N53 Extreme Oil Consumption

[PSDM3]

Hi PH,

I have a BMW E92 2010 330i, N53 engine.

I bought the car a few months ago, and since then I have recorded an average of the car consuming 1 litre of oil every 400 miles.
I went to one specialist who replaced the rocker cover gasket, oil level sensor and oil cooler. He has now assured me of no more oil leaks.

Is anyone aware of any other potential causes to rule out? If not, it almost definitely is worn piston rings / bores.
Could it be the CCV / PCV ? I know the older 6-cylinders (such as M54), CCV was definitely a cause of high oil use.
I'm also thinking it could be injectors, as cold start is quite rough for a few seconds, and MPG is a few lower than what others get on this car.


(If it matters) I'm using Mobil1 5w-30.

[mahoone]

Try removing the oil cap while the engine is running. If there's a strong vacuum then at least you know your CCV is gone.

Are there any error codes stored?

Had mine 330i N53 for 6 months now and it's still showing Max oil level (according to the sensor!).

[PSDM3]

mahoone said:

Try removing the oil cap while the engine is running. If there's a strong vacuum then at least you know your CCV is gone.

Are there any error codes stored?

Had mine 330i N53 for 6 months now and it's still showing Max oil level (according to the sensor!).

I did that a few weeks back, took the car for a spin then removed the oil cap with the engine running, I didn't have any suction/vacuum.
No error codes in relation to engine either

[Elliot2000]

If it runs rough to start with then it could well be injectors leaking - they wash the bores and thin the already thin oil and can cause excessive oil consumption

[PSDM3]

Elliot2000 said:

If it runs rough to start with then it could well be injectors leaking - they wash the bores and thin the already thin oil and can cause excessive oil consumption

This is interesting. Is there any way to test them and do I have to get all of them replaced?

[dmarkovina]

There seems to be a recurring pattern with N53 engines..(also heard the same with diesel engines - a couple of weeks ago a 535d reported with no less than a hole in a piston - apparently injector leaking - so the dealer had said).

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

Adding LM Ceratec may help smooth out the damaged cilinder bores and reduce the oil consumption - injectors being fixed beforehand of course. I would also go with a little thicker 5w-40 synthetic oil if Ceratec is in - especially in the UK - no extended (extreme) subzero temperatures.

Edited by dmarkovina on Wednesday 20th June 21:57

[bmwmike]

1L per 400 miles is a lot. About twice the max consumption. Presumably you have blue smoke out of the exhaust frequently ?

Any leaks?

Are you relying on the electronic oil level?

How many miles on the engine?

Injectors could well be leaking, but enough to cause that much oil burning? Possibly.. but doubtful IMO. And you'd get a lot of blue smoke.

Any smoke on startup if it's been sat overnight ?

Edited by bmwmike on Wednesday 20th June 21:31

[SoupAnxiety]

My 2009/59 N53 330i is on 170k. Around 150k the CCV went, it sounded like Chewbacca and was drinking oil. Replaced the membrane and consumption has been fine since, as you've checked the cap vacuum it doesn't sound like that.

Oil consumption was higher before I replaced the injectors with the later index 11 variant (this predates the Chewbacca CCV). Does your car run rough on cold mornings? If so it may have an earlier injector version, the index 11 injectors were mid-2013 IIRC, so a 2010 car will most likely have an earlier version.

[PSDM3]

SoupAnxiety said:

My 2009/59 N53 330i is on 170k. Around 150k the CCV went, it sounded like Chewbacca and was drinking oil. Replaced the membrane and consumption has been fine since, as you've checked the cap vacuum it doesn't sound like that.

Oil consumption was higher before I replaced the injectors with the later index 11 variant (this predates the Chewbacca CCV). Does your car run rough on cold mornings? If so it may have an earlier injector version, the index 11 injectors were mid-2013 IIRC, so a 2010 car will most likely have an earlier version.

Indeed have checked oil cap, and no vacuum present.

It starts off rough for around 1 minute on cold startup. I more than likely have the earlier injectors with a 60 reg.
I'm just wondering if this could be the cause. 1 litre per 400 miles seems to be a lot for just faulty injectors.

[SoupAnxiety]

PSDM3 said:

Indeed have checked oil cap, and no vacuum present.

It starts off rough for around 1 minute on cold startup. I more than likely have the earlier injectors with a 60 reg.
I'm just wondering if this could be the cause. 1 litre per 400 miles seems to be a lot for just faulty injectors.

The cold startup sounds like the injector issue. The earlier injectors leak when switched off, causing bore wash and oil thinning. Not sure what that translates to in consumption numbers, agree that 1 litre / 400 miles is a lot, but it'll be hard to rule injectors out. It's the signature issue of the N53.

I tracked down six index 11 injectors on eBay, used. Bought them for £240 in the end but it took months of finding individual ones, bidding etc. They can be changed DIY, you'll need INPA or a grown up to do the coding.

As much as I love my 330i, if I could pick again I'd get an earlier N52. I haven't even got the fuel economy benefits of the N53 as my NOx sensor has failed and I'm stuck in use-all-the-fuel mode. Next step is to get the NOx emulator from bimmerprofs.com, or if I find the magic money tree, to get an E39 M5 and enjoy a less complicated car!

[bmwmike]

Funny you mention that. I'm toying with an e39 m5 as my next car as all things considered I think it would be cheaper to run for my usage pattern.

[PSDM3]

bmwmike said:

1L per 400 miles is a lot. About twice the max consumption. Presumably you have blue smoke out of the exhaust frequently ?

Any leaks?

Are you relying on the electronic oil level?

How many miles on the engine?

Injectors could well be leaking, but enough to cause that much oil burning? Possibly.. but doubtful IMO. And you'd get a lot of blue smoke.

Any smoke on startup if it's been sat overnight ?

Edited by bmwmike on Wednesday 20th June 21:31

I've never seen blue smoke coming from my car. I am relying on the electronic oil level, but I had the oil level sensor replaced a few weeks ago.

I'm going to check the startup smoke tonight, haven't started it in 2 days. Will post what it produces.

[bmwmike]

Video the exhaust cold start and let's have a look

[PSDM3]

SoupAnxiety said:

The cold startup sounds like the injector issue. The earlier injectors leak when switched off, causing bore wash and oil thinning. Not sure what that translates to in consumption numbers, agree that 1 litre / 400 miles is a lot, but it'll be hard to rule injectors out. It's the signature issue of the N53.

I tracked down six index 11 injectors on eBay, used. Bought them for £240 in the end but it took months of finding individual ones, bidding etc. They can be changed DIY, you'll need INPA or a grown up to do the coding.

As much as I love my 330i, if I could pick again I'd get an earlier N52. I haven't even got the fuel economy benefits of the N53 as my NOx sensor has failed and I'm stuck in use-all-the-fuel mode. Next step is to get the NOx emulator from bimmerprofs.com, or if I find the magic money tree, to get an E39 M5 and enjoy a less complicated car!

I've had my NOx sensor replaced 2 months ago. £430 part I think it was, and it didn't even make a huge difference to my mpg. If you're getting NOx errors you can try to desulpherize the cat using Carly adapter.

You did well with the injectors. I've seen £1500 for all 6 from BMW UK. Might be able to get away with just replacing the faulty ones or is that a terrible idea?

[PSDM3]

bmwmike said:

Video the exhaust cold start and let's have a look

Here's a video I took now of a 'cold' startup (even thought it's boiling outside)

https://youtu.be/4IoGqfLWphs

It was only me so couldn't get it right from startup, but I don't think there was any smoke. Gave it a few small revs and couldn't see anything. However, the car does shake a little bit from cold.

[bmwmike]

Sounded ok on my phone at least.

I would have put the camera/phone on the ground pointing at the exhaust then started it. Looked ok though so prob not stem seals. These can also crack the cam cover near cylinder 3 and oil pools out into the spark plug well causing a misfire. I'm sure your indy would have noticed that when doing the gasket though.

Are you positive it's using that much oil? No signs of leaks?

[Rueh]

My n53 had a leaking injector, that’s what causes the rough idle on start up. It was obvious what one had gone by the colour of the spark plugs, so if they’re due a change just make note of the colour of each one.

I only replaced one with an index 11 despite everything I’ve read about it and it runs perfectly!

Never had any excessive oil consumption before I swapped the leaking injector though.

[PSDM3]

bmwmike said:

Sounded ok on my phone at least.

I would have put the camera/phone on the ground pointing at the exhaust then started it. Looked ok though so prob not stem seals. These can also crack the cam cover near cylinder 3 and oil pools out into the spark plug well causing a misfire. I'm sure your indy would have noticed that when doing the gasket though.

Are you positive it's using that much oil? No signs of leaks?

I'm pretty sure. The oil level sensor got replaced, so that should be working on point. It tells me to fill up a litre after 400 miles and goes down a quarter or so every 100 miles. My Indy said the only leak he could find was on the rocker cover gasket, and the oil cooler was also replaced.

When I fill up a litre it goes back up to max. I suppose if the oil level sensor was faulty, it would say less than max or that I put too much oil in.

If there was a further leak, I'm sure I would be able to tell as it's doing so many litres of oil every few months!!

I'll re-do the video tomorrow on cold start.

[PSDM3]

Rueh said:

My n53 had a leaking injector, that’s what causes the rough idle on start up. It was obvious what one had gone by the colour of the spark plugs, so if they’re due a change just make note of the colour of each one.

I only replaced one with an index 11 despite everything I’ve read about it and it runs perfectly!

Never had any excessive oil consumption before I swapped the leaking injector though.

Good to hear you had good outcome with just changing the 1 injector, I'll bear this in mind.

[bmwmike]

I dunno for sure but I'd have thought a litre of oil consumed every 400 miles or 2.5 litres per 1000 miles would make itself known either via smoke or puddles.. maybe someone else can say otherwise