E46 320d Oil light flashes red at idle

[Pfw28]

Welcome to the forum, bet your weather is worse than ours! The oil level sensor is in the sump, and known to give trouble on occasion. This is the yellow light. The red means low pressure, bad news as stated, but could be caused by your oil itself rather than the pump. Had similar symptoms on an N42 1.8 which turned out to be the valve control system leaking oil. Get it checked, new engine otherwise! Oil rings will usually give a blue smoke, not white, but with all the emission control gadgets even this is not always true. White smoke is water or brake fluid getting into the combustion chambers, leaky head gasket perhaps. Has the car ever overheated? Good luck, and say hi to Santa for us down here! :rollsmile:

 

[moranor@axis]

avrinder dont worry... if it comes on yellow for a little after starting its the level sensor that is faulty... check your oil often and get it changed soon as you can...

if it comes on yellow after you turn the car off the oil is a little low...

 

[avrinder]

First of all! Thanks for all the replies! very kind of you all! )

I bought the car last week, and since then i've been checking the oil dipstick every day.. surprisingly it's still the same.

And! There's no white smoke anymore. I guess the cause was the bad weather that we had last night. After all I have to keep in mind that i live in Norway -.-. The winters here are freezing, -30 C (about -21 F) is normal here during winter.

I got an appointment at my local workshop, they're going to check it next week hopefully. I'll keep you guys posted

Off topic now: Does anyone have any experience with "Simons exhaust" or "Supersprint"? Thinking about changing the exhaust system so i can get a better sound of that straight6.

 

[kugs330]

First of all! Thanks for all the replies! very kind of you all! )

I bought the car last week, and since then i've been checking the oil dipstick every day.. surprisingly it's still the same.

And! There's no white smoke anymore. I guess the cause was the bad weather that we had last night. After all I have to keep in mind that i live in Norway -.-. The winters here are freezing, -30 C (about -21 F) is normal here during winter.

I got an appointment at my local workshop, they're going to check it next week hopefully. I'll keep you guys posted

Off topic now: Does anyone have any experience with "Simons exhaust" or "Supersprint"? Thinking about changing the exhaust system so i can get a better sound of that straight6.

-30 C thats cold bro and we complain in durbs when the temp gets to 16 C :roflol: anyway glad to here your cabby is fine yep the white smoke could have been combustion from the engine just the snow melting and turning into water vapour. Sorry i havent come across those exhaust systems. Post some pics of your car.

 

[avrinder]

-30 C thats cold bro and we complain in durbs when the temp gets to 16 C :roflol: anyway glad to here your cabby is fine yep the white smoke could have been combustion from the engine just the snow melting and turning into water vapour. Sorry i havent come across those exhaust systems. Post some pics of your car.

There's no snow here yet btw. So i still have my summer tires on- replica classic hartge 19".. proud haha. Problem is that almost every enthusiast bimmer owner here in Norway has them.. well most !
Durbs as in Durban, South Africa? My god. The weather there must be awesome!??! Having a good sportscar there sounds awesome. There's almost no supercars here in Norway, even though it's one of the richest countries in the world when it comes to how rich each person is

However, the cars here are expensive as hell. a brand new bmw m5 for instance with top equipment costs 2.2 million (383 475 USD). I know it's insane

anyway lets stick with the thread. I'll update this post once i've fixed the problem! Meanwhile take care!

 

[kugs330]

-30 C thats cold bro and we complain in durbs when the temp gets to 16 C :roflol: anyway glad to here your cabby is fine yep the white smoke could have been combustion from the engine just the snow melting and turning into water vapour. Sorry i havent come across those exhaust systems. Post some pics of your car.

There's no snow here yet btw. So i still have my summer tires on- replica classic hartge 19".. proud haha. Problem is that almost every enthusiast bimmer owner here in Norway has them.. well most !
Durbs as in Durban, South Africa? My god. The weather there must be awesome!??! Having a good sportscar there sounds awesome. There's almost no supercars here in Norway, even though it's one of the richest countries in the world when it comes to how rich each person is

However, the cars here are expensive as hell. a brand new bmw m5 for instance with top equipment costs 2.2 million (383 475 USD). I know it's insane

anyway lets stick with the thread. I'll update this post once i've fixed the problem! Meanwhile take care!

Yep weather is great here in durban well not at the moment its raining outside got to put some pics of your ride up show us what you guys are up to with your beemers on that side. Damm the cars are expensive that side. Yep our cars run wonderful here because we on the coast we do have alot of supercars running around here they not cheap though.

 

[avrinder]

ahh lucky bastards!!! The average man here is rich compared to the rest of the world, so the living standards here are pretty high!
That's why everything is expensive in Norway Clothes, cars, petrol and not to mention food!

I'm from Oslo, which is the capital of Norway. So there's not a lot of car entusiasts here, more rich people.
On the countrysides however, things are different! There are A L O T of enthusiasts there who take care of their cars. Popular cars amongst those people are Bmws, Audis, old mercs, and old volvos. jdm cars here are rare haha (Supra etc)

BMW is the biggest car enthusiast community here in Norway. We have several meet ups each year where people meet up with their BMW and party hard. Theres also drit competitions etc There are also car meet ups/events that are for every one

Some pics:

I highly recommend watching this video!

Worth 11 mins!

 

[kugs330]

ahh lucky bastards!!! The average man here is rich compared to the rest of the world, so the living standards here are pretty high!
That's why everything is expensive in Norway Clothes, cars, petrol and not to mention food!

I'm from Oslo, which is the capital of Norway. So there's not a lot of car entusiasts here, more rich people.
On the countrysides however, things are different! There are A L O T of enthusiasts there who take care of their cars. Popular cars amongst those people are Bmws, Audis, old mercs, and old volvos. jdm cars here are rare haha (Supra etc)

BMW is the biggest car enthusiast community here in Norway. We have several meet ups each year where people meet up with their BMW and party hard. Theres also drit competitions etc There are also car meet ups/events that are for every one

Some pics:

I highly recommend watching this video!

Worth 11 mins!

:bravo: thats tops those rides are lovely are there a lot of e 30s on that side?

 

[avrinder]

Update:
Stupid mechanic! What an idiot
I told him that it's the oil pump that has to be replaced. Instead he decided to change oil and change an oil switch. Now the oil lamp lights everytime i don't hit the gass (the light is always on when the car is idle)
Pissed at the moment. Going to get it fixed by BMW instead. Atleast they know what they're doing.

---

Hi all

After a lot of testing it turned out to be the sensor, what a relief. All sorted now, only cost R900 for everything.

thanks again everyone.

What sensor did you replace? please reply!

 

[Cor]

Hi guys

I have a 2005 E46 320d. The oil light started coming on when i am at stops and idling. i checked oil and it was fine. Car was serviced 4 month ago. It also doesnt seem to happen when car is cold. Has anyone had this issues before?

Thanks
TP

I drive a 2004 320D and have exactly the same problem. The red oil pressure light only comes on when I have driven for a while and only when it is hot outside. When I drive in the early morning or at night it doesn't come on. Also the light doesn't stay on, it is only when you stop at a traffic light or stop street. If you ref the motor only slightly the light goes off again. I have checked the oil level and it is fine.
I have 10 thumbs so will not attempt to repair this myself, so where in Pta can I take the vehicle. I don't want to take it to the agents as I cant afford another bond on my home. Please help.
I live near Montana so if anybody know of a reliable workshop in this area?

 

[Cor]

Some feedback. I did some further research on the interwebs and looks like this is a common fault on BMs. Most people get sorted when changing oil and filter and use 5W40 full synthetic oil. Others say to replace the oil pressure switch. Seeing that my car is only 4K km away from a service, I decided to change the oil, filter and the switch. Total cost R600 and paid R350 for a guy to come out to my house and replace oil and switch. I took it out for a spin and it seems to be fine now, the light doesn't come anymore. :joy:
Time will tell if this was indeed the solution.

O yes the switch did look like it was leaking oil so I think that was the real culprit.