 30 minutes then park with the engine running and select "Measure oil level" on the info screen. However, if the car's not complaining, you're likely good to go.

[allthatisntnow]

Having oil at the max mark gives you a load of headroom for oil consumption (which does occur with the N55 - more so when pushed hard). Im pretty sure an "add a litre of oil at your earliest convenience" prompt is triggered when the reading is bang between the min and max lines anyway. So its fine.

[nike001]

Yours might be his first 'F22' but it's probably his 6 thousandth N55. THIS IS NOT A SPECIAL ENGINE. The tech should be completely and entirely able to do a simple oil change on your car.

The tech really only has to follow what BMW's directions are. It has step by step, each process he needs to accomplish, followed by the exact number of quarts/liters to put in your engine. Your engine oil should read 'max' because as others have said, it leaves some room for a little oil consumption.

The 30 min drive is to get oil throughout the engine. When the engine is off, the oil drains to the bottom of the pan (coincidentally where the oil level sensor is!) and can give a high(er) reading. Drive it a while so the engine is spread throughout the engine and your reading may show a little lower since less oil is hanging out in the pan.

[moldcad]

Thanks guys - all is fine. My slight reservation about my indy mech "self-confidence" have only been caused by his not being quite comfortable about the iDrive oil level checking procedures - the market in Poland is still thousands of 10-years-old models and only a few newer ones withe N55 engines - not to mention my M235i is one of only two registered in the entire country! Of course, the "mechanical part" of the service was done perfectly well as it's true he probably did it hundreds of BMW oil changes before.

And I only paid 1/3 of what my local BMW dealer wanted to charge me for it (as I mentioned, this oil change has been my additional one, which I decided to perform as the BMW service plan only has 30,000 km or 2 years intervals as entitling me to a free oil service - and this in a car with "M" in its name ).