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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series (F10) Forums General 5-Series Sedan and Wagon (F10 / F11) Forum Excessive oil consumption
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      11-12-2011, 05:58 PM   #1
Jimefam
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Excessive oil consumption

So I'm starting to get a little irritated at how much oil my 550 is burning. In the last 6k I've had to add 1 quart of oil three times. In other words it is burning a quart every 2,000 miles. I've read some people posting about having to add oil before but this much?? I've never owned a new car that burned any oil much less at this rate. Anyone else having this issue? Oh btw the car has 9120 miles and I put 3100 in Europe during my ED. When I was to have redelivery I had the dealer do an oil change and was gonna change the oil every 7.5k
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      11-12-2011, 06:44 PM   #2
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My 550 used to burn 1qt of oil every 1000 to 2000 miles. BMW is going to tell you it is under spec I believe its 750 or 800 miles for 1qt of oil according to them. My car burned oil until I got rid of it with 13K.
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      11-12-2011, 07:34 PM   #3
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My X5 50i has done the same thing, but not as excessive. Before I had my first oil change, it burned through 3 quarts over a 10k span. However, it wasn't until 7.5k miles that I had to put the first quart in, which is normal. Dealer says it has do with me being a little too lively on the throttle--which I disagree because motors normally don't burn so much oil, but for a Bimmer, it's quite normal.

BMW V8s just seem to burn the oil like no tomorrow, I even had the same problem with my 07 4.8i X5. It wasn't until about 30k when it stopped burning so much.

I hope this helps.

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      11-12-2011, 07:57 PM   #4
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Yes I hear you! When I got my 550 at exactly 3007 miles I got the warning. I put a qt. Dealer told me it was normal but shouldn't happen again. Yea right. At 6012, again add qt. So I decided to do my First Oil change then. When go to the dealer I ask the parts guy why its asked me 2x already at 3k intervals and he says that its normal because high performance engines burn oil. (btw i had no idea the engine takes 8.5 qts) so I spent $120 on oil. (9qt @ $9.5 + oil filer $23+tax) now Im at 7167 and it gave me the warning again this morning. 1160 miles later! I must say after the oil change I have been driving very aggressive, frequently, taking each gear 5-6k+ rpm. My car is a 6 speed Manual Transmission. I drive to work at 5AM so highway is clean, I easily hit 120-130 mph a few times.

One thing of note, I noticed that when I drive this way (high rpms) I would smell something burning. I used to think it was the brakes since they were new, or maybe the clutch, But I been driving MT many many years and I don't burn through clutch so I knew it couldn't be that. Anyhow, eventually it came to me that it was the oil because through the first 6k miles I wouldn't drive aggressive 80% of the time maybe thats why it would take 3k miles per qt. But now its like everyday, so I got the warning in 1160 miles after oil change.

This is a bummer in a way because these cars is supposed to be $0 maintenance for 4 yrs and yet, aside from my own oil change ($120), its asked for 3 qts @ $9.5 each thats $30 I had to pay. BMW should give you the damn oil so you can add it when it asks.
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      11-12-2011, 08:39 PM   #5
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While it does suck having to pay for extra oil changes and oil thats not even my biggest concern. Point blank there is no reason why it should be burning so much period. It has nothing to do with being a high performance engine, as a matter of fact I am around alot of much higher performance engines and while you will get a bit of burnt oil with engines with forged aluminum pistons because since aluminum expands significantly with heat the piston to wall clearance has to be alot higher than with cast iron pistons. This leads to higher blowby when the engine is cold and it causes oil consumption but even then its not at the level of 1qt ever 2k. I'm pulling the cold pipe on the turbo tonight to see if I'm getting oil from the turbo because I read on another forum where a bmw mastertech said he'd already replaced two sets of N63 turbos because of oil issues. Besides oil in the combustion chamber can cause knock and be harmful to the operation of the engine.
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      11-12-2011, 08:42 PM   #6
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My 550i with XDrive is also consuming oil and my dealership states that it's within specifications. My car now has around 5100 miles and it's burned through 6 Liters of engine oil. The next time this car needs oil, I may try a mix of Lucas Oil Stabilizer and BMW LL01 spec oil.
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      11-12-2011, 09:15 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGr8Swami View Post
My 550i with XDrive is also consuming oil and my dealership states that it's within specifications. My car now has around 5100 miles and it's burned through 6 Liters of engine oil. The next time this car needs oil, I may try a mix of Lucas Oil Stabilizer and BMW LL01 spec oil.
WOW if my car was burning that much I'd be doing a compression test! I cant understand how any tech could look you in the eye and tell you that its perfectly normal to go through a quart of oil in 800mls. I'm now determined to find out where its burning this oil from, as I said earlier I'm just waiting on the engine to cool down and I'm pulling the intercooler piping to see if I see oil in it. If not I'm checking the valve cover hoses. I'd like to pull the plugs too to see how they look but I think I need a specific bmw tool for that.
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      11-13-2011, 12:27 AM   #8
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Beside the 550, my old E60 523 burns oil too.

I think this is a BMW thing, the service manager told me that M3 eats oil so mine is nothing.

When ever I get promted with a low oil warning, I just go back to BMW and they will fill up for me free of charge even after warranty period as they are aware that their engine consumes oil.

I have only done 300 or so km on my F10, let's see how much the new car consumes.
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      11-13-2011, 06:17 AM   #9
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I haven't had to add any oil yet (knocking on wood) display still shows full. I'm at 6200 miles, changed oil at 1200 miles after break in period and will be doing it again next week.
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      12-05-2011, 01:14 PM   #10
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Have you guys who have been going through oil ever seen any leaks under your car? I went to change my oil last weekend and noticed the oil pan was wet and there were drops of oil at the end of the e-torx bolts.

I didn't lose enough oil to change the level on the sensor (still shows full) and the oil was being caught by the cardboard underbelly and never made it to the ground, so I didn't notice until I got under the car.

Car's at the dealer now and they just called saying they have to replace the gasket on the oil pan, which is a bit disturbing for a 9 month old car with 6500 miles.
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      12-05-2011, 07:46 PM   #11
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I just changed mine two days before thanksgiving as I was gonna drive from Atlanta to Miami and back. Underneath everything was clean and with that cover I would have felt it oily if it was leaking. That gasket thing is crazy but I wouldn't mind watching them drop the oil pan to see how difficult it is. While I'm 95% sure mine is straight burning oil(I smoke enough to make me think this is a two stroke engine) I'm not at all impressed with the tolerances apparently used on these motors. Still aside from it billowing out enough smoke to make people think I've got a blown headgasket I love driving it so we'll see. Oh and since I haven't been beating on it I've now gone 2,800 miles since the oil change and am only down a 1/4 of the way on the bar. Do you drive it rough everyday? I think that is the biggest reason why some burn more oil then others. I always drive in sport mode and routinely take it to redline for the hell of it but I'm gonna see if I baby it(at least more than usual) how long before I have to add a quart.
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      12-05-2011, 10:11 PM   #12
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I have no problems with high oil consumption.

Did you break the engine in properly? I was told not to exceed 4500 RPMs until I clocked 2500 miles on the car.
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      12-06-2011, 06:39 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimefam View Post
I just changed mine two days before thanksgiving as I was gonna drive from Atlanta to Miami and back. Underneath everything was clean and with that cover I would have felt it oily if it was leaking. That gasket thing is crazy but I wouldn't mind watching them drop the oil pan to see how difficult it is. While I'm 95% sure mine is straight burning oil(I smoke enough to make me think this is a two stroke engine) I'm not at all impressed with the tolerances apparently used on these motors. Still aside from it billowing out enough smoke to make people think I've got a blown headgasket I love driving it so we'll see. Oh and since I haven't been beating on it I've now gone 2,800 miles since the oil change and am only down a 1/4 of the way on the bar. Do you drive it rough everyday? I think that is the biggest reason why some burn more oil then others. I always drive in sport mode and routinely take it to redline for the hell of it but I'm gonna see if I baby it(at least more than usual) how long before I have to add a quart.
yep, you definitely would notice it leaking if you got under the car. I'm interested to hear what they say once they get the oil pan off if they find anything else...

Theres so much torque down low I almost never get to red line, especially here just south of boston where theres not a lot of open space on the roads I do get on it every time I drive it, but for very short spurts - enough to get that push me back in my seat feeling.
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      12-06-2011, 07:50 AM   #14
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When I drive the car hard (mostly in the summr months), I do experienced higher oil consumption. In the winter months, not so much as I drive conservatively due to weather condition in Canada.
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      12-06-2011, 08:13 AM   #15
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I have to ask the question "If those vehicles that are burning higher levels of oil - enough to be noticeable in the exhaust – is there not an issue with the vehicle passing emission standards?” If this is the case, would it not be incumbent upon BMW to rectify the situation?

Just wondering…
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      12-06-2011, 10:40 AM   #16
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That's one great thing about where I live, there's plenty of open spaces and curvy roads yesterday I turned off the dsc and it's surprisingly easy to break free the rear end on curves even with the 305's I've got on the back. I've pretty much accepted the fact that it's running strong and burning oil simultaneously. I keep a quart of Mobil 1 0w 40 in the trunk and as soon as I get it tuned(which means no more warranty) I'll switch to Mobil 1 5w-50 to minimize some of that consumption. As for the emissions no problems here, they just plug into the obd2 port and as long as I can get rid of my CEL in the next 3 years(new cars are exempt from emissions for 3 years here) I'm good no sniffer test here for obd2 cars.
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      12-06-2011, 08:05 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ View Post
I have no problems with high oil consumption.

Did you break the engine in properly? I was told not to exceed 4500 RPMs until I clocked 2500 miles on the car.
I did not break I'm my car - 150mph with maybe 50 miles on the odometer blew that away. Anyway, I needed to add my first quart of oil at 10,885 miles. Not too bad I think.
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      12-07-2011, 07:47 AM   #18
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Got the car back last night, no other issues found. They replaced the oil pan gasket, the oil level sensor seal and the bolts. Will keep fingers crossed it was really something that small.

Also interesting to note that the BMW procedure for this calls for them to reuse the oil they drained to drop the oil pan. They knew I was doing an oil change when I found the leak so the dealership offered to change the oil for just the price of parts (which I already paid for)
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      12-07-2011, 12:58 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alextremo View Post
Got the car back last night, no other issues found. They replaced the oil pan gasket, the oil level sensor seal and the bolts. Will keep fingers crossed it was really something that small.

Also interesting to note that the BMW procedure for this calls for them to reuse the oil they drained to drop the oil pan. They knew I was doing an oil change when I found the leak so the dealership offered to change the oil for just the price of parts (which I already paid for)
Did they tell you why that gasket failed? I can't think of a single reason why they would reuse the oil besides cost? As for break in I followed it completely for 2,000 miles during my ED, the last 1200 miles of the trip I drove it hard. I also put it on ramps last night and double checked for any sign of oil and everything is clean down there no signs of a problem.
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      12-07-2011, 03:18 PM   #20
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Quote:
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Did they tell you why that gasket failed? I can't think of a single reason why they would reuse the oil besides cost? As for break in I followed it completely for 2,000 miles during my ED, the last 1200 miles of the trip I drove it hard. I also put it on ramps last night and double checked for any sign of oil and everything is clean down there no signs of a problem.
Nope. They said they didn't see anything else wrong when they opened it up. Maybe a defective gasket or it got nicked on install or something? (fingers crossed)

I think you're right about the oil and cost, but maybe they would claim they are protecting the environment by reusing good oil?? Either way it was a bit surprising/annoying, but not that big an issue for me as I had already purchased the materials and had planned to do it myself.
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      12-07-2011, 03:48 PM   #21
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What oil did you use?
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      12-07-2011, 04:09 PM   #22
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What oil did you use?
OEM - BMW/Castrol 5w30. Was thinking of switching to redline, but had to go to dealer to get the filter anyway.
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