2013 Bike revised oil level

roundincircles

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BMW have now decided that the oil level should be at the top of the red circle............this seems like an ongoing saga.......this info is as per my dealer at the 12000 mile service.
 
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yup. on my manual (08.2013) , it says top of the circle

was is not before ?

.
 
They changed it to a fixed volume after a few months and there are different volumes in different service books.

I presume the oil is hot when set at the mark?
 
BMW have now decided that the oil level should be at the top of the red circle............this seems like an ongoing saga.......this info is as per my dealer at the 12000 mile service.

It has always been so, even on the air/oil cooled 1200s - read the manual :D
 
It has always been so, even on the air/oil cooled 1200s - read the manual :D

I'm afraid you continue to mislead as BMW have taken a number of published positions on oil level and oil volume as evidenced by the Owners Manuals which vary.

What is consistent is that the oil is checked after the fan switches on.

They revised volumes and now have reverted to the recommended level.

Ignorance is bliss:eek:
 
So you're saying (BM are saying) run the bike till it gets hot enough to fire up the fan, then switch it off and check the sight glass .... ??
 
It has always been so, even on the air/oil cooled 1200s - read the manual :D

The accepted position on earlier bikes was always the dot on the middle, if it's full to the top of the sightglass - then the excess oil ends up in the airbox
 
The accepted position on earlier bikes was always the dot on the middle, if it's full to the top of the sightglass - then the excess oil ends up in the airbox

Not quite the truth, between top and bottom of the circle was stated. If I knew mine was going to get a caning I often very slightly over-filled it. I've had 5 or 6 of the things and never once had oil in the Airbox. Yam XTs..now you're talking....
 
So you're saying (BM are saying) run the bike till it gets hot enough to fire up the fan, then switch it off and check the sight glass .... ??


That's what I'm being told.

Makes some sense as the oil expands a lot when hot. Made the mistake in the past of looking at level when cold, filling it to level mark and then the oil expands way above the mark when hot.
 
Well the dealer puts the right amount in and it stays like that until they service it again as it doesn't seem to use any? Sorted
 
I have just been trying to interpret the coefficient of expansion of oil, It doesnt look like a huge increase in volume.
 
The accepted position on earlier bikes was always the dot on the middle, if it's full to the top of the sightglass - then the excess oil ends up in the airbox

So true! In what I can only call a huge break with tradition, the new LC motor does not seem to ever use any oil. I have experimented with different oil fill levels over several thousand miles and the new one doesn't seem to use any at all, no matter where in the sight glass I fill it to. Shocking, really. I have even stopped carrying a spare bottle of oil in my pannier. :eek
 
How many pages will this run for. My antique 2007 and 2005 models, could only ever be checked when cold because oil disappeared to places unknown once started. Overfilling never did any harm so why worry as long as you can see oil somewhere in the sight glass?:nenau
Do these water cooled things have better tolerances,(I doubt it), is oil loss a thing of the past? Why so much worry about the level?
EDIT: missed your post Emoto by a few seconds, you seem to have answered all of my questions
 
Do these water cooled things have better tolerances,(I doubt it), is oil loss a thing of the past? Why so much worry about the level?

Water cooled engines normally have tighter tolerances and lower oil consumption (depending on level of tune and piston ring design)
 
Yes, but, it's not a proper water cooled engine and it can run very happily on limp mode all day if all of the coolant is lost,as I've been told, so it's probably got the same crap agricultural tolerances as its predecessor.
It's only the valve area that has a little cooling:
2013-bmw-r-1200-gs-looks-awesome-photo-gallery-medium_29.jpg
 
That's what I'm being told.

Makes some sense as the oil expands a lot when hot. Made the mistake in the past of looking at level when cold, filling it to level mark and then the oil expands way above the mark when hot.

How much does the oil expand when it's hot - I am not sure about that, i need some figures
 


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