One reason why I sold my E46 330 coupe....

[ceriw]

Mileage;76,766 Oil level at 50%
76,837 added +0.75 litre
76,881 +0.25
77,003 +0.75
77,443 +0.5
77,604 +0.25
77,762 +0.5
78,105 +0.25
78,266 +0.5
78,489 +0.5
78,750 +0.5
79,248 +0.25
79,539 +0.5
79,766 +0.25
79,818 +0.5
80,127 +0.25 litre added

This related to a period from 26 November '07 to 02 June '08 inclusive.
Using Castrol (LLO4 BMW) fully synthetic IIRC....pretty expensive stuff.
PS.... Car kept in tiled private garage - no oil leaks!

Edited by ceriw on Friday 21st November 18:16

[hughjayteens]

A friend had similar issues with his E39 M5 which used a litre every 900 miles. BMW said that was fine and that there was only an issue when it was a litre every 600 miles!

[gizlaroc]

Should have change it to 10w40 with that mileage if it was using that much, didn't BMW recommend that??

[pstruck]

Not used a drop in the 1500 miles I have done since buying mine 6 weeks ago. Have seen other reports of excessive oil usage though. Wonder why this is so variable, and in an engine which is well respected and generally very strong?

[Fox-]

The M54's use oil - this much is true. How much oil can vary between a litre every 1000 miles and 5000 miles depending on usage.

Yours used a ridiculous amount, an amount so great there was clearly some sort of serious problem with the engine. That was not normal at all and is far, far beyond even BMW's rather daft specifications.

[LC23]

Definitely excessive oil use on the 330. Mine used to need 1 litre between services and not a drop more. And I covered around 25,000 miles in mine. Great engine and I sometimes wish I still had the car.

[Shropshiremike]

Fox- said:

The M54's use oil - this much is true. How much oil can vary between a litre every 1000 miles and 5000 miles depending on usage.

Oil control rings were modded on the M5 IIRC. I suspect it has a lot ot do with how they run in as well

[Fox-]

The M5 doesn't have an M54 engine. It has an S62.

[Shropshiremike]

Fox- said:

The M5 doesn't have an M54 engine. It has an S62.

Yes I know that - just pointing out that BMW did take steps to reduce the oil consumption on the M5 engine as it was mentioned within this thread earlier.
ISTR that they looked at the 330 similarly.

Funnily enough our 02 reg 330i never really used any ( although more than my higher mileage M52 328i does ) whereas my cousin's 330 auto used about a litre per 1500 miles - never visible though in terms of smoke

[Vee]

ceriw said:

Mileage;76,766 Oil level at 50%
76,837 added +0.75 litre
76,881 +0.25
77,003 +0.75
77,443 +0.5
77,604 +0.25
77,762 +0.5
78,105 +0.25
78,266 +0.5
78,489 +0.5
78,750 +0.5
79,248 +0.25
79,539 +0.5
79,766 +0.25
79,818 +0.5
80,127 +0.25 litre added

This related to a period from 26 November '07 to 02 June '08 inclusive.
Using Castrol (LLO4 BMW) fully synthetic IIRC....pretty expensive stuff.
PS.... Car kept in tiled private garage - no oil leaks!

I've 2 52 reg M54 330s both on just over 70k.
One uses 0.5L in between 15k services, the other gets through 1L in 1k !
The sensor is playing up as the oil light comes on even thoough the dipstick shows its OK. Also, consumption has only gone up in the last 30k. Before that it was less than 2L between services.
Oil change today with 5W/30 LL04 oil - hopefully it will reduce.

[Mustard]

Fox- said:

The M54's use oil - this much is true. How much oil can vary between a litre every 1000 miles and 5000 miles depending on usage.

Yours used a ridiculous amount, an amount so great there was clearly some sort of serious problem with the engine. That was not normal at all and is far, far beyond even BMW's rather daft specifications.

I've heard said the oil useage only really effects 3.0ltr versions, never had to top up our lowish mileage 2.5ltr M54

[jeff666]

Had my 330 sport two years now, it has not used a drop of oil in 20,000 miles, i done an oil change and used castrol edge fully synthetic, total milage is 81,000.

[The Count]

E46 M3 - 9000 miles and not a smidgen of oil used

[Fox-]

Mustard said:

Fox- said:

The M54's use oil - this much is true. How much oil can vary between a litre every 1000 miles and 5000 miles depending on usage.

Yours used a ridiculous amount, an amount so great there was clearly some sort of serious problem with the engine. That was not normal at all and is far, far beyond even BMW's rather daft specifications.

I've heard said the oil useage only really effects 3.0ltr versions, never had to top up our lowish mileage 2.5ltr M54

Not really the case, if anything its more of an issue on the 2.2's.

[drivin_me_nuts]

Those consumptions are little. E39 M5 - uses around one litre every 700 miles - as low as 500 with hard right foot. If you are that bothered by cost Opie are your friends. Great for bulk buys