New six cylinder engines have no dipstick

Malt_Hound wrote:
>
> Perhaps, but somehow going from a linear mechanical display of oil
level
> (aka dipstick) to a binary indication (idiot light) does not seem
like
> progress to me...

Especially considering BMW's ****ty electrical systems. I wouldn't
trust
one of their dials for something like this, ever. Besides, pulling
out an oil dipstick is something all men are supposed to enjoy.
There's
nothing like pulling that stick out, and feeling and eyeballing
that oil between the thumb and index finger, right?

--
Cliff

wrote:
>>Dipsticks tend not to break, and I imagine they're cheaper.
>
>
> Which of these benefits BMW and/or its repair facilities?
>

I know this question was rhetorical, but I would counter that both
attributes would directly and indirectly benefit the manufacturer.

They don't break - less repairs under warranty which is completely
funded by the manufacturer. Direct financial benefit.

They're cheaper? Well, that's pretty obvious. If they don't cost as
much to make and yet they get the same price from a consumer, well, that
goes right to the bottom line...

Now, there's one more thing that you can do with an electronic oil level
gauge that you can't do with a dipstick and that's record the oil level
in the ECU memory in the event of a failure. That could be a way for
the manufacturer to dodge major warranty claims based on negligence.

-Fred W

In article hington.edu>,
Jon Blake > wrote:
> > I'm happy to see the dipstick go. When last did you dip your fuel tank
> > to know the level? ;-)
> >
> <<< SNIP >>>

> I think this is a flawed analogy. If you run out of gas because of a
> faulty gauge/warning light, your engine will stop, perhaps
> inconveniently, and you will undoubtedly stress your fuel pump. If your
> oil sensor fails, your engine can fail, a much worse situation. Call me
> old fashion, but I just can't see not having a way to physically check
> oil levels.

The low oil level light does that for you.

--
*Remember: First you pillage, then you burn.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article >,
daytripper > wrote:
> >I'm happy to see the dipstick go. When last did you dip your fuel tank
> >to know the level? ;-)

> Cute but lame.

> So, does this device show the inevitable post-service over-filled
> condition?

A main dealer puts a measured amount of oil in from his bulk supply. If
you're changing the oil yourself, you too should do just this.

Of course if you rely on an instant service place then that's up to you.

But tell me, how do you rectify this 'inevitable post-service overfill'?

--
*When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article hington.edu>,
Jon Blake > wrote:
> If you run out of gas because of a faulty gauge/warning light, your
> engine will stop, perhaps inconveniently, and you will undoubtedly
> stress your fuel pump. If your oil sensor fails, your engine can fail,
> a much worse situation. Call me old fashion, but I just can't see not
> having a way to physically check oil levels.

How do you check the oil levels in your gearbox and final drive? Failures
of either of these would be an equally catastrophic event. And I'm old
enough to remember these too having dipsticks.

--
*Middle age is when work is a lot less fun - and fun a lot more work.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Tue, 24 May 2005, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

> In article hington.edu>,
> Jon Blake > wrote:
>>> I'm happy to see the dipstick go. When last did you dip your fuel tank
>>> to know the level? ;-)
>>>
>> <<< SNIP >>>
>
>> I think this is a flawed analogy. If you run out of gas because of a
>> faulty gauge/warning light, your engine will stop, perhaps
>> inconveniently, and you will undoubtedly stress your fuel pump. If your
>> oil sensor fails, your engine can fail, a much worse situation. Call me
>> old fashion, but I just can't see not having a way to physically check
>> oil levels.
>
> The low oil level light does that for you.

I guess I'm not clear. I worry that the sensor or light itself will fail
thereby not warning about low oil level. No way for a dipstick to fail.
Only failure is to not check and in that case the miscreant gets what he
deserves. Hmmmm, maybe I am a luddite. In fact, I can remember using a
stick to measure the amount of gasoline (I should say petrol) in my old MG
TD. It had a low gasoline light that was flacky at best and was very
difficult to see in the daylight. By the time I had a '53 Jag XK120MC I
had a real gas guage, of course then I had the flacky fuel pump oh so
conveniently placed underneath the car -- much sport to get out and under
and wack it to get it going again.

- Jon

On Tue, 24 May 2005, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

> In article hington.edu>,
> Jon Blake > wrote:
>> If you run out of gas because of a faulty gauge/warning light, your
>> engine will stop, perhaps inconveniently, and you will undoubtedly
>> stress your fuel pump. If your oil sensor fails, your engine can fail,
>> a much worse situation. Call me old fashion, but I just can't see not
>> having a way to physically check oil levels.
>
> How do you check the oil levels in your gearbox and final drive? Failures
> of either of these would be an equally catastrophic event. And I'm old
> enough to remember these too having dipsticks.
Actually, this is easy to do. Simply remove the filler plug and confirm
that fluid is just at lower edge of hole. While I don't do this with the
frequency of cheking my oil, I do check periodically and I support the
petroleum industry by replacing tranny and diff fluids every 50K miles,
not believing that any lubricant is "lifetime." But then I keep cars for a
minimum of 10 years, often more. Usual clutch life in excess of 185K
miles.

- Jon

"Dave Plowman (News)" > writes:

> I'm happy to see the dipstick go. When last did you dip your fuel tank to
> know the level? ;-)

Foo. Now you actually have to jack up the car to change the oil. ;-(

--
Darryl Okahata


DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not
constitute the support, opinion, or policy of Agilent Technologies, or
of the little green men that have been following him all day.

On Tue, 24 May 2005 20:17:12 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
> wrote:

>In article >,
> daytripper > wrote:
>> >I'm happy to see the dipstick go. When last did you dip your fuel tank
>> >to know the level? ;-)
>
>> Cute but lame.
>
>> So, does this device show the inevitable post-service over-filled
>> condition?
>
>A main dealer puts a measured amount of oil in from his bulk supply. If
>you're changing the oil yourself, you too should do just this.
>
>Of course if you rely on an instant service place then that's up to you.
>
>But tell me, how do you rectify this 'inevitable post-service overfill'?

First, you check the dipstick when you get the car back - from Audi main line
service...

John Burns wrote:

>> I'm guessing its like the CSL with a "digital dipstick" on the OBC
>> which shows the level to .1l (I think).
>
> That I can live with. Until it breaks (seen loads of 15+ year old BMWs
> with faulty oil level idiot lights). Dipsticks tend not to break, and
> I imagine they're cheaper.

Many of the 15 year old BMWs I've seen have nothing electrical still working,
but at least the dipstick still does. Heck, you can drive most of them
*another* 200k in that condition, and then some.

Matt O.