Retrofitting OEM M3 Dipstick

[northernjim]

Originally Posted by adem.csl

One small problem is that you have mounted it to the body!!
With that, because the engine moves back and forth it may work the bolt loose!!
Or crack the tube around the fixing weld!!no solid parts that are fixed to the engine are bolted to the body for this reason.other then that the mod is sound as long as you can mount it to the engine so it moves with the engine probabily why bmw didn't do this what with space limitations!!

I must admit I thought about this too- I shall have a look at what holds mine together....... Baling twine perhaps?

[adem.csl]

Lmao(shimmys idea screw it to the air box)that'll work
Jim the original just sits there as its soo short it only uses its fixing bolt bracket to hold it in???

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by adem.csl

Lmao(shimmys idea screw it to the air box)that'll work
Jim the original just sits there as its soo short it only uses its fixing bolt bracket to hold it in???

But surely Jim has an airbox on his CSL ................(no L)

[adem.csl]

Im sure he does but if he wanted to do the long dip stick conversion he would surely find a better mounting area!
Whats (no L)???

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by adem.csl

Im sure he does but if he wanted to do the long dip stick conversion he would surely find a better mounting area!
Whats (no L)???

And it's purple

[adem.csl]

Originally Posted by shimmy

And it's purple

Ahh his cs is a little short of the L!!i get it now
Purple too!!!

[karbonkid]

Adem, your absolutely correct and if I told you it wasn't a concerned of mine originally I would be lying.
I thought about every possible issue that could arise from doing such a modification as I also asked myself why BMW didn't do this. I'm not one to rush into things and what I didn't mention is this in fact took me just under 2 weeks to complete on & off of course last year over the winter, so I had plenty of time to cover most worries I had, going back and forth from the drawing board.
I came to conclusion it would not cause an issue after many methods of testing and as unlike the CSL dipstick, the bracket is not welded to the guide tube as its strength and stability is not dependent on its base as found on the CSL dipstick.
I felt with its ability to move even with the bracket fastened down on the base of the M3 dipstick the top was able to be fixed somewhere, taking advantage of its larger oval shaped mount point whilst including a loosely tightened bolt with a nylon nut to secure from the back. This would allow for any potential movement/ play should any occur without it being completely rigid transferring all energy into the guide tube/ bracket - resulting in fatigue.

As for BMW not fitting this from the factory, I have thought long and hard about this and my conclusion is for 1 - Innovation (the start of BMW not including dipsticks?) with maybe some aesthetics reasons too but at the same time including a hiden/ smaller one would allow for the garage to double check the oil level sensor should they need to by simply removing the unfiltered air housing and 2 - as Tom has said they could have quite possibly just cut down an original M3 one - to save on redesign? Other than that I think the weight saving could have something to do with it too One question us boys forgot to ask the Munich chaps.

You'll notice the prototype CSL didn't have a dipstick showing, so my guess is they had plenty of time to decide when putting the CSL into production.

Strangely I probably check the oil less frequent than before as I felt cautious relying on just a sensor in the sump but I feel better for being able to manually check it when I feel the need too and there's no need to faff around with that sport button to get a live reading either.

[adem.csl]

Kk your mod is a great mod m not slating it only observing a flaw!!but seeing as you have covered it there is nothing to dislike about it.it brings the ability to satisfy yourself your oil level is physically correct
Great write up thanx for sharing

[mattCSLnut]

Great little upgrade there mate
I've added it to my Cecil Winter project to do list, once "ROLF the GOLF" is Sold.

[karbonkid]

Originally Posted by adem.csl

Kk your mod is a great mod m not slating it only observing a flaw!!but seeing as you have covered it there is nothing to dislike about it.it brings the ability to satisfy yourself your oil level is physically correct
Great write up thanx for sharing

Of course mate, well observed!

Originally Posted by mattCSLnut

Great little upgrade there mate
I've added it to my Cecil Winter project to do list, once "ROLF the GOLF" is Sold.

I think I'm out the Country that week!