[WhatADream]

Hey guys. I hope you're enjoying the 335i as much as I am.
I have a 2009 335i sedan, and the only problem I am experiencing is that I need to add a quart of oil every 1000 miles. The dealer says thats normal, but I think otherwise. I am trying to solve this mystery of where the oil is going. I do notice the exahust tips are chared black, so it could be getting burned off, which I also want to fix if possible. So far these are the oil leak/consumption areas I am going to look at:

Oil filter housing gaskets
PCV system
intake/exhaust solonoid

Can anyone else add to the list of areas to check for on these engines?
Thanks!

[koss2010]

Since when is burning 1qt of oil every 1000 miles considered normal ? I would bitch at the dealership some more. Normally if youre looking for a oil leak all you need is a good flashlight and some ramps/jack, look under the car and run your hand through some of the components a leak like that should be fairly easy to find. Worse case you could clean out your engine bay making any future oil deposits easier to find.

[cuiter23]

Valve cover gasket is a common leak area.

[cmyk]

Definitely not normal, you likely do have a leak. Oil filter gasket and valve cover gasket are two very common failure points. I had a similar experience with the dealership where I knew I had a leak but couldn't get them to investigate. Ended up telling them I saw a drop of oil on the driveway after the car sat for a few days. They checked everything and found a leak in the oil filter housing. YMMV.

[gunsekun]

Lift your car.. best way to check

[WhatADream]

This is great guys! thanks for the help!
I will have them check the valve cover gasket as well.
My exhaust tips are super chared black. Do you think it also might be an internal problem?

ALSO, in the cold weather it makes lots of steam from the exhaust. More then im used too. I dont know if its blue or white.

[chazzz]

My exhaust tips are covered with dry black soot (only inside). No big deal. Unless you find any evidence of oil residue in the exhaust tips, then you should be worried.

If it is blowing stream out of exhaust pipes in the cold morning, it's normal. It should be white (water) steam.

If your car is out of warranty, take your car to Precision Motors in Costa Mesa (near Newport Beach). Great service. Reasonable price (compared to dealer's).

You are saying that your car "burns" one quart of oil every 1,000 miles, that isn't normal. Do you ever see any oil leak on the ground after you parked your car for a long period of time? It's no way that the 1 quarter of oil would through the valve cover gasket, if it does happen you should see lots of smoke coming out from under the hood (oil on hot exhaust or whatever).

[WhatADream]

Originally Posted by chazzz

My exhaust tips are covered with dry black soot (only inside). No big deal. Unless you find any evidence of oil residue in the exhaust tips, then you should be worried.

If it is blowing stream out of exhaust pipes in the cold morning, it's normal. It should be white (water) steam.

If your car is out of warranty, take your car to Precision Motors in Costa Mesa (near Newport Beach). Great service. Reasonable price (compared to dealer's).

You are saying that your car "burns" one quart of oil every 1,000 miles, that isn't normal. Do you ever see any oil leak on the ground after you parked your car for a long period of time? It's no way that the 1 quarter of oil would through the valve cover gasket, if it does happen you should see lots of smoke coming out from under the hood (oil on hot exhaust or whatever).

I just took my car to a buddys shop and he said the oil filter housing is leaking pretty good, but not enough for a quart every 1000 miles. I am going to buy some oil dye and run it another 1000 miles. When I take it in, he will then be able to determine where the leaks are coming from with the dye. Also we are going to test the PCV valve cover system.
once we clear up outside engine leaks, I will keep track of miles/oil lost and if its still excessive, we will then test internal engine parts.

I have full extened warranty through Fidelity (Platinum) thank god. My deductible is only $100.

[carjon]

Dealer is in the process of replacing real engine seal that caused a very slow leak. They have also replaced the oil pan gasket.

Of course mine is a 328 not a 355 but there are plenty of places for a leak

[phipark]

definitely check under the car. oil could be dripping on the liner. A service advisor told me that the liner can hold up to a quart of oil so be careful when removing it. I only noticed a leak when I saw that one of the screws was coated with oil.

[mikeymx5]

yeah I started having to add oil often, I may need to pull the plastic panels and check for leaks too.

[4DRSpeed]

Common areas:

Valve cover gasket
Oil stand gasket
Front main seal
Oil pan gasket

My valve cover gasket was leaking recently. Only around the spark plug tubes. May want to inspect down into spark plug tubes and see if there is any oil. Front main are pretty notorious to leak and actually make it look as if the car has an oil pan leak.

[incantana]

This may be a dumb question but how do you all determine that your oil level is dropping? I have no dip stick in my e90 330i so if I was a little low on oil I'd have no way of knowing.

[Blackhawk36]

You could also have leaking oil seals in your turbos and the oil could be going out the exhaust or though the intake. There wouldn't be anything on the engine or under the car. Check your charge air pipe up near the intake manifold if the inside is covered with oil, it could be your problem.

[4DRSpeed]

Originally Posted by incantana

This may be a dumb question but how do you all determine that your oil level is dropping? I have no dip stick in my e90 330i so if I was a little low on oil I'd have no way of knowing.

You can check through your idrive and if you don't have idrive scoll through dash menu with the blinker stalk until you see oil lamp. Push button and it'll start to check oil level.

[james008]

Did anyone here do the valve cover gasket themselves? And if you had a shop do it how much was it? I am pretty sure I have a leak near the 3rd cylinder I found some oil residue in the hole and a puddle of oil on top. I ordered the gasket ($35) and some of the bolts but the 26 bolts they say to replace came out to almost $200 with shipping so I didn't order them...yet. Is it possible to replace the gasket in one day in the garage with an extra pair of hands. I have done DP replacement and Cooling system overhaul on an e46 am I qualified to do the gasket myself?

[4DRSpeed]

Valve cover gasket can be done. You'll want the car dead cold so the fuel system isn't under any extreme high pressure. It'll probably take half the day to do first time through. You don't need to replace any screws or anything just the gasket.

[Monster900]

Originally Posted by james008

Did anyone here do the valve cover gasket themselves? And if you had a shop do it how much was it? I am pretty sure I have a leak near the 3rd cylinder I found some oil residue in the hole and a puddle of oil on top. I ordered the gasket ($35) and some of the bolts but the 26 bolts they say to replace came out to almost $200 with shipping so I didn't order them...yet. Is it possible to replace the gasket in one day in the garage with an extra pair of hands. I have done DP replacement and Cooling system overhaul on an e46 am I qualified to do the gasket myself?

At the dealer it will cost ya around $1200 and indy shop a $800.

[james008]

Found out the valve cover is cracked. Ordered the whole thing through ecs for a pretty good price and it came with all the bolts and gasket and stuff. Will be attempting DIY Sunday Monday.