[Gavins30]

What is normal for oil consumption on f10 pre LCI 550i? I am having to add a quart about every 800 miles. I feel like this is very excessive. I know the n63 engine is very terrible for oil consumption.. just don’t know what’s normal.

[550iFreak]

It’s excessive.

According to the bulletin, I believe usage of oil is permissible up to 750mi/qt. Even though you fall under the permissible amount, it is quite excessive and there is a continued lawsuit in effect pertaining to the n63 oil consumption issues.

Now, does your car smoke under idle or heavy acceleration? Any leaks you could find or smell in the engine bay?

It is normal for all cars to burn or use oil, it’s inevitable to NOT use oil during its life before it gets changed out at a predetermined mileage or date. These n63 engines runs very hot and those turbos loves to use oil to keep them working. Mind you there are two of them haha.


I managed to get my 550i to not burn enough oil to register on the gauge after 6k miles which is where I perform my oil changes. I did the valve seal major repair at 100k miles in response to the oil consumption of 1k/qt.

Now at 126k miles with upgraded Alpina turbos and running jb4 for the longest, also did the 90degree thermostat right after purchase of the car at 76k miles.

Everyone has a various oil consumption report from nothing to about 2K/qt which I believe is normal. Anything below would be worthy of investigation.

Be happy that it still runs some doesn’t consume since they seize up lol.

[Speedy38]

Before I fixt the seals burning 1L at 1000 km now with new seals its about 1L at 3500 km

[Gavins30]

Originally Posted by 550iFreak

It’s excessive.

According to the bulletin, I believe usage of oil is permissible up to 750mi/qt. Even though you fall under the permissible amount, it is quite excessive and there is a continued lawsuit in effect pertaining to the n63 oil consumption issues.

Now, does your car smoke under idle or heavy acceleration? Any leaks you could find or smell in the engine bay?

It is normal for all cars to burn or use oil, it’s inevitable to NOT use oil during its life before it gets changed out at a predetermined mileage or date. These n63 engines runs very hot and those turbos loves to use oil to keep them working. Mind you there are two of them haha.


I managed to get my 550i to not burn enough oil to register on the gauge after 6k miles which is where I perform my oil changes. I did the valve seal major repair at 100k miles in response to the oil consumption of 1k/qt.

Now at 126k miles with upgraded Alpina turbos and running jb4 for the longest, also did the 90degree thermostat right after purchase of the car at 76k miles.

Everyone has a various oil consumption report from nothing to about 2K/qt which I believe is normal. Anything below would be worthy of investigation.

Be happy that it still runs some doesn’t consume since they seize up lol.

Mine does not smoke in idle or anything. It doesn't have a smell unless I drive it super hard and then park it within 5 minutes (which seems normal). The only issue I am noticing is the oil consumption itself. How much did you have to pay for the major valve seal repair? I took my car to the BMW dealership for an inspection right when I bought the car and all they said was that the Turbo return plate had a leak. Does this qualify for the N63 lawsuit or is this an entirely different thing that I am liable for totally on myself.

Side note: she drives like a beauty and absolutely no issues other than oil consumption and shes at 97,000 miles

[550iFreak]

Hmmmm very surprising that there was no smoke emitting out of the exhaust considering your current consumption. Plus not finding any notable leaks or smell any burning of such is also a surprise.

The real test is to run it good and hot, then park somewhere and let it idle for at least 7-10 minutes. This is only good with a helper so you can focus on the exhaust while the helper immediately wide open throttle the engine to a safe rpm like 3k rpm or so. A blue hue of smoke should come out for a second or so, depending on the severity of the issue.

Could be also that your catalytic converters are doing a great job masking the smoke. This is where the decision was made on my car for the seals to be done as the smoke becomes more prominent after going catless.

N54 guys are noticed on that accord with their failing turbos when they also went catless and all of the sudden blue smoke starts coming out of the tailpipe.

I did mines myself. 1500 dollars of parts and tooling completed the repair. Took me all week since it was my first one and probably the last. After performing the repair, I appreciate the Indy shop’s quote of 5500 dollars to do the repair since it is time consuming and full of anxiety.

In other words, it’s quite stressful and not for an average mechanic to pull off while the engine was still in the vehicle.

97k miles huh....... about where I really noticed my oil consumption. It is a good idea to have it checked. Bmw can do a oil consumption report and able to give you solutions from a valve seal replacement to an entire engine swap.

But it depends on the shop, your relationship with said shop, and how hard are you going to fight (or the will to do so) to get it done.

If it’s not hurting you or show any signs of the car hurting for excessive oil usage, then keep on going since there are stories about the shop lacking to provide satisfactory resolutions on the customers who went to get it done.

Delayed work, backorder on engines, unsatisfactory repair, new issues arises, etc.

It’s up to you for your resolution.

But again, to answer the original question above and to solidify.....yes it is quite excessive lol.

[550iFreak]

Btw, speedy38.

Did your car smoke before the seals were replaced?

Obviously that was the issue on your oil consumption. Haha, actually more than 75 percent of n63 oil consumption faults were the valve seals accompanied with such a hot running temperature.

250 degrees on oil temps is downright criminal.