630i sport 2010 N53 heavy oil consumption

[viperbluecerb]

Bought my 630i at the end of last year, taking a punt on a late Sept 2010 car in great condition 70K miles but no service history.

Unfortunately she is consuming oil at a rate of about 1 litre per 400 miles. I've changed the PCV valve which required a completely new rocker cover and destructive inspection of the old unit revealed no problems. Oil consumption continued.

Compression tests around 130psi across all cylinders. Plug in cylinder 6 badly fouled and covered in fuel/oil.

In the process of stripping down the engine to remove the head which should help reveal the cause, perhaps damaged bores/rings or valve guides/seal problems, we'll see.

I'll post some pics as things progress.

Edited by viperbluecerb on Monday 30th May 11:25

[cerb4.5lee]

That is heavy and the N52 in my 330i uses 1 Litre every 2000 miles and I thought that was pretty bad, a 2006 model on 64k miles.

[helix402]

Good write up.

[tomic]

Excellent - Very interested to hear how you get on as my old N53 E92 developed these symptoms after a while

[Kez86]

cerb4.5lee said:

That is heavy and the N52 in my 330i uses 1 Litre every 2000 miles and I thought that was pretty bad, a 2006 model on 64k miles.

When I got mine it had just been serviced , presumably put oil in and then I did 5000 miles and had it serviced again where they did the oil. In that 5000 miles the oil light didn't come on and I didn't put any in?! Do you think my oil sensor is broke?! Ha

[viperbluecerb]

Some updates in this thread. Possible manufacturing defect, doesn't look like the bores have been finished correctly.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[cerb4.5lee]

Kez86 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

That is heavy and the N52 in my 330i uses 1 Litre every 2000 miles and I thought that was pretty bad, a 2006 model on 64k miles.

When I got mine it had just been serviced , presumably put oil in and then I did 5000 miles and had it serviced again where they did the oil. In that 5000 miles the oil light didn't come on and I didn't put any in?! Do you think my oil sensor is broke?! Ha

When I purchased the car it had 48k miles on it and I have put 1 Litre in it every 2000 miles since, and I have to say it's been the most oil thirsty car I've ever had...it's not been the most fuel thirsty though but certainly the most oil thirsty!

I was really worried at first but after some digging I believe it's fairly common for that engine, 5000 miles is good going buddy based on my experience.

[cerb4.5lee]

viperbluecerb said:

Some updates in this thread. Possible manufacturing defect, doesn't look like the bores have been finished correctly.

That is really poor form for an engine that is pretty well regarded that's for sure.

[Kez86]

Did your light come on mate or did you just keep checking your stick?

[cerb4.5lee]

I just wait for the electronic gauge to tell me to add 1 litre and it saves messing around just adding very small amounts of oil, I did the same when I had my M3 on that as well although that didn't use quite as much oil as the 330.

[bmwmike]

Does anyone know if the n52 cylinders use the same material? It looks like ceramic. All the n52 bores Ive seen online look like metal.

[viperbluecerb]

bmwmike said:

Does anyone know if the n52 cylinders use the same material? It looks like ceramic. All the n52 bores Ive seen online look like metal.

Yes, the N52 is the same aluminum/magnesium construction and uses alusil as the bore surface as in the N53.

[bodhi]

For reference my N52 with patchy service history just asked for another litre 7000 miles after the last oil service.

It was a bit thirstier before then, more like every 3000 miles, but since new plugs, filters etc oil use has halved, not sure if that's any use?

[viperbluecerb]

Update on this thread:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

5 out of 6 of my injectors are trash (leaking) and I suspect could be the cause of high oil consumption.

[bmwmike]

OP - Just curious if you noticed any puffs of smoke on startup, especially after it had been sat for a few days?

I just started my 2012 n53 40k and swear I just saw some black smoke - assume injector, so as i have warranty i'll be getting BMW to look at it. Not sure about the longevity of these engines if they are overfueling for most of their lives though!!

[viperbluecerb]

bmwmike said:

OP - Just curious if you noticed any puffs of smoke on startup, especially after it had been sat for a few days?

I haven't tbh