Help on E46 325i

[Kidnapman]

Hey people maybe you guys could lend me a helping hand. Was driving home today when suddenly I noticed my Oil pressure lamp was flashing red, so I take the car over to BJ bmw to inspect. But the thing is when I got to their place and restarted my car, the lights didn't come on. So the techs there tell me they cant do anything... It doesn't end there. As soon as I get home and park in my garage, the light starts flashing again. Oddly enough when I'm in "park" the light doesn't come on. One thing I did observe while driving was when I was going down a rather steeply inclined hill the transmission would keep up shifting and downshifting by itself and the rpm need would keep jumping around. Thanks in advanced guys.

[bcrdukes]

Have you checked your oil levels?

I don't know about the E46 but on the E36 (particularly M3) on high speed lateral turns, it will detect a "low oil" level because of the oil shifting in the oil pan. It usually happens when your oil is not fully topped up.

[Kidnapman]

I checked the oil level and it's actually topped off already. I'm pretty sure the oil sensor is able to sense the oil since I wasn't really going too fast and the light also came on when I was reversing into my garage at low speed, so the oil moving around in my oil pan shouldn't be the problem.

However I just read on a couple other forums and it seems like this is a common problem for the E46. The problem is no one really knows the real cause of this.

[Tapioca]

Get your hands an OBD-II scanner and see if any codes come up. If nothing comes up, then get your hands on a Carsoft system or Peake scan tool that can read BMW specific codes that are stored in the system.

Do a visual inspection around your valve cover, particularly around left side where the oxygen sensors are. Do you see any signs of oil leakage there? A common thing to replace on the E46 is the crankcase ventilation valve (which does have an impact on oil circulation.) Are you experiencing misfires and poor acceleration also?

I think your transmission issue is unrelated to your oil one. When was the last time you had the auto transmission fluid changed?

[bcrdukes]

BTW, how many KMs on the motor/odometer. If you haven't changed your CCV, change it now.

[freakshow]

My wife's 2000 323 has the oil light come on randomly all the time. Brian Jessel said they have no clue why, been like that for a while. Peake had no codes.

[Kidnapman]

Right now I'm a just few ticks over 105,000. I'll try and get my hands on the code scanner, but something tells me not much will come out, but it's worth a try I guess.

[FOB Mainlander]

probably faulty oil level sensor.
try google that... my friend's x3 with the same problem had that replaced.

[Kidnapman]

double post

[Kidnapman]

hey guys, thread revival. Just a little update. I diagnosed the problem with a simple oil change, except this time with motul(same grade).

Fast forward to present. Got back in my after a good 2-3 weeks of no driving and as soon as I start up the engine it hesitates and an abrupt amount of shaking follows; I was literally shaking in my car with the sound of the panels moving about. This lasted a good 5 minutes. While shaking it also exhaled a large amount of white smoke, I'm assuming is accumulation of water in the engine from not driving for a long time. But oddly it smelled like rotten eggs, much like that of a car that runs on natural gas. I know this isn't considered normal, but how serious of a problem could this be?

[inv4zn]

2~3 weeks without turning on the car shouldn't have adverse effects.

For the cheapo fix, try adding fuel stabilizers - and then move on to common problems such as valves, etc.

Not too familiar with BMW's but I'm sure somebody will help out.

Be alert when you drive for the next while - I know when I was having some problems my car shut off while driving once haha

[kerunt2]

Hook up a computer scanner and check codes. Chances are your sensor is busted. Mine was giving me issues a while ago, too.