[jbellk75rt]

Hit the e-dipstick on the way home and the oil level didn't show up at all. What the heck?? Just changed oil about 800 miles ago and filled to the middle of the gauge and haven't seen the car smoking. Got home expecting an engine explosion all the way. Checked under the hood for leaks and everything looked dry. Had a little less than a half quart left over from the oil change and put that in. Next day started driving to buy oil less than a mile away and checked the e-dipstick again and now it registered max amount of oil. So I guess it burned about a quarter of a quart which is acceptable to me but I sure expected the gauge to have a bigger range.

[ctuna]

People get fooled by what they expect from the dumb ass electronic gauge
and what it actually does.
It only measures the top quart of the 7 quarts in the oil pan. (or 7 quart total)
Also it takes it up to 20 minutes to update with the Engine running.
Lots of people overfill because they don't know this.
If you change your oil use the electronic dipstick to see where you are
starting out from every time and check it while your driving at least once
a week or more depending on how much driving you are doing.
It's the best you can do without a real dipstick.

Light shouldn't come on till it's all the way at the bottom of the first quart.
Also it may take several drives for the gauge to settle down.
If you where quart down and you put half in it the electronic display should
still read a half quart down but it will say OK to drive but you will not have
as much of a buffer before you have to add again.

If you are use to a dipstick this can screw you up .
And there are a lot of people that have been using a dip stick for decades.
With a physical dipstick the results do not depend on you running the Engine
for 20 minutes and hoping the electronic sensor is working properly
and you can tell something about the condition of the oil by looking at
it and feeling it .

Last week the neighbor across the street came over in a panic because her
oil light went off. I had to explain this to her .
I won't have to check the dip stick on my electric car though.

[jbellk75rt]

And now I know "The rest of the story." Thank you ctuna. This e-gauge seems an answer to a question no one asked. I much prefer a dipstick.

[Efthreeoh]

Here, this should help...

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1533444

[Efthreeoh]

You bought a BMW, not a 20-year old tech Toyota.