Checking the oil level in any modern BMW is both easier and more difficult than it would seem. I say this because if you do nothing, your BMW will tell you if your oil level gets low. In fact, your BMW will even tell you when you need to change your oil based on how you drive it. Multiple short drives in stop and go travel will mean a more frequent oil change. But what do you do if you have a mix of short and long steady drives? Thankfully, your BMW will still keep track of it and let you know when you must change the oil.
In order to check your oil, it really depends on the age of your BMW. If your model is over 20 years old – from the ’90s and early 2000s – consider yourself lucky. Just pop the hood of the engine bay, grab a clean cloth or paper towel and pull out the oil dipstick with the engine off. Wipe the dipstick off, replace and then remove it again. Why pull, wipe, dip and recheck? Simply to ensure that that after stopping the engine, the levels are not higher than what they really are. Note the dipstick will have two horizontal notches near the end, so your oil level should be between those. Also protip – use a fresh clean cloth or paper towel, as you dont want any odd contaminants introduced into your oil from the dipstick.
Starting with the 2005 model year, all BMWs have an electronic dipstick. The “newest” BMW I can think of with a dipstick was the 2006 E46 M3. In my E92M3, the physical dipstick is gone. This means that even after you change your own oil, you want to check the right levels. Therefore, you have to start the motor and let the engine reach operating temperature. Furthermore, you need to be in Park or Neutral and on a level surface. Then, through the iDrive system you can check the oil level.
But what if you drive a BMW plug-in hybrid? How do you check…
