Mechanic talking rubbish? "You don't use your car enough"

[LookatmyFatArseDP]

I have a 10 plate BMW 3 series M Sport (included that wanky M Sport as may be relevant). Shes my pride and joy and whenever she so much as squeaks she's in the garage to be checked. She's immaculate.

A while ago I had "low oil pressure warning stop immediately" warning flash up then disappear. Obvs I cried (nearly anyway).

Took it to my proper German specialist garage. They replaced the oil sensor as it was covered in crap, all good.

Except, it happened again a few months later 😩 warning on then off straightaway. DP took it back and mechanic clocked it had only done about 5k miles in 1.5 years 😳 he asked DP about my driving habits which are rather Miss Daisy - few miles to work, mway for about 0.5 mile, never really get up to 70mph expect maybe once a month for a few mins.

He said he'd love to take our money but the problem isn't the car, its because I never get it fully warmed up with my pootling about and if it was genuine low pressure the warning would appear a lot more regularly and stay on for a while. His fix was for us to ensure it goes on a "spirited drive" at least once a month on solid mway driving for 30 mins to clear stuff out as that's causing the oil sensor to, I dunno, get covered in shit or whatever?

Now cars been fine for about 8m. It did it again a few times last week. No i hadn't "spiritidly driven" it for ages. DP took it out for 40mins. Its been fine since.

While mechanic seems to have been right I guess (he's really old school, loves BMWs, in particular, is always doing training etc). I just find it incredible that a car can throw out such a scary warning every now and then because I don't drive it much??

Does this sound right or do I need another mechanic? I'm so worried about my prize possession 😩

I get this too. My car is 9 years old but only had 10,000 miles on the clock. I recently took it for an MOT and it had only done 1,500 miles since the previous MOT. I was told that I was doing far too many short journeys.

Car prices are bonkers at the moment. I looked up mine on the used BMW website. I bought mine in 2018 and it cost me £19k. The same spec and age as mine now in 2023 is still advertised as £17,500.

Unfortunately, it does mean that if I want to replace it, the newer version that I'd want to buy is now £30k+!

I rarely use my 9 year old diesel and only potter in it so my husband has to drive it work and back once a week (40 miles with lots of long straight fast roads) to stop the oil pressure filter thing clogging up as short journeys are awful for it.

I've just remembered my dad coming with me when I was younger and getting new cars. Every time I'd be drawn to low mileage ones and he'd step in (tbf he had a right to as he was usually helping me out with the ££ bless him) and would always end up making me go for higher mileage ones saying they will be the ones that have had most things replaced or fixed and won't have as many niggles. It never made sense to me at the time.

He'd have known about this oil pressure thing/me not driving it alot and would have put my mind at rest ages ago. Just remembered when I was on a 2 week holiday when I was about 21 and when I called mum and dad to check in he said he'd taken my car out for a spin for me and I was like "errr ok whatever thanks Dad". Hed have loved this car, i tried to show it off to him in the care home when I bought it but he was too far gone....I really miss him.

Your mechanic sounds like a gem.

No, the time served, qualified mechanic has absolutely no idea what he's talking about

It doesn't have that particular feature but it does have lovely heated seats that make me feel like I've wet myself untill I get used to them 😂😂

Oh I have to stop the kids putting them on, I never notice when they do then suddenly yea like you say ill feel like I've had an accident 🤣

My mum calls them fanny warmers which also puts me off using them 🙄

I've got a diesel and have to do a big run with it before MOT every year

I had an accident a couple of years ago that meant I wasn't able to drive for a couple of months. My MOT ran out in the meantime, so when I was able to drive, the garage was the first place I had to go.

I told them the story and before they put it through the test I could hear them absolutely blasting the engine to the red line in the bay to give it a good clear out first.

It passed!

If you needed another mechanic, he'd have taken your money and fixed a non-issue.

The mechanic has been honest and recognised that the car isn't getting enough of a revving to fully work its system, especially with a sport engine!

Make sure you're taking it on a longer drive once a month, more than 30 minutes and at 60mph or over. More frequently if it's a diesel (which I imagine it is).

My trusted mechanic would've said the same.
My diesel turbo started to cut out (on the motorway - urgh). He ran diagnostics, pronounced its was just blocked with crud and I should put my foot down hard in a low gear.
The black cloud of smoke that appeared was embarrassing 😳 so it was a good job I was driving away from it at speed. That cured it and I occasionally let it rip when there's no one around.

He also looks after a fancy car with one careful lady driver who pootles about. When it comes in for MOT he thrashed it up and down the main road a few times to clear the crud so it passes the emissions test.

If it's your pride and joy why don't you actually drive it? Sounds like another "Why don't they speak English in France?" thread.

"Sounds like another "Why don't they speak English in France?" thread."

its nothing like one of those weird threads 🤣 i do drive it, i just don't DRIVE it (or haven't for a while- that is changing)

“M-Sport” is just the trim level so is irrelevant, which exact petrol engine is it? The general consensus that cars need to be used and given an Italian tune up is correct although the low oil pressure warning does cause me concern. Lack of use shouldn’t cause low oil pressure, either there’s a sensor problem or the car really does have low oil pressure at the time it’s reporting that.

Must admit I always thought that the M Sport bit just meant stickers on the wheels and nicer seats so I was obvs pleased when I found out its a fair bit more than that!

I'm fairly happy now that the mechanic is right tbh although no doubt ill still shit myself when I hear the "ping" of low outside temperature, boot open or low petrol 😬

I'd check that your 6m service includes an oil change, more modern cars will be hooked up to a diags unit and if that says Carbon in oil ok, then the oil wont be changed, the other thing is oil is often removed via suction not drained, the suction method doesn't remove all the oil or in your case, watery crude sludge!!!

Don't under estimate the oil quality issue, using the wrong (but still expensive synthetic) oil can be extremely costly, as deposits build up on engine parts....

...also requires a PAO group VI base oil (polyalphaolefines). This engine oil formulation is considered a low SAPS, Low sulphated Ash, and Low Phosphorus sulfur additive oil formulation for both BMW gasoline and diesel engines

The sensors/diags on modern cars are incredible, self cleaning cats & dpf's via oxygenation, the diags can set the level that this happens at too, though a 2010, maybe less so.

Its great shame modern engine development has stalled as we move to EV's, the last big change was euro6 in 2015.

Must admit I always thought that the M Sport bit just meant stickers on the wheels and nicer seats so I was obvs pleased when I found out its a fair bit more than that!

It pretty much is just stickers on the wheels and nicer seats! OK, so a bit more like lowered suspension and a dark headlining vs the SE trim level and often some more things off the options list are standard. There are no engine or performance improvements though and as it’s just a trim level you can get it with the range of engines, a 316i M-Sport is a very different kettle of fish to a 335i M-Sport, hence why I ask specifically which engine is in it as there are many common issues affecting different engines.

I think you’ve got a very good mechanic there; I’d hang onto him if I were you.

Will do its due its next interim service in 4m so will double check. I know they did drop the oil at the last full one as they didn't put the plug back in properly, which was fun.

I agree with the pp who said trade it in for a wanky Tesla! Had mine four years and zero maintenance costs except for new tyres and a stone chipped windscreen. Previous car (Audi) cost loads at every MOT/service. The acceleration is a lot of fun too.

It is indeed a 335i. Was trying to avoid admitting that one as I know its a ridiculous sized engine.😬 its definitely got something better about it performance wise i think compared to my pals 'normal' one must be the go faster bigger looking wheels and the stickers

I'll put the oven on to be even further roasted about why I have a car like this to drive down the road 3 x a week 🤣

This is true. I was a service advisor for many years and a diesel car needs long runs otherwise the engine can get blocked with gunk.
Any car not driven for long periods of time will become an issue

You need to thrash it's balls off occasionally op. Know any teenagers?

It is indeed a 335i. Was trying to avoid admitting that one as I know its a ridiculous sized engine.😬 its definitely got something better about it performance wise i think compared to my pals 'normal'

Personally, I wouldn’t consider that to be a ridiculous sized engine but I’m a petrolhead. I’d consider the 335i the only acceptable variant if the M3 wasn’t available! A 335i SE is a pretty rare beast so I’d be surprised if your pal has one but if they have the performance will be identical, I’d guess they have a lesser model.

It’s hard to know which engine is in yours as 2010 is the crossover year for the N54/N55. Did you have the codes read at the time, if so what did they say?

If it were my car I think I’d have an oil analysis done before doing anything further, this involves draining a small amount of oil into a sample container and sending it to a lab. The lab costs are around £50. This will tell quite a lot about the health of your engine but the presence of certain metals in high quantities can indicate bearing wear which is a cause of low oil pressure. BMWs are known for big end bearing issues and I have personally replaced them and also had them replaced by a specialist as a preventative measure.

It could be a number of other issues though!