E46 330ci - Using Excessive Oil.... Any Advice?
Discussion
Late 2002 model 330ci cab. owned since March 2007, bought from main dealer with 12 months warranty.
I have had to top the engine oil up with a litre of fully synthetic twice over the past two months.
After topping up with a litre and then completing a 500 mile round trip the oil light has come back on.
I will return it to the main dealer as I am not going to buy another £17 top up from shell.
I was wondering if this is a known problem or if there is anything I should check or know about before returning it to the dealer.
BTW: There are no signs of oil burning up in excess from the exhaust/engine and the car seems to perform as it should without any other issues.
Thanks in Advance!
I have had to top the engine oil up with a litre of fully synthetic twice over the past two months.
After topping up with a litre and then completing a 500 mile round trip the oil light has come back on.
I will return it to the main dealer as I am not going to buy another £17 top up from shell.
I was wondering if this is a known problem or if there is anything I should check or know about before returning it to the dealer.
BTW: There are no signs of oil burning up in excess from the exhaust/engine and the car seems to perform as it should without any other issues.
Thanks in Advance!
My 2002/52 330ci has started to used oil same since its last service.
I used Castrol Edge Sport 0W-30 but then found it should have been just the normal Castrol Edge 0W-30.
Supposedly the sport is thinner and gets through the seals.
13k since last service and I've gone through 3 litres of top up.
I'll revert back to the normal Castrol Edge next month and see how it goes.
Please post back on how your get on with BMW.
I used Castrol Edge Sport 0W-30 but then found it should have been just the normal Castrol Edge 0W-30.
Supposedly the sport is thinner and gets through the seals.
13k since last service and I've gone through 3 litres of top up.
I'll revert back to the normal Castrol Edge next month and see how it goes.
Please post back on how your get on with BMW.
My 2002 330i used to drink the stuff. 5l every 10k miles.
It had 72k miles on the clock when I sold it. Nothing wrong, just thirsty.
A mates new V10 M5 used to drink too....
PS: I had been under the car and found no leaks and there was no oil in the exhaust pipes either so it must have been consuming the stuff, not leaking.
If it leaked through the crankcase would it drip or show somewhere under the car???
It had 72k miles on the clock when I sold it. Nothing wrong, just thirsty.
A mates new V10 M5 used to drink too....
PS: I had been under the car and found no leaks and there was no oil in the exhaust pipes either so it must have been consuming the stuff, not leaking.
If it leaked through the crankcase would it drip or show somewhere under the car???
Edited by Dino D on Tuesday 31st July 10:12
I've been through this as well with a 3.0l 2001 x5, BMWs limit is 1 litre per 600 miles, if it is genuinely going through 1L in 500 miles they will start to investigate it (one possibility being the crankcase breather valves as already mentioned, which is hidden under the inlet manifold. They will change it automatically for you I would guess if under warranty. The other is issues like piston rings and I read somewhere that the valve seals (early m54 engine) can leak as well.
In general it seems it is not uncommon for modern engines where they try to cut friction for economy to sometimes lose some oil control in the process (not japanese!). 1L in 5000 is nothing. My X5 does 1L in 1000 which bugs the hell out of me given my 2.8 144k mile 5 series does next to nothing. Keep pushing the dealer they are generally useless e.g they suggested just changing the crankcase valve on my X5 a second time (different dealer) this time at my cost £450...a quick google found a bmw pdf illustrating the correct test procedure on this valve to determine it's correct operation with a bmw special tool manometer! did they do this first? no just plug and p(l)ay, absolutely rubbish ok when BMW warranty co are paying but somewhat frustrating aftwerwards!!!
I think the root cause for my level of oil consumption is insensitive running in , it was a demonstrator intially. good luck keep us informed as to progress, clearly a new engine is the way to go, I'd be interested to hear how they test in detail beyond the CVV valve, i.e compression tests , boroscope inside the cylinder to determine if new valve seals/new block required, I wanted them to do this more "engineering based" approach on mine but they seemed stuck on the "top up/tag the mileage/change the valve " mode. Any techies on here at the mo.
In general it seems it is not uncommon for modern engines where they try to cut friction for economy to sometimes lose some oil control in the process (not japanese!). 1L in 5000 is nothing. My X5 does 1L in 1000 which bugs the hell out of me given my 2.8 144k mile 5 series does next to nothing. Keep pushing the dealer they are generally useless e.g they suggested just changing the crankcase valve on my X5 a second time (different dealer) this time at my cost £450...a quick google found a bmw pdf illustrating the correct test procedure on this valve to determine it's correct operation with a bmw special tool manometer! did they do this first? no just plug and p(l)ay, absolutely rubbish ok when BMW warranty co are paying but somewhat frustrating aftwerwards!!!
I think the root cause for my level of oil consumption is insensitive running in , it was a demonstrator intially. good luck keep us informed as to progress, clearly a new engine is the way to go, I'd be interested to hear how they test in detail beyond the CVV valve, i.e compression tests , boroscope inside the cylinder to determine if new valve seals/new block required, I wanted them to do this more "engineering based" approach on mine but they seemed stuck on the "top up/tag the mileage/change the valve " mode. Any techies on here at the mo.
My 330i has done 114k now and I reckon on getting through a 4L (or are they 5L?) container between services (13-15k). I just use a 10w-40 semi-syn, the same as my indie uses when servicing it.
That works out at about £20 between services which is hardly worth worrying about when considered in the context of 15k miles worth of petrol costs!
That works out at about £20 between services which is hardly worth worrying about when considered in the context of 15k miles worth of petrol costs!
Holy thread revival Batman!
Mine appears to be using around 1 litre every 600 miles (roughly).
When I remove the oil filler cap with the engine running the engine note does change, I've read that's a quick check to see if the crankcase breather is clogged (no note/idle change = blocked).
Can't see any leaks, doesn't seem to be smoking blue or anything like that either.
Mine appears to be using around 1 litre every 600 miles (roughly).
When I remove the oil filler cap with the engine running the engine note does change, I've read that's a quick check to see if the crankcase breather is clogged (no note/idle change = blocked).
Can't see any leaks, doesn't seem to be smoking blue or anything like that either.
As mentioned earlier Oil Separator is one of the main culprits, but high oil consumption does seem fairly normal on 3ltr M54's .... less of an issue on 2.5ltrs. 
My 2.5 has now done 90k (30k by me)and seems to want a litre (edge 5w-30 or 0w-30) after 9k as does my fathers
Got an M51 2.5tds with 100k on it that uses far less than most of the figures quoted!
My 2.5 has now done 90k (30k by me)and seems to want a litre (edge 5w-30 or 0w-30) after 9k as does my fathers
Got an M51 2.5tds with 100k on it that uses far less than most of the figures quoted!
Wow!, Dr Frankenstein would be proud to bring something this dead back to life!. 
E46 330i oil consumption varies wildly form car to car. BMW's official acceptable oil consumption rate can be as much as 1 litre of oil every 600 miles.
The crankcase valve (CCV) can be a culprit in a lot of cases but not always (it's still worth changing it if funds allow though).
There are some theories that it's all to do with how these engines were run in when new but I've not seen anything to prove that theory 100% yet.
E46 330i oil consumption varies wildly form car to car. BMW's official acceptable oil consumption rate can be as much as 1 litre of oil every 600 miles.
The crankcase valve (CCV) can be a culprit in a lot of cases but not always (it's still worth changing it if funds allow though).
There are some theories that it's all to do with how these engines were run in when new but I've not seen anything to prove that theory 100% yet.
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