3 series burns oil?!?!?

[xi guy]

Hey group...I have a 325 xi on order that will arrive within a month. I was at a gas
station this weekend and struck up a conversation with a guy filling up a beautiful
330 xi. He loves it, but something he said gives me pause. He said it burns oil, and that
the service guys he deals with says its normal. THe car has 29K miles and already he has
had to add over 3 quarts of oil!!!!![???1]

I was flabbergasted, but again, he said the BMW dealer mechanics said its OK and normal.

Is this true? I really didnt expect this from a BMW. Whats the deal here?

Thanks!

 

[Big Daddy]

While it may not be unusual to use a little oil during the breakin persiod, three quarts in 29k seems excessive. I have not heard of the e46's burning oil.

 

[bmwcoupedriver]

About 1500 miles ago (I am at 8,500 now), I parked my car in a lot which was on an incline. (2003 330ci) The oil light briefly came on. When I checked, it was a bit low. I was a surprised too, but my dealer confirmed that it is very common for these engines when they are new. I added a quart, and it seems to have remained at the same level...so far.

Joseph

 

[MrElussive]

The oil-burning issue is most common in the M5. After 10,000 miles, the oil-burning issue will settle down.

 

[Drake]

I have about 27k miles on my car now. At about 24k the light came on for the first time. I added a quart and have had a regular oil change since. That is the only time I got the low oil light. I have yet to see the 'pull over now stupid' oil light come one

 

[bmwrocks]

I have to add a quart every 12-15K miles or so in my X5. It has the same motor as my 330. I don't run either vehicles very hard. I will be watching the 330 very carefully (only 2k miles on it).

Your car really isn't classically "burning oil" as in blue smoke coming from the tailpipe steadily. I remember reading on LS1.com (I used to own a 99 Trans Am 6sp) that high compression engines can use oil as it creeps around the rings during deceleration.

Does anyone know more about this phenomenon?

 

[mrferg]

My car has 210K miles and has no oil issues, whoda thunkit?

 

[mallards]

sounds fishy ...

i run the crap out of my 325i everyday ... also i average 2500+ miles a month ...
and i havent had one oil problem

i would bring the problem up to the dealer again and have them write out that everything is ok ... if thats the verdict (that way you have some written proof in case the engine goes boom)

im not sure but i believe oil leakage (to that degree) you are experiencing is abnormal

hope this helps ... keep us updated ... and dont let them bull you around with "thats normal"

Ben

 

[tsquared]

I had to add a quart of oil to my 330xi at around 16,000 miles.

 

[yogi799]

I've read that the new M3 burns a lot of oil due to its increased performance. It was a long-distance magazine test with professionals around.... they said it needed about a quart of synthetic every 3-5000 miles. Ain't that amazing!?

 

[Big Daddy]

Some of the new M3's are using oil due to a seal failure, but I do not think they are burning it.

 

[steve330xi]

Tsquared, when you added oil at 16k miles was that just after the 15K oil service?

 

[330i and like it]

No way!

I have a 330i and it doesn't use any oil. From what I understand if an engine is burning oil like that there is a major problem.

 

[xi guy]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the replies. I h ave asked my dealer about this and he said that some oil
consumption is normal since 1999 when they went to synthetic oil. I still feel a little weird
about this. Can anyine get anything official about this topic????

 

[akbmw]

My (yellow) oil light has come on after I turn off the engine. The book says add oil. What kind of oil should I use --- any special brand/weight?

 

[RR BuGGz]

Actaully it's not abnormal for E46's to burn oil especially during the breakin period. After about 15k miles it starts to taper off and burns less. On avg. I was adding a quart every other month for the first few thousand miles.

 

[vlad]

I have a theory...

I have heard of several e46 BMWs, (M3 specifically), that have to add oil regularly. But I have not had to add a single drop to mine. I believe that this is based on how you break the piston rings in. Yeah, I know BMW stipulates 1200 miles, but comon, think about it...

The e46s are using a full synthetic oil, the rings won't be seated correctly in 1200 miles using this oil. A normal dino oil yes, but I highly doubt that a synthetic oil would allow the rings to seat in that mileage.

I broke my car in using BMW's recommendations, (not over 1/2 of what the red line is, lots of bumper to bumper stop and go traffic), but I did this to 4,000 miles!

I really believe that you need at least 3,000 miles to fully break in an engine using synthetic oils.

 

[///M SPEED]

I have a theory...

I have heard of several e46 BMWs, (M3 specifically), that have to add oil regularly. But I have not had to add a single drop to mine. I believe that this is based on how you break the piston rings in. Yeah, I know BMW stipulates 1200 miles, but comon, think about it...

The e46s are using a full synthetic oil, the rings won't be seated correctly in 1200 miles using this oil. A normal dino oil yes, but I highly doubt that a synthetic oil would allow the rings to seat in that mileage.

I broke my car in using BMW's recommendations, (not over 1/2 of what the red line is, lots of bumper to bumper stop and go traffic), but I did this to 4,000 miles!

I really believe that you need at least 3,000 miles to fully break in an engine using synthetic oils.

You make a very valid statement vlad. Synthetic oil caused much less wear on engine parts; therefore it should take longer to seat the parts that would normally take less time to seat with regular oil.

 

[///M SPEED]

My Y2k 328i doesn't burn any oil at all.

 

[bmwrocks]

3k miles on mine and the dipstick still reads full. Fingers are crossed.