335d burning oil and my time with BMW Dealers
Discussion
Hi all
My tale of woe
Bought a 4 year old F30 335d love the car to be fair. Bought on 24k miles. I do about 350 miles a week mostly motorway.
Drove 9k and in to a service. Drove another 9k and low oil light came on put the 1 ltr in and took it to BMW dealer where I bought it under warranty. They changed the Heat Exchanger related gaskets etc £1400 I paid £250 and off I went. 4k later oil light on again ,took it back to them ,spanner in works I overfilled via looking at manual dipstick so that showed on their software.They thought I had just messed up and that no oil had been used ,which I knew not the case. So off I go no cost to me off I went.
3k later oil light low put a ltr in.Took it to the dealer I have used for 16 years they said I had not had a software update for a long time did that and sent on my way saying that should sort it.
2.6k miles on comes the light .i had been checking both manuel and the Idrive so knew that it was losing oil. Back to my BMW Dealer this time they changed the rocker cover and ancillery parts "that will have fixed it sir" Now here I am 2500 miles on and manual dipstick down to minimum and showing qtr on the idrive. Booked in for 20th may.I am off to cornwall for a few days tuesday and have the oil in the boot ready for the yellow oil light
So this will be my 5th visit to get this sorted out. I have been given the old nonsense " but the tolerance is 600 miles per ltr sir " something like that figure, may be less. My argument is 600 miles per ltr driving round a racetrack maybe. My 120d did 120k with no oil loss my 330d did 130k with not a drop of oil ever used either . As I said to them it cant be normal for my car it is getting worse 9k,4k.3k,2.6k
To be fair to the dealer when I bring it back in May they are not charging me my £250 excess.
I also understand that it really does not appear to be losing oil but is burning oil and that must be a needle in a haystack to find out why.
Just venting really on this. I have had enough 5th visit coming up ,any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.I get on great with the service reception people and the Head Tech comes out and chats and really listens so I am not going to lose the plot just tell them this has to be the last time. But as I say not easy to find and I guess re warranty they have to do one thing at a time that may be the cause? I am wondering what my parting shot should be as I walk out the Dealer after dropping off,cannot think of anything magic apart from" this has to be the last time" ,any ideas without being antagonistic?
Thanks for reading
EDIT I know I would be teaching them to suck eggs ,coals to Newcastle ETC. but anyone on here who knows what they are doing who can give me some ideas to tell them to look for?
My tale of woe
Bought a 4 year old F30 335d love the car to be fair. Bought on 24k miles. I do about 350 miles a week mostly motorway.
Drove 9k and in to a service. Drove another 9k and low oil light came on put the 1 ltr in and took it to BMW dealer where I bought it under warranty. They changed the Heat Exchanger related gaskets etc £1400 I paid £250 and off I went. 4k later oil light on again ,took it back to them ,spanner in works I overfilled via looking at manual dipstick so that showed on their software.They thought I had just messed up and that no oil had been used ,which I knew not the case. So off I go no cost to me off I went.
3k later oil light low put a ltr in.Took it to the dealer I have used for 16 years they said I had not had a software update for a long time did that and sent on my way saying that should sort it.
2.6k miles on comes the light .i had been checking both manuel and the Idrive so knew that it was losing oil. Back to my BMW Dealer this time they changed the rocker cover and ancillery parts "that will have fixed it sir" Now here I am 2500 miles on and manual dipstick down to minimum and showing qtr on the idrive. Booked in for 20th may.I am off to cornwall for a few days tuesday and have the oil in the boot ready for the yellow oil light
So this will be my 5th visit to get this sorted out. I have been given the old nonsense " but the tolerance is 600 miles per ltr sir " something like that figure, may be less. My argument is 600 miles per ltr driving round a racetrack maybe. My 120d did 120k with no oil loss my 330d did 130k with not a drop of oil ever used either . As I said to them it cant be normal for my car it is getting worse 9k,4k.3k,2.6k
To be fair to the dealer when I bring it back in May they are not charging me my £250 excess.
I also understand that it really does not appear to be losing oil but is burning oil and that must be a needle in a haystack to find out why.
Just venting really on this. I have had enough 5th visit coming up ,any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.I get on great with the service reception people and the Head Tech comes out and chats and really listens so I am not going to lose the plot just tell them this has to be the last time. But as I say not easy to find and I guess re warranty they have to do one thing at a time that may be the cause? I am wondering what my parting shot should be as I walk out the Dealer after dropping off,cannot think of anything magic apart from" this has to be the last time" ,any ideas without being antagonistic?
Thanks for reading
EDIT I know I would be teaching them to suck eggs ,coals to Newcastle ETC. but anyone on here who knows what they are doing who can give me some ideas to tell them to look for?
Edited by smashy on Sunday 21st April 17:33
Edited by smashy on Sunday 21st April 17:44
smashy said:
3k later oil light low put a ltr in.Took it to the dealer I have used for 16 years they said I had not had a software update for a long time did that and sent on my way saying that should sort it.
Yes, software updates are well known to fix mechanical wear aren't they. I think Colin Lueless must have diagnosed the car as he doesn't appear to know the difference between leaking and burning.
You can normally bet your right arm on this being one or both of the turbos, but not usually at ~40K miles.
There's a couple of guys on F30 bimmerpost with the same problem. A 35d and a 30d. Neither has been successfully diagnosed yet and everything has been checked, bar internal damage (pistons/rings/cylinder liners).
Maybe get the dealer to do a check of the DME to see if it flags software manipulation. It normally costs around £500 to perform a full software check and reflash everything to stock, but as you've known them 16 years, they might look after you a bit. I doubt the update they did already was a comprehensive one.
What I'm getting at is 100% standard cars rarely exhibit this problem, so personally I'd be keen to see if it's been remapped or not. There are a lot of sheddy maps out there that are known to over drive the injectors, which destroys the nozzles, and then consequently the piston crowns.
sunnyb13 said:
Just take it to a good indi garage to get sorted.
I get that,really do.Problem is it may cost me a small fortune trying to find it ,not just a broken spring is it.
Plus I have an insured BMW Warranty.with no excess charge when I take it back. Just wonder where exactly it is burning oil very frustrating
As above, one of the guys I mentioned has recently fixed his crazy oil consumption with a replacement aftermarket PCV cap - https://www.autodoc.co.uk/ridex/16414912
BMW will only sell you an entire cam cover to fix this problem, at £600ish + plus fitting.
Give it a go on yours.
BMW will only sell you an entire cam cover to fix this problem, at £600ish + plus fitting.
Give it a go on yours.
A good read here: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t...
Then here (by the same OP): https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t...
Then here (by the same OP): https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t...
Turns out it wasn't that in the end. It's highly likely the turbo. The oil control rings wear out and dump oil into the exhaust. You don't see it out of the tailpipe because the DPF burns it up. It will kill the upstream O2 sensor before long, so worth getting it sorted sooner rather than later.
rottenegg said:
Turns out it wasn't that in the end. It's highly likely the turbo. The oil control rings wear out and dump oil into the exhaust. You don't see it out of the tailpipe because the DPF burns it up. It will kill the upstream O2 sensor before long, so worth getting it sorted sooner rather than later.
Cheers buddy.I shall put this to them when I take it in.rottenegg said:
Turns out it wasn't that in the end. It's highly likely the turbo. The oil control rings wear out and dump oil into the exhaust. You don't see it out of the tailpipe because the DPF burns it up. It will kill the upstream O2 sensor before long, so worth getting it sorted sooner rather than later.
Is that you / your 330D on the Bimmerpost forums that's just had the remap?Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff