[M5 Hayden]

As title says, is the oil level correct when the car is warm and turned off for around 10 mins or from cold? Last oil change was 5000km ago and now when it’s cold the dipstick shows at minimum and when it’s warm and left for about 10 mins the dipstick says maximum.

2007 BMW 335d

Many Thanks

[Owen81]

Verify in the manual but I believe it says to have the car at operating temp, then shut it off on level ground and check after 5 mins.

[lnxguy]

There's no way that's right. Even if you check when cold and compare to up to temp you're not going to see almost a litre difference on the dipstick.

[Attacking Mid]

Originally Posted by lnxguy

There's no way that's right. Even if you check when cold and compare to up to temp you're not going to see almost a litre difference on the dipstick.

Agreed. I wonder if OP is pushing the dipstick in hurriedly and yanking it back out. The brief increase in pressure could push the oil out of the dipstick tube momentarily. Perhaps try inserting the dipstick and waiting a bit (maybe 15 seconds) before pulling it out to check the level. You really shouldn't see a significant difference between cold and hot.

AM.

[lnxguy]

Yup, sounds like user error.

[M5 Hayden]

Originally Posted by Attacking Mid

Agreed. I wonder if OP is pushing the dipstick in hurriedly and yanking it back out. The brief increase in pressure could push the oil out of the dipstick tube momentarily. Perhaps try inserting the dipstick and waiting a bit (maybe 15 seconds) before pulling it out to check the level. You really shouldn't see a significant difference between cold and hot.

AM.

With warm engine and inserting a clean dipstick I normally wait for around 10 seconds before I pull out again. In the owners manual (UK spec) it says I can check with cold or warm engine.

[lnxguy]

You're misreading the dipstick then. The oil level doesn't change that much warm or cold.

[krashDH]

Originally Posted by Owen81

Verify in the manual but I believe it says to have the car at operating temp, then shut it off on level ground and check after 5 mins.

This is right per the FSM

[Nadir Point]

The important thing about checking the oil is doing it regularly and consistently, looking for trends. Send a sample out for oil analysis once in awhile. Un-tuned variants are known to produce stupid levels of fuel dilution any dealer will tell you is perfectly fine.