Can't check oil level

MaxOctane · 11-11-2023, 07:49 PM

Just bought a used 2017 F80, and when I try to check engine oil level, the "start measurement" is grayed out, and it won't let me run the measurement. Yes the car is fully warmed up and on level ground in my garage. I've tried on several occasions.

So I do some research and the first thing that comes up is a bad oil level sensor - however, most of the symptoms I've seen for a bad oil level sensor are different than what I'm experiencing.

I found a thread here that a bootmod3 tune caused this exact issue, and that it was a known issue. Problem is, I don't know if I have a tune or not, and the previous owner seems to think it doesn't. Is there a way to check to see if my car has a tune on it? I still have a K+DCAN from bimmergeeks from my older F30, but I don't know much about it. Would I be able to check without buying a license? Thanks, any help would be appreciated.

Schemxr · 11-11-2023, 08:11 PM

if you have bimmerlink ($30ish on app store) you can connect to the car and read each module in the car to see if there is some error. maybe there will be an error and help you pinpoint the problem

b_w. · 11-12-2023, 09:55 AM

I can't remember exactly but does the same thing for me if I have the clutch in. I am a 6mt though. Are you in neutral?

MaxOctane · 11-12-2023, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b_w.

I can't remember exactly but does the same thing for me if I have the clutch in. I am a 6mt though. Are you in neutral?

Yea, I have a 6MT, clutch is not pressed, I'm just sitting in my garage, shifter in N (and it indicates that that it is in N on the instrument cluster) with the parking brake on. The "Start measurement" option is just grayed out.
I've tried a number of things to no avail. I sent an email to PTF, I'm hoping they can look up my VIN to see if a previous owner has purchased a license for this car.

hC1001 · 11-13-2023, 11:24 AM

Have you tried again after driving it around? Just leave the screen on the oil measurement and see if it is selectable during your drive at a red light or stop sign.

MaxOctane · 11-13-2023, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hC1001

Have you tried again after driving it around? Just leave the screen on the oil measurement and see if it is selectable during your drive at a red light or stop sign.

Yea, I've done that too. I also did hear back from PTF saying that my car has not been tuned by them. I was thinking I need to replace oil level sensor when I ran into a thread on a different forum for the same exact problem. And that it turned out that: "Error code stored saying low oil level and start stop fault somehow "stuck" on the info memory side of errors" and by clearing "stored history logs" with bimmerlink did the trick. I've got a bluetooth ODBII link coming in the mail tomorrow along with bimmerlink, will try that next.

hC1001 · 11-14-2023, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaxOctane

Yea, I've done that too. I also did hear back from PTF saying that my car has not been tuned by them. I was thinking I need to replace oil level sensor when I ran into a thread on a different forum for the same exact problem. And that it turned out that: "Error code stored saying low oil level and start stop fault somehow "stuck" on the info memory side of errors" and by clearing "stored history logs" with bimmerlink did the trick. I've got a bluetooth ODBII link coming in the mail tomorrow along with bimmerlink, will try that next.

Goodluck. That was gonna be my next thing to recommend. Scan the car with Ista or esys. Bimmercode should work too since its BMW specific and will read the different modules. I would scan the codes, review them and then delete. Drive the car around for a bit and see if any codes come up again.

I assume deleting all the saved codes is what they mean by stored history logs.

MaxOctane · 11-15-2023, 08:54 AM

No luck. I bought an ODBLink CX and Bimmerlink. I had a number of codes including some misfires I'm not sure I should be concerned about. I deleted all of the codes it would let me, some codes it wouldn't or couldn't at least. There were no permanent codes.

The interesting thing is, is you can create a dashboard for sensors, and I threw a few of them up on the dashboard including "Raw value oil level" and the value I was getting would change based on my driving which seems to indicate the oil level is being monitored by what I can only assume is the oil level sensor. Perhaps driving around more after the errors would cleared will help. I'm not super confident.

I'm going to remove the pan later today and get some eyes on the sensor. A few videos I've seen show it soaked in oil, even though it wasn't dripping to the floor. Perhaps an oil soaked connector would cause this. Otherwise I've no clue what else to do other than buy a new sensor.

Nyc911 · 11-23-2023, 06:22 AM

Did you get to the bottom of this I’m having a similar issue as you, but my oil service last due suddenly came on which greyed out the measure oil function. Mine started after I flashed a new BM3 custom tune

MaxOctane · 11-25-2023, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyc911

Did you get to the bottom of this I’m having a similar issue as you, but my oil service last due suddenly came on which greyed out the measure oil function. Mine started after I flashed a new BM3 custom tune

No I have not. I figured I'll just replace the oil level sensor at my next oil change here soon and hope that fixes it. Like I said, I'd seen other threads from people who had this issue after a BM3 tune - you might consider re-flashing, or flashing back to stock to see if that fixes it and contacting PTF to see what you might do. They *should* be able to provide tunes that don't break critical features like this one.

Nyc911 · 11-27-2023, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaxOctane

No I have not. I figured I'll just replace the oil level sensor at my next oil change here soon and hope that fixes it. Like I said, I'd seen other threads from people who had this issue after a BM3 tune - you might consider re-flashing, or flashing back to stock to see if that fixes it and contacting PTF to see what you might do. They *should* be able to provide tunes that don't break critical features like this one.

I also replaced the oil sensor thinking that would fix it but it didn’t. I just reached out to PTF about the issues as well

When I flashed back to stock it was able to reset but as soon as I reflashed my custom tune it came back on in like 30 secs after start up

MaxOctane · 12-12-2023, 10:19 PM

I had a couple of errors on bimmerlink that I overlooked, one was oil temperature sensor and the other was fuel low pressure sensor. Those sensors sit under the intake manifold/throttlebody like 2 inches apart and I had my suspicions, and when I took the intake off I was right. A rat had made a nest there and chewed the wires to those two sensors. It'd been that way a long time, long before I bought it.

Anyway, I patched the wires, put everything back together, the DME is reading the sensors and now I can check the oil level! What a huge PITA that job was though.

11-11-2023, 07:49 PM	#1
MaxOctane New Member 8 Rep 25 Posts Drives: 2014 335i xdrive Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Dallas, TX iTrader: (0)	Can't check oil level - do I have bootmod3 tune? Just bought a used 2017 F80, and when I try to check engine oil level, the "start measurement" is grayed out, and it won't let me run the measurement. Yes the car is fully warmed up and on level ground in my garage. I've tried on several occasions. So I do some research and the first thing that comes up is a bad oil level sensor - however, most of the symptoms I've seen for a bad oil level sensor are different than what I'm experiencing. I found a thread here that a bootmod3 tune caused this exact issue, and that it was a known issue. Problem is, I don't know if I have a tune or not, and the previous owner seems to think it doesn't. Is there a way to check to see if my car has a tune on it? I still have a K+DCAN from bimmergeeks from my older F30, but I don't know much about it. Would I be able to check without buying a license? Thanks, any help would be appreciated.
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11-11-2023, 08:11 PM	#2
Schemxr Private First Class 74 Rep 175 Posts Drives: BMW M4 Join Date: Oct 2021 Location: New Jersey iTrader: (0)	if you have bimmerlink ($30ish on app store) you can connect to the car and read each module in the car to see if there is some error. maybe there will be an error and help you pinpoint the problem __________________ 2015 Liberty Walk M4 F80Paul Tuned New Jersey
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11-12-2023, 09:55 AM	#3
b_w. Lieutenant 419 Rep 547 Posts Drives: F80 M3 Join Date: Jul 2022 Location: Alberta iTrader: (0)	I can't remember exactly but does the same thing for me if I have the clutch in. I am a 6mt though. Are you in neutral?
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11-13-2023, 11:24 AM	#5
hC1001 Captain 605 Rep 999 Posts Drives: E36 M3, F80 M3 Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Brooklyn, NY iTrader: (4)	Have you tried again after driving it around? Just leave the screen on the oil measurement and see if it is selectable during your drive at a red light or stop sign.
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11-15-2023, 08:54 AM	#8
MaxOctane New Member 8 Rep 25 Posts Drives: 2014 335i xdrive Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Dallas, TX iTrader: (0)	No luck. I bought an ODBLink CX and Bimmerlink. I had a number of codes including some misfires I'm not sure I should be concerned about. I deleted all of the codes it would let me, some codes it wouldn't or couldn't at least. There were no permanent codes. The interesting thing is, is you can create a dashboard for sensors, and I threw a few of them up on the dashboard including "Raw value oil level" and the value I was getting would change based on my driving which seems to indicate the oil level is being monitored by what I can only assume is the oil level sensor. Perhaps driving around more after the errors would cleared will help. I'm not super confident. I'm going to remove the pan later today and get some eyes on the sensor. A few videos I've seen show it soaked in oil, even though it wasn't dripping to the floor. Perhaps an oil soaked connector would cause this. Otherwise I've no clue what else to do other than buy a new sensor.
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11-23-2023, 06:22 AM	#9
Nyc911 First Lieutenant 190 Rep 317 Posts Drives: Porsche 997.1 Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: NYC iTrader: (4)	Did you get to the bottom of this I’m having a similar issue as you, but my oil service last due suddenly came on which greyed out the measure oil function. Mine started after I flashed a new BM3 custom tune
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12-12-2023, 10:19 PM	#12
MaxOctane New Member 8 Rep 25 Posts Drives: 2014 335i xdrive Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Dallas, TX iTrader: (0)	SOLVED I had a couple of errors on bimmerlink that I overlooked, one was oil temperature sensor and the other was fuel low pressure sensor. Those sensors sit under the intake manifold/throttlebody like 2 inches apart and I had my suspicions, and when I took the intake off I was right. A rat had made a nest there and chewed the wires to those two sensors. It'd been that way a long time, long before I bought it. Anyway, I patched the wires, put everything back together, the DME is reading the sensors and now I can check the oil level! What a huge PITA that job was though.
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