[ChesterCopperpot1]

Hello. I just had my valve cover gaskets replaced, and when I got the car back, I could not check the oil level. I called the shop that did the gaskets -- it's in Atlanta, I am in Nashville -- and they said it is just the oil level sensor that is damaged. The shop here in Nashville says my ECU has been damaged from using the wrong ground bolt on the engine block. That seems illogical, but I have no clue. This is not an issue where I am simply not letting the car warm up to check the oil level; I am waiting for the car to reach normal operating temperature. Also, the oil temperature gauge is working. Has anyone ever run into this?

[j0nblayz]

Hopefully it’s not your ECU, however I had the exact same issue. I had a faulty ECU which causes the oil level sensor to not show on my 535i. Dealership can do a quick scan to confirm if ecu is faulty or not

[ChesterCopperpot1]

Originally Posted by j0nblayz

Hopefully it’s not your ECU, however I had the exact same issue. I had a faulty ECU which causes the oil level sensor to not show on my 535i. Dealership can do a quick scan to confirm if ecu is faulty or not

So you have heard of the ECU going bad and affecting this function?

[535_BiTurbo]

Might be time for a new ecu

[ChesterCopperpot1]

Originally Posted by 535_BiTurbo

Might be time for a new ecu

How does an ECU just go bad? I am trying to get rid of it. I do not want to put anymore money into until I can get out of negative equity hell.

[NinetyEight740]

If the ground bolt for the engine harness has been left loose, you absolutely need a new dme.

[ChesterCopperpot1]

Originally Posted by NinetyEight740

If the ground bolt for the engine harness has been left loose, you absolutely need a new dme.

I wouldn't even think the car would run with a loose ground.

[550iFreak]

Hehehe......
This sounds like a good case of a BSD fault. I accidentally left a ground bolt loose after I did my large valve seal project on my 550i. It leads to three main components of the BSD system.

Oil level sensor
Alternator
DME

I changed out the alternator, no change
Changed out the oil level sensor, works beautifully.

Go the cheapest route first, and change out the sensor. I replaced the alternator as a precaution.

I'm happily will spend 250 dollars on a low mileage x5M alternator and a 7 dollar oil level sensor from the junkyard 2007 750li vs a 3k plus dme......and that isnt the issue lol.

Change out the sensor, make sure the ground bolts that holds the injection harness are secured/torqued

report back.

[ChesterCopperpot1]

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Hehehe......
This sounds like a good case of a BSD fault. I accidentally left a ground bolt loose after I did my large valve seal project on my 550i. It leads to three main components of the BSD system.

Oil level sensor
Alternator
DME

I changed out the alternator, no change
Changed out the oil level sensor, works beautifully.

Go the cheapest route first, and change out the sensor. I replaced the alternator as a precaution.

I'm happily will spend 250 dollars on a low mileage x5M alternator and a 7 dollar oil level sensor from the junkyard 2007 750li vs a 3k plus dme......and that isnt the issue lol.

Change out the sensor, make sure the ground bolts that holds the injection harness are secured/torqued

report back.

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Hehehe......
This sounds like a good case of a BSD fault. I accidentally left a ground bolt loose after I did my large valve seal project on my 550i. It leads to three main components of the BSD system.

Oil level sensor
Alternator
DME

I changed out the alternator, no change
Changed out the oil level sensor, works beautifully.

Go the cheapest route first, and change out the sensor. I replaced the alternator as a precaution.

I'm happily will spend 250 dollars on a low mileage x5M alternator and a 7 dollar oil level sensor from the junkyard 2007 750li vs a 3k plus dme......and that isnt the issue lol.

Change out the sensor, make sure the ground bolts that holds the injection harness are secured/torqued

report back.

Is the BSD a cable leading from those components to the DME? Have any photographs of the ground bolt that should be used? Any online literature for me to read? The shop also said my alternator needed to be replaced. Have had no issues charging and I've driven the car to and from Memphis (I'm in Nashville). That was before I knew the seriousness of the issue.

[550iFreak]

I've done alot of research after founding the issue of the oil level inactive. Newtisinfo carry alot of info in terms of the system functionality.

Essentially, it is a special cable that transfer delicate data between the oil sensor, the alternator and the dme. The dme controls the voltage output and sends/receive info to the alternator. The efficient dynamics( charging while coasting) uses the bad system.

If it fails( and I know this as I test this) the alternator goes to basic charging of 13.5 to 13.7 volts.

It is okay to drive but your battery will die out earlier due to irregular charging.

If it is working, your charging spikes up to 15.2 or so volts as you coast and then 13.5 or so as you drive.....and obviously your oil level will function.

So......your sensor has a bsd sensor, the alternator has a bsd "generator " if you will. And the dme gets all the info.

[550iFreak]

So try the easiest and cheapest first. Oil sensor.

[550iFreak]

Btw....call the place who did the repair.....they are the ones who messed with it last. Get some reimbursement.

[ChesterCopperpot1]

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Btw....call the place who did the repair.....they are the ones who messed with it last. Get some reimbursement.

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Hehehe......
This sounds like a good case of a BSD fault. I accidentally left a ground bolt loose after I did my large valve seal project on my 550i. It leads to three main components of the BSD system.

Oil level sensor
Alternator
DME

I changed out the alternator, no change
Changed out the oil level sensor, works beautifully.

Go the cheapest route first, and change out the sensor. I replaced the alternator as a precaution.

I'm happily will spend 250 dollars on a low mileage x5M alternator and a 7 dollar oil level sensor from the junkyard 2007 750li vs a 3k plus dme......and that isnt the issue lol.

Change out the sensor, make sure the ground bolts that holds the injection harness are secured/torqued

report back.

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Btw....call the place who did the repair.....they are the ones who messed with it last. Get some reimbursement.

Called em and they swear the DME isn't damaged. Do you have any photos of what the ground on top of the valve cover is supposed to look like?

[ChesterCopperpot1]

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Btw....call the place who did the repair.....they are the ones who messed with it last. Get some reimbursement.

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Hehehe......
This sounds like a good case of a BSD fault. I accidentally left a ground bolt loose after I did my large valve seal project on my 550i. It leads to three main components of the BSD system.

Oil level sensor
Alternator
DME

I changed out the alternator, no change
Changed out the oil level sensor, works beautifully.

Go the cheapest route first, and change out the sensor. I replaced the alternator as a precaution.

I'm happily will spend 250 dollars on a low mileage x5M alternator and a 7 dollar oil level sensor from the junkyard 2007 750li vs a 3k plus dme......and that isnt the issue lol.

Change out the sensor, make sure the ground bolts that holds the injection harness are secured/torqued

report back.

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Btw....call the place who did the repair.....they are the ones who messed with it last. Get some reimbursement.

I found this:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...49679-2750.pdf

I hope and pray my DME is not fried.

[550iFreak]

Sorry, I was at a seminar and was taken to and from there. Also my phone was at 1% while answering the above post lol.

I see you found the newtisinfo page. That is specifically the harness I was taking about.

You know the sad part? It was only ONE bolt that was slightly loose that caused the demise of my oil sensor and alternator.

The dme should be okay since the oil sensor and the alternator takes the blunt force first. They are more sensitive and if the connection is broken, it won't hurt the dme or others.

It is a Russian roulette, 1 of the 3 chance that will end badly on a costly dme. I hope and pray also that is just your sensor or alternator.

But triple check those bolts. Allen head, I believe it is a 5 or 6mm. Use a ratchet.

[ChesterCopperpot1]

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Sorry, I was at a seminar and was taken to and from there. Also my phone was at 1% while answering the above post lol.

I see you found the newtisinfo page. That is specifically the harness I was taking about.

You know the sad part? It was only ONE bolt that was slightly loose that caused the demise of my oil sensor and alternator.

The dme should be okay since the oil sensor and the alternator takes the blunt force first. They are more sensitive and if the connection is broken, it won't hurt the dme or others.

It is a Russian roulette, 1 of the 3 chance that will end badly on a costly dme. I hope and pray also that is just your sensor or alternator.

But triple check those bolts. Allen head, I believe it is a 5 or 6mm. Use a ratchet.

So we checked the alternator while idling. Putting out 14.3 volts at idle. So alternator is good. We also found a plug unconnected in the alternator. The plug looks pretty mangled but we plugged it back in. Still measurement inactive. We are gonna check grounds and replace the sensor tomorrow. Question is do I need to reset anything to get measurement back active?

[550iFreak]

Wow....disconnected alternator wire. That isn't right.

Alternator can still be faulty regardless if it charges fine since it has a bsd function integrated to the alternator. You'll know only of its function when you are coasting( your mpg gauge goes to the blue battery side).

I hope it is the sensor. I have one extra laying around in case but never used it.

No reset required. I literally plugged the replacement while the faulty one is still in the pan to diagnose the issue and my oil level became active, of course it was saying it was reading, please wait.

[ChesterCopperpot1]

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

Wow....disconnected alternator wire. That isn't right.

Alternator can still be faulty regardless if it charges fine since it has a bsd function integrated to the alternator. You'll know only of its function when you are coasting( your mpg gauge goes to the blue battery side).

I hope it is the sensor. I have one extra laying around in case but never used it.

No reset required. I literally plugged the replacement while the faulty one is still in the pan to diagnose the issue and my oil level became active, of course it was saying it was reading, please wait.

So if I'm driving and coasting and the MPG gauge goes to the blue battery side it's good?

[550iFreak]

It will do that regardless, but you wont know until you are physically measuring the output. The hidden message will show you the parameters while you drive.

[550iFreak]

[ChesterCopperpot1]

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

It will do that regardless, but you wont know until you are physically measuring the output. The hidden message will show you the parameters while you drive.

I am way out of my league here. How do you measure alternator output while driving? I just used a volt meter, hooked red to red, black to black, and it read 14.3.

[550iFreak]

As you coast, the voltage will spike to 15.2volts or so. Then when you step on the gas to accelerate, the voltage will go back down to normal charge of 13 to 14volts.

I'm 100 percent sure it wont work if your oil is inactive.

Watch the YouTube video to show you how to get to the menu. You wont need your multimeter after this. It is very useful for diagnostics.