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 😩

Ooooh interesting he's always made out his is the 'normal' version of mine and the only reason mine seems faster/better is the wheels 🤣 I'm not savvy enough to wind him up or else I'd really enjoy doing that.

I have no idea on the codes, I do get lots of print outs of stuff but DP always leaves the paperwork at his mums as he usually pops in when he's been to the garage. I'll get him to check.

Bearing thing sounds worrying, are there any other symptoms of that? how much would I be looking at if there is a problem there? This car has been a bit of a money pit but only with a few issues that aren't normal wear and tear like brakes and tyres tbf 😔

This is interesting as my car has also been flashing this message (but the oils light doesn't come on) . I wonder if it's because I've hardly used it over summer

This is 100% true. My car started causing problems recently because I was making too many half mile to three mile journeys. (I'm disabled before ecowarriors appear 🙄)

One good run a month really helps!

Its right. If your not giving the car a good run every so often, the dpf filter can get blocked and that affects other areas eg oil filters. Maybe the car isnt the one for you. I know you love it. Someone i know has just bought a lovely range rover and same is happening to him. He bought it and the next month was moved to wfh so barely drives it. It also used to happen on my bmw. Im sorry 🫤

You need to take her for a good burn, not a drift about.

She needs to get warm, be used, lube up and run everything through the system. The mechanic is right.

Just took her out for an impromptu 45min drive of the spirited kind, roads are absolutely dead to say its commute time...got up to 75mph which was quite enough law breaking for this week 🤣

Watch it die of something else now because its not used to this much driving in one week 😩🤣 ill definitely keep it up 😃

For people wondering about electric cars, I've got one and also got told off by the garage for the same thing as the OP! He said the battery needed charging - apparently there is another battery other than the one you charge by plugging it in, which needs to be charged by taking long drives. I had no idea. Haven't taken it back yet as electric cars need very little servicing so haven't been able to check if taking it for longer drives has helped - or if the guy was talking nonsense. Would be interested if anyone else has an electric car and knows about this!

No sorry this is a thing I’m the same (though mine is an Audi) and a regular 20> min drive/motorway trip is good for the car (I’m no mechanic so won’t pretend pretend and go into details I know nothing about) but on the bright side a clear motorway is always good fun 😉 xxx

I’ve been driving for over fifty years and have always known this. Giving the engine a good workout burns the carbon deposits off the pistons and valves, allows the oil warm up to get round to lubricator the moving parts properly. It’s good for the battery too. Cars need to driven, not looked at.

Modern cars don't need to be thrashed at all (you'd break every speed limit going if you did try) it takes (max) 3 or 4 miles to reach full temp with active grills etc to get engine temp up, batteries will receive positive charging in a similar time, even with lights heating/AC on... which why they are now coded into the charging system, can't just replace them as we used to be able too, you need the diag unit, they then get optimum charge whatever the engine speed and now last a lot longer.

Modern 0/30 weight oils lubricate almost immediately, esp helped with wear surface coatings now used and low SAPs oils limit deposits to almost zero, fuels are better too.

A modern car in 6th at 70mph is doing less than 2000 rpm and to clean the DPF filter in a newish Diesel is 15mins above 2500 rpm, so 60 to 70 in 4/5th gear will do it.

Its very short one off journeys that lead to problems.

This! Why people buy sport cars to just drive around town?! Either you enjoy a good drive and really use it or buy a small city car which also pollutes less. Given your driving habits I would go for an EV car. Small fiat 500 or Mini Cooper with all the comforts and nice colours would be way better for this type of use. People who drive expensive sport cars to do the school run and go to Waitrose (and go to MN trying to find a fault with a trusted mechanic) look a bit ridiculous

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

You trust this garage? that could have written off your car.

Maybe it’s the same sort of idea with boats where if they’re not sailing they rust up etc

I don't have anything fancy but even my old Astra throws out cooler low warning. It's been checked multiple times since I bought it in January (my garage is brilliant and I fully trust them) and we came to the same decision that 30-50 miles a month pottering around the village is just not enough to keep the car in good condition. I have to grit my teeth and start using it more for weekend outings rather than jumping in my BF's car as a default. If only I could figure out how to comfortably fit a 100kg man, a 40kg dog and a 13 y/o into a small two-door...

I don't do a school run and have never set foot in a Waitrose, so I just look ridiculous going to work and Tesco 😬

And be fair its clear i like this guy, I just have (had) a bit of an irrational hang up about one thing so wanted to see if anyone has had similar.

Yes it sounds very reasonable. Cars need to get up to speed for a good amount of time to get everything warm enough and moving as it should, clear air filters etc. I don’t know the technical jargon as I’m not mechanically inclined but I do know that lots of pootling about and never getting it up to speed is bad for a car.
My mum used to take my grandparents car out for a drive every Saturday as they only pootled to the local shops and back. Mine is a diesel (perhaps yours is too?) and diesels are the worst cars to just pootle in - they need a good run. Luckily I live near a motorway junction and although I pootle to and from work 5 days a week it gets a run whenever we go out anyway proper

I probably made that seem more dramatic than it was tbh it was the tiniest bit of oil on the forecourt when I moved it (but was fun because I missed a really important meeting while he sorted it there and then)

It was either something to do with the thread (?) or the seal. Cant recall which as had the same problem with a the astra after a service, think the astra was the thread issue 🤔

And yea I do trust him, even after that as it seemed an honest mistake and he was really apologetic and embarrassed i think. I know I didn't exactly trust him over this pressure thing but I think I do now. Suppose ill find out if by keeping up taking care of it and using it more if that keeps the message at bay!

Yes I was surprised by this too and our 12 volt battery got low last winter, which made lots of weird lights come on the dashboard.

You should read the manual to find out exactly how your car behaves but for my Nissan Leaf, it will charge just from having the main engine switched on so I can just have the car switched on on the drive all day so long as there's no heating or cooling running which will drain the 12V battery faster than it charges up from the drive battery. In winter most cars will use the 12V to warm the big battery before starting, which will take a chunk of charge.

We ran our battery down originally by having the car warm up and demist in the morning before we got in it. Luxurious but the short drive DHdid after that wasn't enough to replenish the battery.

Mechanic is definitely right. I've got a 10 plate VW Passat. It gets pissing with me from time to time because it's diesel and doesn't get a decent run often enough. So when it's had a hissy fit I take it out for an hour or so. It's almost like a toddler.

But to the shops and back isn't going to cut it... ditch the driving miss daisy right foot and find your Michael Schumacher right foot ( just for a little while). ☺️

Yep, it's a thing. Had it with my lowly diesel Skoda too.

That is so helpful, thank you - good to know I can do that rather than trying to arrange time to take a long drive!

You don’t have to drive faster say 75mph. You just have to drive in a lower gear. I do a lot of short journeys in our diesel. I just drive it in 2nd once a week.

You would need to check the manual of your own car as this might vary between models. Sometimes people can get caught out if eg the car is programmed to heat up every morning but then the car doesn't actually get driven.