E46 330ci 2002 oil usage

[VanBas]

Hi all. Hope someone can help with this.

I recently bought a 330ci with 74,000 on the clock. Only had it two months but have had to put 3 litres of oil into it! Not done a lot of miles, 1500ish so far. This seems excessive even bearing in mind that these cars like to use oil. There are no leaks when the car is parked. Anybody have any ideas why this would occur?

[Frances The Mute]

That does seem high. What oil and grade are you using?

Usual culprit the the crank case breather which can leak. Its a ballache to get to but is the first port of call.

Do you do a lot of local miles where the car doesn't get up to temperature?

[PaulB81]

Mine was doing this when I got it. It was a 'blocked oil breather pipe' according to the indie I took it to. After that was fixed, it barely uses any at all.

[tgr]

yes it's the oil breather pipe. inconvenient to access in order to change so not many are done, owners accepting increased oil consumption

[VanBas]

Thanks for the replys.

Using mobile 1 oil. It's BMW LL-01 approved so I think it's the right stuff. Dont do that many local miles, mostly to work which is a 17 mile drive.

Anyone know if it's expensive to fix?

[Martyn D]

I'd change to a 5w 40 oil... 0w is a little to "thin" for higher mileage motors

[steve_n]

PaulB81 said:

Mine was doing this when I got it. It was a 'blocked oil breather pipe' according to the indie I took it to. After that was fixed, it barely uses any at all.

How much did it cost to fix and was it a case of part replacement or clean up?

Thanks

[4rephill]

Be aware that BMW's official acceptable oil consumption for an E46 330i is as low as 1 litre every 600 miles! (I kid you not!).

[road_rager]

Mine uses 1ltr per 1000 miles ish. The last owner had it checked by bmw and told it was 'normal'

[VanBas]

4rephill said:

Be aware that BMW's official acceptable oil consumption for an E46 330i is as low as 1 litre every 600 miles! (I kid you not!).

I know, seems ridiculous to me, you would think there was a rotary engine under the bonnet

Might get it checked out at some point then but it would appear that its a problem that can be left (for a little while) with no adverse effects? Other than a bit of an oil bill.

[4rephill]

VanBas said:

I know, seems ridiculous to me, you would think there was a rotary engine under the bonnet

Might get it checked out at some point then but it would appear that its a problem that can be left (for a little while) with no adverse effects? Other than a bit of an oil bill.

So long as you keep a close eye on the oil level regularly and keep it topped up then it will be fine.

It can be worth the expense of having the CCV replaced but just be aware if you do go for it, it's not 100% guaranteed to cure the issue.

In the mean time, at least you know your oil is always fresh!

[VanBas]

Had the oil light come on again yesterday, been expecting it. The car has done 650 miles sinse the last top up. (I wrote down the mileage this time ) So by BMW standards it would appear this is pefectly normal. Will keep an eye on it though. If it carries on it will be worth getting it fixed.

[DaveR]

steve_n said:

PaulB81 said:

Mine was doing this when I got it. It was a 'blocked oil breather pipe' according to the indie I took it to. After that was fixed, it barely uses any at all.

How much did it cost to fix and was it a case of part replacement or clean up?

Thanks

I'd be interested in hearing the parts/labour figures too. I understand that there's some kind of valve in the breather pipe that is prone to breaking - and that it's in a fairly inaccessible place necessitating several hours of labour to replace...

[H_Kan]

Mine has used something like 2 - 3 litres over approx. 4500 miles. Within the guidelines and what owners are finding, but is still a lot more then any other car I've run.