Help - disappearing oil!

[Andre]

Hopefully I'll know soon. I made an appointment for next Thursday for my inspec tion. When I told them over the phone how much oil it is using, the guy sounded shocked. They'll have a hard time telling me that this is "within spec".

 

[Andre]

Update:
My dealer has been monitoring my consumption. They agree it is abnormal. The BMW Canada rep gave them the OK to open up the engine and replace the rings. They say they have seen 3 or 4 cars with the same problem. In those cases, the gaps in the piston rings were lined up incorrectly.
It goes in the shop in two weeks for major surgery...

I wonder if I will gain any HP after...?

 

[Andre]

UPDATE:

My car went in for about 5 days, and has had its engine torn apart. They said that three pistons had their rings installed incorrectly, and that the gaps in the rings were lined up. They said they could see where the oil was blowing by.

Hope it's fixed! Now I have to wait through another break-in period.

 

[///M SPEED]

Great news! It should be almost like a new car (motor wise). I am sure you will see some sort of performance increase. It may be minimal, but I would suspect there would be some. Good luck with it all....

 

[Kirby]

Glad to hear that they identified the problem. The "PISTON RING END GAP INSPECTOR" must have had a hangover that day of production!

 

[Tan]

I have a 2000 330i with 50k miles on it - I got it with 40k miles on it and in the past 6 months have been doing some rigorous driving. Since my last oil change about 3 months ago the oil light has come on twice now and I have had to top it up on both occasions. I spoke to the dealer in the UK who indicated that the car uses 1L for every 750miles which seems very high.
Just wanted to check if anyone else has been told this and if there is any truth to it. Also, are there any specific year/models on which the piston ring defect has shown up.

 

[TSilver330CI]

My 330 burns oil a lot also. I talked to the dealer and he said it burns a quart every 750K

Its perfectly normal!

 

[Andre]

I thought I would post an update.

After 3500 kilometers (2170 miles), I have used half a litre of oil. Considerably better than a litre in 1800 kilometers.

I'd say they nailed the problem.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

I'd say the 3.0 potentially uses 1 quart every 10,000 miles or 16,000 kilometers. Every 700 miles is definately not normal.

 

[Andre]

Another update, since it's been a while now since the repair. I just had to add 1/2 a litre of oil after 4200KM (2600MI). I consider this quite acceptable.