E92 325 oil consumption
Discussion
My 2007 E92 appears to be using in my opinion an excessive amount of oil. Every 800 to 1000 miles it needs a litre of oil. I also notice that intermittently on start up blue smoke from the exhaust which clears when driven. At this stage its being investigated under warranty, the oil has been drained and refilled to the specified level and I have to run it for 600 miles and they will drop the oil and measure the amount used to determine if it is in the acceptable range of oil usage. BMW have stated that a litre of oil per 1000 miles is within normal tolerance, this sound's excessive to me. Has anyone had any similar experience and if so what was the outcome, the car has only covered 48,000 miles. Thanks
1 litre per 1,000 miles seems an awful lot to me. I have an '07 335i which has done about 87,000 miles. Between services it uses no oil (at least according to the electronic dipstick gauge which never moves from the 'max' position). Blue smoke on start up isn't normal either - not with such low mileage. Could be a number of things such as breather issues or worn out oil control rings / bores. Maybe ask to have a compression test done - that might show up signs of wear in that area. I very much doubt that BMW would design a motor which in its normal operation would consume 17% of its oil capacity every 1,000 miles!
I agree that given the low mileage I too feel the oil consumption is high. Once they have completed the next stage of there investigation I will ask them to continue further investigation to determine the smoke on start up and oil usage. Your suggestions are also my thoughts on the possible cause, just depends if they will cover this under warranty.
xxChrisxx said:
Breather or valve seals. Rings would smoke constantly and get worse under load.
My N52 uses about 1l per 3.5 to 4k. Thats using 0w30.
How long have you owned the car and how regular were previous oil changes?
I've owed the car since December last year, I bought it from a BMW Main Dealer, full service history all oil changes undertaken at specified intervals. I'll let them complete this next part of the oil usage measuring and await there findings. I expect they will tell me that its with the normal range of consumption, I will ask to see this in writing and take it from there. My N52 uses about 1l per 3.5 to 4k. Thats using 0w30.
How long have you owned the car and how regular were previous oil changes?
xxChrisxx said:
I meant did the computer leave it 20k between changes or something silly like that.
I've just checkedthe service book and after the PDI in 06/07 the next recorded oil change is in 08/11 but it hasn't recorded the milage at that point. Then in Oct 2013 it is purchased by the main dealer and the oil is changed at 42500 miles. I will have to look at the other paper work I have to see if I have any other evidence of work being carried out in the period between 07 and 11. I gues if it has been a low milage car and long periods between oil changes it could have an impact on the CCV and the possibility it needs changing.JFReturns said:
2007 E92 325i owner here, 72,000 miles. No oil usage or blue smoke on start up. My car has had nine oil changes so far though, previous owners didn't agree with long life servicing!
Thanks for ta information, gives me an idea that mine has an issue and it will be interesting to see how the dealer wants to progress in fixing it. I'd moan and complain, don't let them fob you off. 1l per 1k is acceptable for an old worn motor thats being hammered. Not for one that should be in its prime.
This service stuff is getting silly now. I'm convinced that its causing a host of problems. Oil needs to be changed annually or every 10-15k. Whichever comes first.
The previous owner on mine left the oil change for 25k and it borked the VANOS solenoids.
No change recorded for years, I wouldn't be surprised that its f
ked.
This service stuff is getting silly now. I'm convinced that its causing a host of problems. Oil needs to be changed annually or every 10-15k. Whichever comes first.
The previous owner on mine left the oil change for 25k and it borked the VANOS solenoids.
No change recorded for years, I wouldn't be surprised that its f
ked.bracken78 said:
I have an N52 330i and it used 0.5 liters of oil between services which are carried out every 10k or year.
Has this been the case in the past? A reliable 10k service.There certainly seems to be a trend appearing in this thread on early life oil changes and current oil usage.
I purchased my N52 330i with 48k miles on it at the end of last november and its now done 55k and I am about to put another litre in it and I have already put 2 litres in it so its by far the worst car I have owned for oil consumption.
It doesn't smoke or drop any oil but when compared to my old E92 M3 I did 10k miles in 10 months in that and only put 1 litre of oil in it in that time it seems the N52 does have a good thirst for oil.
The TTS we have has now covered nearly 56k miles and I have only put 2 litres of oil in that so it amazes me how different engines are when it comes to oil usage.
It doesn't smoke or drop any oil but when compared to my old E92 M3 I did 10k miles in 10 months in that and only put 1 litre of oil in it in that time it seems the N52 does have a good thirst for oil.
The TTS we have has now covered nearly 56k miles and I have only put 2 litres of oil in that so it amazes me how different engines are when it comes to oil usage.
JFReturns said:
2007 E92 325i owner here, 72,000 miles. No oil usage or blue smoke on start up. My car has had nine oil changes so far though, previous owners didn't agree with long life servicing!
A wise owner at that 
the M54 2.5-3.0 motors are also noted for variations on oil usage some do some dont like many of BMW's engines hopefully this guy may just have trouble with the crankcase breather system 
that oil usage I would not be happy about 
Edited by Sardonicus on Thursday 19th June 10:42
My previous car, E60 with the M54 used a litre every 1100 miles. Bought as approved used with 40k miles, oil was changed at 18k and 40k. I spoke to local BMW dealer who told me that the engines were designed to use oil!? They did say if it dropped below 1 litre per 1000 miles they would investigate. I kept the car for a year and 18k miles.
Previous E39 with the M57 didn't use a drop of oil, bought it at 80k and sold at 205k, oil was changed every 8 to 10k. Present E46 M54B30 now on 70k has used a litre in 15k.
It would be interesting to hear from an owner with big miles to see how they are getting on.
Previous E39 with the M57 didn't use a drop of oil, bought it at 80k and sold at 205k, oil was changed every 8 to 10k. Present E46 M54B30 now on 70k has used a litre in 15k.
It would be interesting to hear from an owner with big miles to see how they are getting on.
xxChrisxx said:
bracken78 said:
I have an N52 330i and it used 0.5 liters of oil between services which are carried out every 10k or year.
Has this been the case in the past? A reliable 10k service.There certainly seems to be a trend appearing in this thread on early life oil changes and current oil usage.
Just an update. I called in at the dealers and spoke to the sales man that I bought the car off. We agreed that when I take it ion on the 2 July we will speak to the workshop manager to discuss the options of further investigation rather than just dropping the oil and measuring how much it has used. I'll keep this post updated.
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