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Engine temp before checking oil

2K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  UGS_Tom 
#1 ·
What engine temp is high enough to check oil level ?
 
#2 · (Edited)
To ensure a correct display, only check the oil level on the warm driven engine.
BMW recommends checking the oil level after a ride of at least 50km. Keep vertically and wait 5 minutes so that the oil can collect in the tub
The show glass should be half full. The higher the temp, the higher the level.

...somewhat around 80-90 °C should be ok,
 
#9 ·
FWIW, I checked the oil level with the bike completely cold a few days ago, and then again last night after a 30-minute ride home (and after letting the bike sit for about 5 minutes) and the oil level looked very similar with both a cold and warm engine.

As I've mentioned in a few previous posts, I put a calendar reminder in my phone to check my oil level every two weeks. Doing that should ensure my oil level never gets too low.
 
#11 ·
being somewhat compulsive obsessive when it comes to pre- and after-flight checks, I am actually writing down the odometer count, the date, the oil temp and the level more or less after each ride longer than 1 hour.
depending on what one has been up to (i.e. looking at the roadside flowers or collecting bouqets, as I call it, up to scraping the tarmac or burning the Autobahn) and outside temperatures the engine temps read between 80°C and 105°C.
That is roughly 3 minutes after turning off the engine. I time that by what the behavioural scientist call ritualization, i.e repetitive actions. When I put the bike in the front of the shed I have a whole little routine with taking off gloves, helmet etc and preparing to push the UGS in which amounts to about the 3 minutes.
Writing the "measurements" down has actually shown me a couple of things. As to how much they are actually usable for someone else I don't know...
  • Slow rides with relatively low revs appear to be using slightly more oil, though the engine temps are usually also lower
  • 10°C difference in oil temperature appear to result in a difference of oil level easily touching 3-4 mm
  • the consumption in the beginning (i.e. first 10k km) with semi synthetic oil appeared to be higher than with mineral oil
  • 3 minutes difference in reading the level (i.e. 6 min after shut down) can amount to a difference of a quarter of the measuring glass !
  • I probably overfilled the UGS in the beginning :cool:
  • the BMW workshops have a tendency to overfill the oil after a change, resulting also in the characteristic smell of hot engine oil
  • my UGS used roughly 150 ml per 1000 km for the first 10k km, 100 ml afterwards with the mineral oil and has reduced the consumption to almost not measurable after 25k km.
  • when "overfilled" at the BMW dealer's it will still burn off the top though....
maybe this is of interest to anybody ?
ride on
Bernhard
 
#12 ·
  • I probably overfilled the UGS in the beginning :cool:
  • the BMW workshops have a tendency to overfill the oil after a change, resulting also in the characteristic smell of hot engine oil
  • my UGS used roughly 150 ml per 1000 km for the first 10k km, 100 ml afterwards with the mineral oil and has reduced the consumption to almost not measurable after 25k km
  • when "overfilled" at the BMW dealer's it will still burn off the top though....

Bernhard
[/QUOTE]

Same experience to me 😇
 
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