[AlanH]

A couple nights ago, when I started up my car, I wanted it to warm up a little first before driving off. After a few minutes, a Low Engine Oil light warning message came up, saying that it is not safe to continue to drive this car. I went into the car information screen and ENGINE OIL had a green OK next to it.

I just had the oil changed around 6 months ago, ~4k miles ago at Stevens Creek BMW in San Jose, CA. The HPFP and the low side fuel pressure sensor was also changed around the same time.

I proceeded to turn off my car, and did a visual inspection around. No leaks on the ground as the quick google search on my phone said.

After a few minutes of the car being off, I turned it back on, and the warning message flashed once before turning off. Has anybody had this issue? Should I be worried?

Thanks,
Alan

[The Nash]

Why not just add a little oil? No more that .5 L, drive for a few days, see if light comes back.

[Tymm]

Your not meant to leave the car ticking over to warm up, read your owners manual it warns about this, so maybe this is the reason your getting this warning, ie your not building enough oil pressure whilst ticking over. try driving your car instead of leaving it to warm up

[E46driver]

Had the same exact problem 2 days ago. Started the car, low oil light came on, drove out to buy a qt. of oil., I come out start the car and the light is gone :P I just want to believe it was the cars system malfunctioning like it does from time to time on random things like the temp.

[sy2767]

Condensation on the sensor can and will cause such issues, i suggest taking the car for a drive until it reaches full operating - oil temp and then checking it, moisture wreaks havoc on the oil sensors in these cars.

[ctuna]

Start monitoring the graph
the idiot light will only warn you when things
are going way bad. You don't know how full it was when
you left the dealership so you have no idea if it lost a little
oil or a lot.
The oil sensing system they have in this car is quirky and is
no substitute for a dipstick which is now offered as 250 option
on the newer car.

[Tymm]

Originally Posted by ctuna

Start monitoring the graph
the idiot light will only warn you when things
are going way bad. You don't know how full it was when
you left the dealership so you have no idea if it lost a little
oil or a lot.
The oil sensing system they have in this car is quirky and is
no substitute for a dipstick which is now offered as 250 option
on the newer car.

Is there any way of fitting our cars with a dipstick?

[ashmostro]

This is a common sensor issue in cold weather. What was the ambient temp?

[fun2drive]

The sensor is dual use as in sensor level indicator and temperature sensor. As such it reads the capacitance of the oil and when you get condensate it changes what that capacitance should read and throws a code.
That is why at times changing the oil corrects the problem.
Hard to say that is your issue but do you have that issue if you drive at highway speeds for an hour? They would flash all the condensation out...

[AlanH]

Originally Posted by ashmostro

This is a common sensor issue in cold weather. What was the ambient temp?

Roughly 60F out, if I remember correctly.

[AlanH]

Originally Posted by fun2drive

The sensor is dual use as in sensor level indicator and temperature sensor. As such it reads the capacitance of the oil and when you get condensate it changes what that capacitance should read and throws a code.
That is why at times changing the oil corrects the problem.
Hard to say that is your issue but do you have that issue if you drive at highway speeds for an hour? They would flash all the condensation out...

This did not appear when I was driving today. However, I do recall a light mist over the car as it was parked outside for a few hours in ~60F weather.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by fun2drive

The sensor is dual use as in sensor level indicator and temperature sensor. As such it reads the capacitance of the oil and when you get condensate it changes what that capacitance should read and throws a code.
That is why at times changing the oil corrects the problem.
Hard to say that is your issue but do you have that issue if you drive at highway speeds for an hour? They would flash all the condensation out...

This is not totally accurate. It is a dual use sensor where it measures the quality of the oil and level of the oil. Both data are generated by determining the capacitance of the oil. The sensor is a capacitor where the oil is used as the dielectric. The lower section of the sensor measures oil quality, the upper part measures oil level. The oil quality data is one of several data that is used by the CBS to determine the oil change interval, not the sole determining data set.

The capacitance of the oil is temperature dependent, so the oil sensor also has a temperature probe to determine the temperature of the oil. Once the oil is at operating temperature the capacitance data is then used by the CBS to determine the oil level. I believe that you let the car idle a bit too long at start up as a previous Poster said. Also upon start up the system shows the previous oil level reading until the system makes a new reading.

[dsjr2006]

Originally Posted by AlanH

A couple nights ago, when I started up my car, I wanted it to warm up a little first before driving off. After a few minutes, a Low Engine Oil light warning message came up, saying that it is not safe to continue to drive this car. I went into the car information screen and ENGINE OIL had a green OK next to it.

I just had the oil changed around 6 months ago, ~4k miles ago at Stevens Creek BMW in San Jose, CA. The HPFP and the low side fuel pressure sensor was also changed around the same time.

I proceeded to turn off my car, and did a visual inspection around. No leaks on the ground as the quick google search on my phone said.

After a few minutes of the car being off, I turned it back on, and the warning message flashed once before turning off. Has anybody had this issue? Should I be worried?

Thanks,
Alan

The screen with the 'OK' simply means it doesn't need to be changed. It you go to the screen with the oil level either in idrive or in the cluster I'm sure it will indicate that the oil is indeed low.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by dsjr2006

The screen with the 'OK' simply means it doesn't need to be changed. It you go to the screen with the oil level either in idrive or in the cluster I'm sure it will indicate that the oil is indeed low.

No. The "OK" message means there is sufficient oil to operate the engine. The E90 has two oil level reading messages 1) a static level reading that says "OK"; 2) a bar graph that represents the percentage of the top (7th) quart of oil.

[dsjr2006]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

No. The "OK" message means there is sufficient oil to operate the engine. The E90 has two oil level reading messages 1) a static level reading that says "OK"; 2) a bar graph that represents the percentage of the top (7th) quart of oil.

There is a menu that's tells you when various services need to be performed like oil change and brake pads. That is what I was referring to. That particular screen doesn't indicate level at all.