A $750k turbine M1A1 engine is loaded with sensors, but an oil quality sensor isn't one of them... wanna know why?

 

There's a thread somewhere on this forum indicating how you can reset the service interval after an oil change. When I needed to do oil changes on a frequent basis, it was worth doing it myself. At every 15-20k, I'll let somebody else do it.

 

No, I want to know if there is factual information regarding whether or not the MINI engine (R56 in particular) monitors the oil in any way.

 

I wouldn't do that during the service/warranty period though. If you did, you would never get the dealer to pay for an oil change or service.

"Sorry sir, but your car indicates it's not due for a service".

 

You seem to take the dealer at his word, but not ours? I'll bet he can't spell (or even pronounce) "spectrophotometers" or "chromatographs"

No offense intended, but the fact that the posts aren't enough for you leads me to believe that you wouldn't be able to read or understand the schematics that would provide you the factual info you seek.

Have your dealer pull one off the parts shelf and show it to you, or better yet... give you the part number. Then we could look it up on http://www.realoem.com/bmw/ .

 

I think your attack on me is out of line. You know nothing about me. The fact is, I read plenty here and elsewhere which is unverified and, sometimes, simply wrong. I am not taking my dealer at his word. I simply want to know the facts. No need for your defensiveness. The original comment that the condition of the oil is not a factor was stated as a fact.

 

I'm sorry if you think I'm attacking you. I'm not. Tone doesn't come across well in a BB, which is why I made a point to say that there was no offense intended. I also made it a point not to quote you on the claim of a sensor that tests the oil; so you wouldn't be singled out, and because others have made similar statements in other threads.

If my dealer told me what yours told you, I'd call BS until they could prove it; because my background and experience tells me it's not cost effective (nor really possible with today's technology). I would suspect that many new (particularly American) owners question the long interval between oil changes... which might lead some dealers to "reassure" customers with an answer similar to what you received (whether they believed it to be true or not).

My take on your posts was that you were "calling us out"... implying that the likelyhood of us being wrong was greater than your dealer being wrong (or dishonest). Your post saying: "No, I want factual [note your use of italics for emphasis] information..." reinforced my opinion that you were insinuating we were full of it.

Either way, it makes no difference to me and you are certainly free to believe what you like.

Again, no offense was ever intended.

 

Good point!!

 

I might be right , i might be wrong. But my own opinion is that BMW would not invest in the expensive technology that would be required to analyse oil condition in their low $$$$ cars. These type of "sensors " and associated computer equipment would be extremely expensive. I believe they rely on an advanced form of computer FUZZY LOGIC. which will calculate your oil change based on TEMP, STOPS, STARTS, DISTANCE TRAVELLED,SPEED, ACCEL ,ENGINE FUNCTIONS, ETC, ETC and it is monitoring "TIME." all the time. Thats how they do it in my opinion.

 

Ok, the formatting is all screwed up, but here's all the connections to the engine's computer. You won't see one that analyzes the oil condition (i.e.: lubricity, etc...)

A6000 DME control module

Connector overview

NumberX-pin, colorDescriptionX6000453-pin, blackPlug connector DME control moduleX6023153-pin, brownPlug connector DME control moduleX6023232-pin, grayPlug connector DME control module
Pin assignments at plug connector X60004

PinTypeDescription / Signal typeConnection /
Measuring notes1ESupply Ignition coilsPower-saving relay, terminal 15 2ESupply Fuel injectorsRelay, fuel injectors 3MGroundGround point 4MGroundGround point 5ESupply, terminal 87Fuse F05 6ESupply, terminal 87Fuse F02 7 Not occupied 8AActivation Relay, fuel injectorsRelay, fuel injectors 9 Not occupied 10E/ATD signalOBDII socket 11AActivation, fuel pump relayFuel pump relay 12AActivation Electric fan relay 2Electric fan relay 2 13AActivation Electric fan relayElectric fan relay 14ASignal, fuel tank leak diagnosis valveDiagnostic module for fuel tank leakage 15ASignal, fuel tank leak diagnosis heatingDiagnostic module for fuel tank leakage 16ESupply, terminal 30Fuse F01 17ASignal, fuel tank leak diagnosis pumpDiagnostic module for fuel tank leakage 18ESupply, terminal 87Fuse F02 19EWake-up signal, terminal 15Connector , terminal 15 wake-up signal 20ASupply Accelerator pedal moduleAccelerator pedal module 21ASupply Coolant pressure sensorCoolant pressure sensor 22EBrake light test signalBrake light switch 23 Not occupied 24 Not occupied 25AActivation Engine breather heating relayEngine breather heating relay 26EBrake light switch signalBrake light switch 27EStart signalCar access system 28AActivation, DME relayDME relay 29 Not occupied 30ESupply, terminal 87Fuse F04 31 Not occupied 32 Not occupied 33ESignal Coolant pressure sensorCoolant pressure sensor 34ASignal Accelerator pedal moduleAccelerator pedal module 35ASignal Accelerator pedal moduleAccelerator pedal module 36 Not occupied 37 Not occupied 38E/ABSD signalIntelligent battery sensor 39ESignal, clutch switchClutch module 40E/ASignal PT-CAN highPower train CAN-bus 41 Not occupied 42 Not occupied 43 Not occupied 44AGround Accelerator pedal moduleAccelerator pedal module 45EGround Coolant pressure sensorCoolant pressure sensor 46ASupply Accelerator pedal moduleAccelerator pedal module 47AGround Accelerator pedal moduleAccelerator pedal module 48 Not occupied 49 Not occupied 50 Not occupied 51E/APA bus signalPA bus connector 52E/ASignal PT-CAN lowPower train CAN-bus 53MGroundGround point
Pin assignments at plug connector X60231

PinTypeDescription / Signal typeConnection /
Measuring notes1 Not occupied 2 Not occupied 3 Not occupied 4 Not occupied 5AVoltage supplyConnector, terminal 15 6ASignal, fuel tank vent valveFuel tank vent valve 7MGround Crankshaft sensorCrankshaft sensor 8MGround Intake camshaft sensorIntake camshaft sensor 9MGround Hot-film air mass meterHot-film air mass meter 10ESignal Electric throttle valve actuatorElectric throttle valve actuator 11ESignal Electric throttle valve actuatorElectric throttle valve actuator 12 Not occupied 13ESignal Intake temperature - boost pressure sensorIntake temperature - boost pressure sensor 14MSupply Engine temperature sensorEngine temperature sensor 15ESignal, oxygen sensorOxygen sensor before catalytic converter 16ESignal, oxygen sensorOxygen sensor before catalytic converter 17AVoltage supplyConnector, terminal 15 18ESignal, oxygen sensor heatingOxygen sensor behind catalytic converter 19 Not occupied 20 Not occupied 21ESignal Intake pipe pressure sensorIntake pipe pressure sensor 22 Not occupied 23ESignal Intake temperature - boost pressure sensorIntake temperature - boost pressure sensor 24ESignal, oxygen sensorOxygen sensor behind catalytic converter 25MGround Oxygen sensor behind catalytic converterOxygen sensor behind catalytic converter 26MGround Electric throttle valve actuatorElectric throttle valve actuator 27MGround Oxygen sensor before catalytic converterOxygen sensor before catalytic converter 28ESignal, oxygen sensorOxygen sensor before catalytic converter 29AVoltage supplyConnector, terminal 15 30ESignal, oxygen sensor heatingOxygen sensor before catalytic converter 31 Not occupied 32ESignal Engine temperature sensorEngine temperature sensor 33ESignal Knock sensorKnock sensor 34ESignal Knock sensorKnock sensor 35ASupply Crankshaft sensorCrankshaft sensor 36ASupply Electric throttle valve actuatorElectric throttle valve actuator 37ASupply Intake pipe pressure sensorIntake pipe pressure sensor 38ASupply Intake temperature - boost pressure sensorIntake temperature - boost pressure sensor 39ASupply Intake camshaft sensorIntake camshaft sensor 40ESignal, intake air temperatureHot-film air mass meter 41AVoltage supplyConnector, terminal 15 42 Not occupied 43MGround Intake pipe pressure sensorIntake pipe pressure sensor 44 Not occupied 45ASignal Volume control valveVolume control valve 46 Not occupied 47ASignal Thrust air control valveThrust air control valve 48ASignal Turbocharger coolant pumpTurbocharger coolant pump 49ESignal Characteristic map thermostatCharacteristic map thermostat 50 Not occupied 51 Not occupied 52 Not occupied 53 Not occupied
Pin assignments at plug connector X60232

PinTypeDescription / Signal typeConnection /
Measuring notes1AActivation VANOS solenoid valve, intakeVANOS solenoid valve, intake 2 Not occupied 3ASupply Fuel injector, cylinder 4Fuel injector, cylinder 4 4ASupply Fuel injector, cylinder 1Fuel injector, cylinder 1 5ASupply Fuel injector, cylinder 3Fuel injector, cylinder 3 6ASupply Fuel injector, cylinder 2Fuel injector, cylinder 2 7ASignal Wastegate valveWastegate valve 8 Not occupied 9ASignal, ignition coilIgnition coil, cylinder 2 10ASignal, ignition coilIgnition coil, cylinder 4 11ESignal, oil pressure switchOil pressure switch 12 Not occupied 13ESignal Crankshaft sensorCrankshaft sensor 14ESignal Hot-film air mass meterHot-film air mass meter 15 Not occupied 16ESignal Intake camshaft sensorIntake camshaft sensor 17ASignal, ignition coilIgnition coil, cylinder 3 18ASignal, ignition coilIgnition coil, cylinder 1 19 Not occupied 20ESignal Rail pressure sensorRail pressure sensor 21 Not occupied 22ESupply Rail pressure sensorRail pressure sensor 23ASignal Turbocharger coolant pumpTurbocharger coolant pump 24ESignal Rail pressure sensorRail pressure sensor 25ESignal Electric throttle valve actuatorElectric throttle valve actuator 26ESignal Electric throttle valve actuatorElectric throttle valve actuator 27ASignal, fuel injectorFuel injector, cylinder 2 28ASignal, fuel injectorFuel injector, cylinder 4 29ASignal, fuel injectorFuel injector, cylinder 1 30ASignal, fuel injectorFuel injector, cylinder 3 31ESignal Intake temperature - boost pressure sensorIntake temperature - boost pressure sensor 32 Not occupied

 

To take this to the nth degree that it's inevitably headed, the sensors used to determine oil life are the engine temp, the vehicle speed/distance, the engine rpm and the throttle. The other factor is time, from an internal timebase. If the ECU determines that the engine temp is often low, that the vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined average and the engine spends a lot of time idling, the 'oil change clock' will tick along faster than in warm, steady state, cruising conditions. So, yeah, there are indeed sensors used to determine the oil condition, it's just that none of them are actually in the oil at all, and the determination of oil condition is speculated via input from various sensors.

It's simply an electronic, automated version of the old knowledge that short trips and excessive idling in cold weather is far rougher on an engine's oil than steady state highway cruising, so it should be changed at shorter intervals.

 

Exactly Greatbear. Kudos for saying what I, djam43, dwjj and lhoboy were getting at... but much more clearly and concisely.

 

Yep! This sure clears it up for me!!

 

I couldn't get it to keep the chart or columns.

It is a lot easier to read in the original format

 

Jeez, this is getting technical (and with some nontechnical people to boot)! I bought a new BMW 325is in 1988 and it had a similar time to service estimator (and the exact same OBC) that my new Mini has in it now. I used to get the service done at a German car place (not a dealer, it wasn't free then) and they had some gizmo to reset the indicator (so I would stay in warranty). What goes around comes around. Greatbear made the most sense in this thread.