Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Rough start BMW 330i 2006, when low on oil

Rough start BMW 330i 2006, when "low" on oil

Oil Level Low (3 bars is low)
In the past week I've noticed something different when I start my car, it start up a little rough.  Because I drive the car every day, I notice very subtle changes to my car.  In the past I got worried, I wondered if it was something bad, perhaps something wrong with the spark plugs, or coils, etc.   It's very disconcerting because, it's very noticeable, as you drive away from a stop the car tends to feel heavy.  When this happened for the first time, I have to admit I got worried.  Fortunately this problem does have a very easy solution, the solution is to add more oil.

5W-30
This is something that i've noticed for a few years.  If I am just about due for an oil change and my oil is "low", my car start rough, it doesn't seem to have the same amount of power as it did when the oil was new and topped off.

BMW 330i 2006
As I drive my car month end month out, I tend to forget when it's time to change the oil.  I know it happens to me all the time, I tend to wait for the car to tell me it's time for an oil change. I know I am not suppose to wait, but if you have life, you will forget.

This is the first time I've had to add oil to my engine this year and in this particular case I ended up adding 1 quart of oil to top it off.   I can definitely tell the difference.  I've always added 5W-30 Mobil 1 brand, and I've never had any problems.

Oil cap, top right. (cover removed)


Side note: On the intro picture above there are 3 bars (green bars), this is LOW oil level in my opinion, if you add a bit more oil to the engine the 3 bars turn to 4, which is better.  I've found that 4 bars is better for optimum power output for the engine, 3 bars is okay, but low.  Note that on the picture it states that the Oil Level is O.K.  it's definitely okay, but not for optimum power.  Also note that adding more oil at this point is actually bad, to be sure add a bit more oil and check level, keep doing this until you reach the 4 bars.

The last thing I wanted to say is that if you own a 2006 BMW 330i, you know about oil leaks, around the oil filter case, and around the valve cover manifold, if you have oil leaks there, oil will be low after a few months because oil is always coming out of these areas, although you should fix these problems because they can lead to more serious problems, if you keep driving the car to and from work for example, the oil level will drop little by little, so definitely keep an eye the oil level once every couple of months, and if you are low, top it off.


I hope this was helpful to you

See all my Blog posts, link to main page: Top of the main page link

If this was helpful consider donating


If you are looking for the oil, here is a link on Amazon:

No comments:

Post a Comment