2018 F-56. Oil change about 1 month ago. 5 qts. Today: "Low Oil Alert...Add 1 quart." ??? Checked oil level using the pseudo electronic dipstick process, and it shows 100% maximum.??? One of these indicators is obviously wrong. Which one???? Engine is low mileage, uses no oil...Not even any black soot in tailpipe. I'm going to add 1/2 qt, just to be safe and get it to the dealer.

 

Best get the car to the dealer for a check up. I had one previous car (Porsche 996 Turbo) that had no dipstick just an electronic oil level system similar to the one in my 2018 JCW which requires the engine be warmed up the car level and the engine running at idle. While my JCW requires 60 seconds to complete the measurement the other car required just 5 seconds. While I never had any problems with the other car's oil level measuring system I knew a bit how it worked and the possibly failure modes: Wire breaks; or the loop of wire comes loose and floats/moves about. In the first failure case there is no measurement available. In the 2nd case the level can vary. One minute it is ok the next because some length of the wire (did I mention it is bare metal wire?) is floating on the surface and the wire heats up quicker and increases in resistance which affects the reading.

While I don't know for sure I suspect the MINI system is similar. (The info I have for the B46 engine is there are just 3 wires to the oil quality and level sensor which suggests the sensor works similar to the one in my other car.)

While I never experienced any issues with the Turbo's oil level sensor once in a while with my Boxster (which had a similar sensor but also a dipstick which I seldom bothered to use) occasionally there was some kind of a "glitch" that would appear after just a short -- a few blocks -- long trip to the local 7/11 store. After coming back to the car and turning on the ignition I'd see the oil level count down timer instead of the expected large number of seconds it would be a just 5 seconds. I knew this was wrong as the engine oil was too cold and the engine had not sat long enough for the oil to drain down into the oil sump.

You might be experiencing a glitch with your car's oil level measuring system but it might be a faulty sensor. 'course, if the low oil pressure light comes on then the level could really be low. Are you sure the oil filter is on tight? The drain plug is screwed in and tightened to the right torque? Was a new drain plug seal or whatever is used to ensure the oil drain plug is oil tight when screwed into the oil pan used?

With my Porsche cars the oil filter housing -- the housing and filter element were separate -- required one to several o-rings be replaced every oil change and it was kind of tricky to ensure the o-ring on the diameter than threaded into the engine was in the o-ring groove and when threading the housing into the engine the housing didn't get cross threaded nor the o-ring catch and get damaged as the housing was tightened.

With other cars that use a sealed oil filter what has been known to happen is the filter oil seal *sticks* to the engine and if one fails to check for this when the new filter is installed its new seal mates up to the old seal but the seal is not very good and oil can leak. In some cases the oil pressure can blow the two seals out.

 

Thanks for the info... No oil loss, drips, etc. Added 1/2 qt. Oil level still measures at 100% and the "Add Oil" warning hasn't returned. We'll see what the dealership says.