[YvesD]

Originally Posted by e92_grn

Not all are electronic, mine still has the old fashioned dipstick.

But yours is a denzil, all 335i's are electronic dipsticks.

[e92_grn]

Ahhhh okay, didn't realise it was a petrol/diesel thing. It confused the BMW Tech one time when he came out and tried to check the oil level on the dash...had to tell him it only has the stick, no electronic gauge. He didn't believe me at first, but did when he couldn't find it

[335i E92]

Afternoon all...

Since i originally posted this thread i have done a further 1650 miles of mostly town and occasional dual carriageway driving.

I checked my electronic oil level again last night (i do this every couple of days) and it's dropped down to 3/4 again from full in 1650 miles, admittedly it must be at the top of 3/4 but its still there.

I put half a quart in so 1/2 litre and its gone back to full. The engine seems to be running ok and it recently had a dyno run and standing behind the car the exhaust fumes were totally clear during full wot runs.

However this oil consumption is starting to concern me as my cars done 50k and i'm just about to invest in AR downpipes & Forge intercooler.

Is this norm, am i worrying about nothing?

[creepy coupe]

The amount of oil needed to take it from 3/4 to full is 1 litre. 335i E92, you should put the whole litre in,otherwise you'll be thinking it's dropped too quickly.

[335i E92]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

The amount of oil needed to take it from 3/4 to full is 1 litre. 335i E92, you should put the whole litre in,otherwise you'll be thinking it's dropped too quickly.

Hi Creepy...

Didn't know that, I didn't want to put a full litre in as I wasn't sure that would over fill it.

It still means that it's used 1/2 a litre though in 1650 miles as i put 1/2 litre in last time as soon it dropped down to 3/4 and it back there now.

I like to drive my car so it gets bit of stick here and there and as i stated its lots of stop and starts.

Should I be holding of the further mods and investigating? I've only had the car for a few months so it not like it a recent problem that has developed.

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by 335i E92

Hi Creepy...

Didn't know that, I didn't want to put a full litre in as I wasn't sure that would over fill it.

It still means that it's used 1/2 a litre though in 1650 miles as i put 1/2 litre in last time as soon it dropped down to 3/4 and it back there now.

I like to drive my car so it gets bit of stick here and there and as i stated its lots of stop and starts.

Should I be holding of the further mods and investigating? I've only had the car for a few months so it not like it a recent problem that has developed.

There isn't any real definitive rule as too oil consumption, mine uses 1 litre every 6.5k but I do mostly motorway driving and have the oil changed every 6.5k or as close to it as possible. My 320d used about double that and had the same sort of treatment.

[briers]

How do you know how much to put in?

I've had my 335d for 3k miles now and it was showing at max level when i got it. It has 3k extra on it now and its hardly moved, maybe 2mm in that time. I assume it's using hardly any oil.

But how do you know how much to put in, when it needs topping up?

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by briers

How do you know how much to put in?

I've had my 335d for 3k miles now and it was showing at max level when i got it. It has 3k extra on it now and its hardly moved, maybe 2mm in that time. I assume it's using hardly any oil.

But how do you know how much to put in, when it needs topping up?

Around page 112 of the handbook

[briers]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

Around page 112 of the handbook

ta

[335i E92]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

There isn't any real definitive rule as too oil consumption, mine uses 1 litre every 6.5k but I do mostly motorway driving and have the oil changed every 6.5k or as close to it as possible. My 320d used about double that and had the same sort of treatment.

Hmmm, its just such an unknown area!!

I think BMW state that a litre of oil per 1000 miles is within spec. which i think is b#@locks and just a way of them only having to address the most extreme cases of oil consumption.

Anyone think that i should hang fire with my planned upgrades and investigate or is this normal and i should just crack on!!

[Yahoo]

Crack on - will BMW investigate on your behalf if your oil consumption is within spec?

[dxb335d]

Don't worry. Some use loads some don't.

[335i E92]

Originally Posted by Yahoo

Crack on - will BMW investigate on your behalf if your oil consumption is within spec?

Erm... Nope!!!

[doughboy]

As said a remap may increase blowby and crankcase breather oil emissions, but a catch can will 'catch' that for you.

But other than that the map shouldn't make any diff IMO.

Mines never dropped from max, changes at 8k, 15k & in a few weeks at 22k.

Losts of town and shirt trips too. In my experience its pot luck, machining tolerances etc, that give you your oil loss rate.

Just keep toppping up....

[m1bjr]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

The amount of oil needed to take it from 3/4 to full is 1 litre. 335i E92, you should put the whole litre in,otherwise you'll be thinking it's dropped too quickly.

Are you sure about this?

I thought that on the electronic display it is only actually showing you the very top 1 litre?
All of the green bars in iDrive, or all the orange blocks on a dash display = 1 litre.

So half full of green bars means you need to add half a litre.
And if it shows one or none (you get a warning) you need almost 1 litre.

Correct me if Im wrong...

Overfilling can be serious, and as a couple of you note it just drinks it anyhow if its overfilled.
So if you have 3/4 of the bars showing and you add a litre, its then WELL over.

On the old Subaru boxer engine it could do a lot of damage as it slopped up into the PCV and got into several galleries it shouldnt.
At best it will beat about the crank and blow past the rings a lot more.


Steve.

[neil@JuicedUpTuning]

Originally Posted by 335i E92

Hmmm, its just such an unknown area!!

I think BMW state that a litre of oil per 1000 miles is within spec. which i think is b#@locks and just a way of them only having to address the most extreme cases of oil consumption.

Anyone think that i should hang fire with my planned upgrades and investigate or is this normal and i should just crack on!!

The empirical data shows this is the norm for our engines.

BMW will tell you it's within range so crack on with your upgrades

[335i E92]

Thanks for the info guys!!!

I've done some research and you're definatley correct that the 4 bars measure the top litre in the engine. (this is handy to know...)

This means in reality the car has only used 1/4 of a litre in 1650 miles which is ok by me I rekon given my driving style. Luckly I only put 1/2 litre in so at most I will have over filled by 1/4 litre.

Next time it drops to 3/4 I'll just leave it and note the milage to see how far I get before it goes to 1/2 tank that way I can tell how far I've gone on exactly 1/4 litre.

Thanks again for the advise, going to order my AR catch can and AR downpipes tomoz.

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by m1bjr

Are you sure about this?

I thought that on the electronic display it is only actually showing you the very top 1 litre?
All of the green bars in iDrive, or all the orange blocks on a dash display = 1 litre.

So half full of green bars means you need to add half a litre.
And if it shows one or none (you get a warning) you need almost 1 litre.

Correct me if Im wrong...

Overfilling can be serious, and as a couple of you note it just drinks it anyhow if its overfilled.
So if you have 3/4 of the bars showing and you add a litre, its then WELL over.

On the old Subaru boxer engine it could do a lot of damage as it slopped up into the PCV and got into several galleries it shouldnt.
At best it will beat about the crank and blow past the rings a lot more.


Steve.

You are exactly right - the electronic gauge does not represent the total oil quantity in your engine, only the final litre of oil. That means that when it goes to minimum on the electronic level, you need to add around one litre of oil. Overfilling this engine is not a good idea.


To the OP - as Carl has correctly said, some cars drink oil and some cars don't. It's generally dependent on how the car was run in, and whether the piston rings seal well against the cylinder bore. Some cars are more prone to oil blow-by via the crankcase breather system as it's a closed, recirculating circuit.

At the end of the day, 1 litre per 5000 miles is perfectly acceptable. BMW tolerance is 1 litre per 1000 miles, which I personally think is excessive.

Are you using the regular 0W-30 Castrol oil? You might find it beneficial to switch to a 5W-30 or 5W-40 oil, so that it is more viscous throughout its operating temperature. That might help reduce the oil consumption you're seeing.

[335i E92]

Originally Posted by E92Fan

You are exactly right - the electronic gauge does not represent the total oil quantity in your engine, only the final litre of oil. That means that when it goes to minimum on the electronic level, you need to add around one litre of oil. Overfilling this engine is not a good idea.


To the OP - as Carl has correctly said, some cars drink oil and some cars don't. It's generally dependent on how the car was run in, and whether the piston rings seal well against the cylinder bore. Some cars are more prone to oil blow-by via the crankcase breather system as it's a closed, recirculating circuit.

At the end of the day, 1 litre per 5000 miles is perfectly acceptable. BMW tolerance is 1 litre per 1000 miles, which I personally think is excessive.

Are you using the regular 0W-30 Castrol oil? You might find it beneficial to switch to a 5W-30 or 5W-40 oil, so that it is more viscous throughout its operating temperature. That might help reduce the oil consumption you're seeing.

Hi Tony

Thanks for the info!!

Given i'm only using 1/4 litre every 1650 miles i'm not gonna panic given what you've all said.

I drop the oil every 5k and it currently have 5w-30w Castrol Edge in it. I will be topping up shortly Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 5W-40 Ester Synthetic Engine Oil.

Ive also just ordered the AR Design catch can.

[zltm089]

quick update: I had to top up 1 litre at 49 727miles, previous top up was at 48 800miles...

so about 927 miles...top up was required....


after 4 hours (non stop drive) on the motorway, the light came on....

[beemerbird]

As Tony and Carl have said some engines use oil and others don't and there are several possible reasons why as already mentioned. Short, stop start journeys made frequently don't really help bigger engines, nor does revving them hard when cold imo.

An engineer once told me it even depends on how many engines the lathes etc in the factory have churned out as to eventual tolerances of the finished engine.

I would have thought the handbook gave a good indicaton of how much oil is required or denoted by the markers on the electronic level reader. But just to give you an example, the handbook for a 997 Turbo clearly states (from memory) that up to as much as 3/4 litre useage every 1,000 KM's was within tolerances depending on driving style (they're covering for track use imo). Mine regularly and without fail used about half to three quarters of a litre every 1000 miles. High performance engines can drink tbh.

[Ham09]

In the 6.5k miles I've put on mine, I've seen the oil gauge drop 2 green boxes. My driving is mostly motorway and always let the engine warm up before using heavy throttle. It had an oil change just before I picked it up.