Why's my oil warning light coming on?

I can't figure this out. If I drive 5-10 minutes, then turn off the engine for a few minutes (i.e., visiting an ATM, filling up with gas, etc.), when I re-start the car, the oil light comes on and goes off as usual, but when I take off, the oil light comes comes on for about 5-10 seconds. I've obviously checked the oil level several times, and it's fine. This doesn't happen when starting off from a cold start. This wasn't happening before, and just started a month or two after I had an oil service by a Bay Area 'tuner' that I'm less than impressed with (had them do a coolant service at the same time, and I was leaking cooling a few weeks later).

Any ideas what might be going on? It's a 2001 330i with 65K miles.

Thanks.

Could be your oil level sensor.

Ditto. I keep seeing this all over the board. I got mine at AutohausAZ for cheapest and with free shipping... You will have to drain oil when you replace it.

Thanks... kind of what I suspected might be the problem, but I guess I expected the symptoms to be more erratic and random.

I had that same problem.. so I changed the oil and the light is gone

HI if the tech that done the service left the ignition on while he drained the oil he would have fried the oil level switch.

The switch needs to be emersed in oil to allow it to keep cool thats what a BMW trained tech told me, he went on to tell me that he had changed a lot of oil level sensors due to this.

Thanks for the info e.barr. That sounds about right. Considering the clowns that worked on my car, that wouldn't be surprising.

If you're going to go OEM, your oil level sensor is 12617508003 $99.80 @ www.mileoneparts.com.

Definitely your oil level sensor going bad. I had the same thing happen. Just get it replaced the next you get your oil changed and keep an eye on you oil level in the meantime. I'm sure you'll be fine.

yea ive been having the same problem....how exactly do you change that sensor?

Originally Posted by cullyboiracin

yea ive been having the same problem....how exactly do you change that sensor?

It's something you may as well just take to your mechanic to do. It should be done at the same time as when you get your oil changed, as you have to drain it anyways.



It's item #14 and it IS accessible if you can get your car up you might be able to get it replaced, but it probably won't cost much in labor and the sensor itself is about $130. There's just a few hex bolts that hold it in with a gasket. Simple, but not terribly expensive. Hope this helps.

These things are very sensitive. When I disconnected my battery to replace my steering wheel (M3) and not set off the "air bag" light, this started happening to me. Still haven't replaced mine yet. I check the oil level at every other fill up as a matter of habit anyway so it's kind of unnecessary.

Yeah, I looked at my Bentley manual. Looks pretty straight-forward, but since I just had my oil changed, I'll just wait for the next one and change it then.

So am I correct in assuming the yellow oil light is the oil level, whereas a a red oil light is oil pressure? Looks like it's less common for the oil pressure sensor to fail.

And with this, I started thinking about what we'd all do with E90s, since, if I recall correctly, they don't have dipsticks? So I would have added a quart of oil to a full system?

Ahhhhh... E90/E92 dipstick mod!!!

I'm sure that the yellow oil light means you need to add oil ,it's telling you it's getting low....red light means you need to add oil now because it's is way below the the full level

^ haha I dont think so

Red light means all of your oil pressure is gone and if you continue to operate the vehicle you risk catastrophic engine damage

So other than being a nuisance, is there a point to change the sensor? $100 for 10 seconds of time now and again doesn't seem worth it. Mine just started doing this a couple weeks ago. Dangit. Do they get dirty?

well i guess if you dont replace it then you will need to be the sensor i.e. regularly checking your oil level because you wont have the luxury of a warning light

I would be more worried if it was your oil pressure sensor though, as i am pretty sure there are two seperate sensors one for level and one for pressure

could be wrong though

subscribed. how much is aftermarket? is it better to go OEM?

Originally Posted by NicB.

subscribed. how much is aftermarket? is it better to go OEM?

pm'ed ya Nic