2016 R1200RT site glass oil check

Ok what is the drill to check oil level in the site glass on a 2016 R1200RT ?

Or should I just believe the on board display oil check ?
Thanks

mosrrt said:

Ok what is the drill to check oil level in the site glass on a 2016 R1200RT ?

Or should I just believe the on board display oil check ?
Thanks

Click to expand...

I'm checking mine the same as I checked my Oilhead. After a ride turn the bike off, let set on side stand for 10 minutes, up on centerstand, check level. The site glass is on the right side on the Wethead.

Jay

It's all right there in the Owner's Manual.

Oil level (Section 3 - Status Indicators)

The oil-level indicator gives you an indication of the engine oil level.

The preconditions for the oil level check are as follows:

• Engine at operating temperature.
• Engine idling for at least ten seconds.
• Side stand retracted.
• Make sure the motorcycle is upright.

The readings mean:
OK: Oil level is correct.
CHECK!: Check the oil level the next time you stop for fuel.
– – –: Oil level cannot be measured (conditions as stated above not satisfied).

Engine Oil (Section 7 - Maintenance)

Engine oil
Checking engine oil level
ATTENTION
The oil level varies with the temperature of the oil. The higher the temperature, the higher the level of oil in the sump.

Misinterpretation of the oil level

• Check the oil level only after a lengthy ride or when the engine is at operating temperature.
• Switch off the engine when it is at operating temperature.
• Make sure the ground is level and firm and place the motorcycle on its centre stand.
• Wait five minutes for the oil to drain into the oil pan.
• Check the oil level in oil-level indicator 1. (This is the sight glass window on the right side).

Engine oil, specified level Between MIN and MAX marks (This is between the the top and bottom of the inner circle in the sight glass window)
If the oil level is below the MIN mark:

• 
  Topping up the engine oil ( 123).

If the oil level is above the MAX mark:

• Have the oil level corrected by a specialist workshop, preferably an authorised BMW Motorrad dealer.

Followed by how to do all this (blaa, blaa, blaa,...)

FYI - Nowhere does it say to put the bike on the side stand for any period of time.

mosrrt said:

Ok what is the drill to check oil level in the site glass on a 2016 R1200RT ?

Or should I just believe the on board display oil check ?
Thanks

Click to expand...

Per the 2018 RT manual:

- Warm up the engine and shut it off
- Put the bike on the center stand
- Wait five minutes
- Check level in sight glass

At the risk of setting off a storm of protests, I note that on my RT it doesn't make any discernible difference if the oil is warm or cold.

Ride safely, have fun!

strataj said:

I'm checking mine the same as I checked my Oilhead. After a ride turn the bike off, let set on side stand for 10 minutes, up on centerstand, check level. The site glass is on the right side on the Wethead.

Jay

Click to expand...

This is how I have always done it as well and still do! Except I only leave it on the side stand for maybe 3-5 minutes then on the center stand for about 5 min and check.

Sight glass....I have been trusting the onboard computer check. Usually only takes setting it to display then sitting at a stop light. I suspect the sight glass will be my go to when I change oil though. My local dealer has been really good so I had them change the oil last time while some warranty repairs were being made. I did check the glass once just to make sure it and the computer were telling the same story.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for all the feed back
Mike

LFarling said:

^ +1

Never have I seen anything about a side stand. That makes no sense.

Click to expand...

Lee, the use of the sidestand goes back to the Oilhead, it would drain the right cylinder. I've done this for so many years it's my routine and doesn't effect the results IMHO on the Wethead.

Jay

LFarling said:

^ +1

Never have I seen anything about a side stand. That makes no sense.

Click to expand...

It makes no sense unless you understand that the R1100 and R1150 engines would trap oil up out of the sump when parked in an upright position. Parking for a few minutes on the sidestand allowed the oil that would be trapped to drain into the sump; thus providing an accurate instead of erroneous oil level reading. Some things are learned by experience and not read in a book.

I however am puzzled by the goofy advice to check the oil only on a fully warmed up engine. I do understand that oil expands slightly when hot compared to cold which is pretty consistent in volume. But what BMW says totally eliminates the oil check as part of a pre-ride routine. Therefore I usually check my oil level cold. I expect it to be about 1/8" lower in the sight glass than when fully warmed up. The difference between hot and cold is less than the difference between minimum and maximum. Thus it is my carefully considered opinion that the person who wrote that for the manual was writing balderdash.

ADDED: It seems to me BMW is inviting another lawsuit after the last one which claimed that the idling motorcycle caused the fire that burned the house down.

"A jury must decide whether BMW should have placed a label directly on motorcycles with air-cooled engines warning of the risk of fire if the vehicle was warmed up at a standstill (Yazdani v. BMW of N. Am. LLC, 2016 BL 152030, E.D. Pa., 1501427, 5/12/16)."

And that was not the first such case.

PGlaves said:

It makes no sense unless you understand that the R1100 and R1150 engines would trap oil up out of the sump when parked in an upright position. Parking for a few minutes on the sidestand allowed the oil that would be trapped to drain into the sump; thus providing an accurate instead of erroneous oil level reading. Some things are learned by experience and not read in a book.

Click to expand...

What he said

And that is when I began the 5 min. side stand first routine. Stems back from when I had my R1100 and R1150. Just keep using the same process and seems to work well even though it may not be needed today.

mosrrt said:

Or should I just believe the on board display oil check ?
Thanks

Click to expand...

Don't trust the onboard display.
On both of our wetheads we will get a low oil warning even when the oil is between the center dot and top of the window.
Had the oil level sensor replaced on both bikes late last fall.
Last month on our Texas trip the low oil light went off a couple times.

I'm with Paul. It'd be a helluva thing to finish a ride THEN find out you should have added oil before you left. 500 miles ago. Makes as much sense as arriving at your destination, waiting until you're ready for bed, then running out to check your tires.

I too check oil (and tires) before I leave, before anything is warmed up. Every car I've had since 1969 has been that way, why should my bike be different?

PGlaves said:

... I however am puzzled by the goofy advice to check the oil only on a fully warmed up engine. I do understand that oil expands slightly when hot compared to cold which is pretty consistent in volume. But what BMW says totally eliminates the oil check as part of a pre-ride routine. Therefore I usually check my oil level cold. I expect it to be about 1/8" lower in the sight glass than when fully warmed up. The difference between hot and cold is less than the difference between minimum and maximum. Thus it is my carefully considered opinion that the person who wrote that for the manual was writing balderdash.

Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more Paul. It is so typical of what can be found on the "bad side of engineering" or policymaking. It has little to no relevance to real-world usage. Check your tire air pressures and oil before your trip to make the necessary adjustments then, before you are 5, 10, 100, 200 miles from home. I've not seen anything written (doesn't mean it doesn't exist) that states that there is any reason a cold oil level check can't be as accurate as a warm oil check. If that info does exist, I'd be interested in reading it.

I have always identified where the cold oil/engine line is on the dipstick/sight-glass and used that. I do check it when hot, but mostly when cold before a ride/trip. Anything else is crazy to me. YMMV

So my site glass says about 1/3 or a little less, the display says "CHECK"

This is about 1/2 to 3/4 quart low ???

mosrrt said:

So my site glass says about 1/3 or a little less, the display says "CHECK"

This is about 1/2 to 3/4 quart low ???

Click to expand...

The owner's manual also lets you know the volume between MIN and MAX. Section 7 - Maintenance - under Engine Oil.

Tip: Slowly pour in a little,... stop,... check in a minute or two so new oil drains into sump,... pour again if needed, repeat until desired level. Stop guessing, don't overfill. That's even more damaging.

If you need an owner's manual they are free to download from here. Yours is surely the 0A13 version.

http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/services/manuals/manuals_main.html

Rainman48 said:

The owner's manual also lets you know the volume between MIN and MAX. Section 7 - Maintenance - under Engine Oil.

Tip: Slowly pour in a little,... stop,... check in a minute or two so new oil drains into sump,... pour again if needed, repeat until desired level. Stop guessing, don't overfill. That's even more damaging.

If you need an owner's manual they are free to download from here. Yours is surely the 0A13 version.

http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/services/manuals/manuals_main.html

Click to expand...

i have the manual , it says .95 L between full and low lines in site glass. I find this a guess to what is needed so I was looking for people who have added oil before to see what amount may be needed .

mosrrt said:

i have the manual , it says .95 L between full and low lines in site glass. I find this a guess to what is needed so I was looking for people who have added oil before to see what amount may be needed .

Click to expand...

Why do you think it's a guess? 1 US quart = 0.9463 liters --> 0.95 liter. I'm sure they do it that way on purpose because oil is sold by the quart in the US (& Canada, too?). Basically they're saying if the oil is at the bottom of the ring, empty a quart into the engine. That makes it convenient not having to keep track of a partial bottle. Maybe someone from metric-land where oil is sold by the liter can tell us if the owner's manual says that empty to full = 1.0 liter. Which would imply a marginally bigger ring on the sight glass, as it's certainly possible they have different engine variants for different markets.

There's no way to know for sure how 1/3 above, or in the middle, or whatever actually translates to how much oil you need to bring it to the top. It depends on shape of the interior volume as the oil level rises. If it's within the ring, the engine is happy. The dash indicators, and by extension the rider, may not be, but that's a different issue.

Seriously, just do your own experiment to find out. Take an hour and add a little at a time (giving it time to make its way to the sump between additions, like Rainman48 recommended), and see what happens. IMO, asking the internet for the definitive answer on anything oil-related is futile. Just remember: too much oil is bad. Not enough oil is worse. Any oil is better than no oil.

wbrownell9 said:

Why do you think it's a guess? 1 US quart = 0.9463 liters --> 0.95 liter. I'm sure they do it that way on purpose because oil is sold by the quart in the US (& Canada, too?). Basically they're saying if the oil is at the bottom of the ring, empty a quart into the engine. That makes it convenient not having to keep track of a partial bottle. Maybe someone from metric-land where oil is sold by the liter can tell us if the owner's manual says that empty to full = 1.0 liter. Which would imply a marginally bigger ring on the sight glass, as it's certainly possible they have different engine variants for different markets.

Click to expand...

Canada is metric, the container is 1 liter or 1.05 US quart. My kids don't know what a quart is.
The manual says 0,95 l. Min to Max.

It took longer than I thought for the Wethead oil check method thread was started. The location of the window now just adds a step of walking around the bike more.

I check pre-flight on all bikes and if is visible in window close to halfway just go ride.Our 1100/1150's go thru the sidestand routine as usually parked that way, and then set on center stand for pre-flight air and oil checks. Our 11S has no centerstand so if oil is at least 3/4 in window it rolls out. Trying to balance it completely upright and look at level is a Goober moment waiting to happen.

Never got the ride down the road, stop and check oil the manual describes. Somewhere the tech writer for the manuals and the chain of command feel safe...or are chuckling...but that would not be a German thing now would it?
I also have drained so much oil in earlier models from folks who keep topping off or adding a full quart when only a third is needed Especially on the Oilheads! A sidecar operator had 7 qts in the sump and more in the airbox! Things were leaking

Lee said:

Don't trust the onboard display.
On both of our wetheads we will get a low oil warning even when the oil is between the center dot and top of the window.
Had the oil level sensor replaced on both bikes late last fall.
Last month on our Texas trip the low oil light went off a couple times.

Click to expand...

When I first had my 05RT, I stopped so many times as the oil check symbol kept lighting up on a trip...it's a somewhat new bike...where could that oil possibly be going? Answer...nowhere, and the sensor was faulty. Ever since then, peek at window and go ride.