OT: e30 question

[liquidtiger720]

I posted this in the 3 series forum, but there isnt much traffic there. I hope you guys dont mind me posting it here.

okay, so my buddy who just bought an e30 318i calls me to help him do an oil change. He's all frantic because he see no oil on his dipstick (or very little at all). He even poured in ~1 -2 quarts of oil to get to my house. So, when I got it up, I looked for leaks...nilch. Just water because he had the ac on. We decided to just do an oil change. We drained about 5 quarts of oil out and refilled it with 4 (specified by the owners manual). At the end of the third quart, the dipstick showed 1/4 up between the two lines. We poured in the last quart, drove it out of the garage and then checked it again. The oil was back WAAAY below the line.
I really don't know what is going on. Any help would be apreciated. Thank you.

[A2 Motorsport]

I had a 1984 e30 318i for a few years. Are you sure it has the correct dipstick? Different models have different lengths and maybe someone replaced the original. Did you push the dipstick in all the way when you checked the level? Has the oil pan been replaced with an aftermarket high capacity unit? Actually, I've never seen a high capacity for the 1800cc engine but I'm trying to think of anything. It's really strange that you saw oil on the dipstick with 3 quarts but way lower with 4 quarts. If there are no leaks and the engine isn't showing any signs of stress then the oil must be doing it's job.

Good luck.

Chris
A2 Motorsport
www.a2motorsport.com

[casurfer911]

try www.r3vlimited.com they have insane e30 traffic there.