[Stephenj007]

Long story short i've had my valve cover gasket replaced twice, a new valve cover installed, oil filter housing gasket replaced as well. Every time I go to the dealership I tell them im leaking oil every 1,000 miles and they say everything is fine. Recently they checked again for me when they replaced the oil, this time it lasted me 2,500 miles before I need to add a quart. Can somebody help out? I've been to two dealerships, a main BMW dealership here in PA who wrote up the valve cover replacement. The seals were done by an independent shop who I rely on for major repair work which works with my warranty's $100 deductible. Any help is appreciated

[e90yyc]

Need more info.

You say "consumption" but then go on to describe a leak, so it sounds like you're not concerned about burning oil so much as losing it. Not trying to be semantical; just want to make sure I'm understanding this.

You don't mention oil pan gasket replacement, which, in addition to death and taxes, is the third guarantee in any N52 owner's life. Has this been done? Not suggesting you do it preemptively—it usually doesn't gush oil either—but figured I'd ask anyway.

Is there any evidence of an oil leak? If so, where are you seeing oil? How many miles on the car? If there is evidence of a leak, got any pics or a more detailed description of what you're seeing?

[lookalikehuuh]

I'm assuming they have already checked for oil leaks and there is none leaking. 1 quart for 2,500 miles seems reasonable to me for oil consumption for BMW N series engines.

So did they already end up replacing the valve cover? and like e90yyc said oil pan gasket is also a common issue.

If all of those have been addressed then I would just consider it normal usage and move on.

[mousefarmer]

What oil weight are you using and how many miles are on the vehicle?

[Pittz1]

I am at 1qrt every 2500-3000k miles. Completely normal. I am sure if I replace the crank case hoses, it might help just a little. Not worth it to me. I use 5w-30 to keep the tick at bay if I am not getting on it ofter enough.

[Stephenj007]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Need more info.

You say "consumption" but then go on to describe a leak, so it sounds like you're not concerned about burning oil so much as losing it. Not trying to be semantical; just want to make sure I'm understanding this.

You don't mention oil pan gasket replacement, which, in addition to death and taxes, is the third guarantee in any N52 owner's life. Has this been done? Not suggesting you do it preemptively—it usually doesn't gush oil either—but figured I'd ask anyway.

Is there any evidence of an oil leak? If so, where are you seeing oil? How many miles on the car? If there is evidence of a leak, got any pics or a more detailed description of what you're seeing?

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Need more info.

You say "consumption" but then go on to describe a leak, so it sounds like you're not concerned about burning oil so much as losing it. Not trying to be semantical; just want to make sure I'm understanding this.

You don't mention oil pan gasket replacement, which, in addition to death and taxes, is the third guarantee in any N52 owner's life. Has this been done? Not suggesting you do it preemptively—it usually doesn't gush oil either—but figured I'd ask anyway.

Is there any evidence of an oil leak? If so, where are you seeing oil? How many miles on the car? If there is evidence of a leak, got any pics or a more detailed description of what you're seeing?

I did replace the oil pan gasket as well, that was my fault. I am the third owner, I bought the car at 64k miles about 3 and 1/2 years ago sitting at 121 now. It isn't gushing and I've tried looking at the engine and haven't found any residue from a leak. I had the shop spray down the engine last time and clean it to look for leaks. They ran it on a lift for 3 hours and found nothing. I looked today and have found no oil leak either, sometimes in the cabin i can smell it for half a second. I'm not sure if it's a hidden leak I can not find or if the engine is just consuming this much oil. I maintain with recommended maintenance, it's definitely cost a good amount to me well being only 20.

[Stephenj007]

Originally Posted by lookalikehuuh

I'm assuming they have already checked for oil leaks and there is none leaking. 1 quart for 2,500 miles seems reasonable to me for oil consumption for BMW N series engines.

So did they already end up replacing the valve cover? and like e90yyc said oil pan gasket is also a common issue.

If all of those have been addressed then I would just consider it normal usage and move on.

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Need more info.

You say "consumption" but then go on to describe a leak, so it sounds like you're not concerned about burning oil so much as losing it. Not trying to be semantical; just want to make sure I'm understanding this.

You don't mention oil pan gasket replacement, which, in addition to death and taxes, is the third guarantee in any N52 owner's life. Has this been done? Not suggesting you do it preemptively—it usually doesn't gush oil either—but figured I'd ask anyway.

Is there any evidence of an oil leak? If so, where are you seeing oil? How many miles on the car? If there is evidence of a leak, got any pics or a more detailed description of what you're seeing?

It doesn't have any spots of leaks, 120k miles now, and I can upload pictures tomorrow

[e90yyc]

Thanks man. Sounds like you’ve got a bit of a mystery on your hands.

Only thing I could recommend would be adding UV due to the oil to make spotting a leak easier, but if everything is legit bone dry, then that’s not going to help.

Hopefully some others have ideas. Maybe it’s normal consumption, but if you can smell oil inside the car...

[bimmerguy1210]

I used to top off every 1.5k-2k miles with a quart. Changing VC, and OFGH did nothing. Oil pan gasket looked like it was leaking very little, not enough to justify replacing. Swapped injectors and 5k after oil change and I’m still 3/4 full. 110k miles on my n54

[213e90n51]

On the Idrive it says oil Min when its around 4000 miles from the last oil change. I drive her every week on the highway twice and always hit redline a couple times. I use bmw 5w30 oil change at the dealership and have 5w30 liqui moly special tec quart bottles that I fill when the alert comes on. 140,000 miles 2009 328i n51

[lowrydr310]

It seems the N52 is hit or miss. Some consume oil, some don't. My 325i has nearly 250k miles on it now and consumes about a quart every 1000-1500 miles. The car was somewhat neglected by the previous owner towards the end of his ownership of the car and he left a lot of things go, and looks like he wasn't good about oil changes. When I had the valve cover off for a gasket replacement there was some buildup and crusted old oil. I've been doing 5000 mile intervals for the last 5 oil changes with the hopes of cleaning things up but haven't noticed a difference. I did recently switch from the formerly LL01 approved Castrol Edge (made in Belgium) to a quality LL01 German-made oil and it seems consumption has been reduced a bit but it's too early to conclude anything. I even replaced my old work out PCV system including a new oil separator and it made no difference with oil consumption. I even tried a piston soak thinking an oil control ring may have been stuck but it made no difference. At this point I'm thinking either the oil control rings have worn and are allowing some minor blow by, or the valve guide seals are worn. The good news is that my car doesn't smoke at all, ever, and still passes emissions (fingers crossed.) At this point it's much easier to add oil than do any rebuild.

My 330i on the other hand doesn't have any noticeable oil consumption at all. I had the valve cover off for a gasket and eccentric shaft sensor replacement and the valve train was sparkling clean like a brand new engine. It has nearly half the mileage as my 325i and was meticulously maintained by the previous owner.

[Tambohamilton]

Sounds like you need to check the PCV system. If there are no obvious external signs of leaks, the oil lost is not leaking out, but being consumed. My guess is that the crankcase breather isn't operating correctly. Or you've just got an engine that consumes some oil. If the latter, don't sweat it, just keep topping up as necessary.

[E92William]

I think like said before this is a bit of a toss up. Sometimes people get an engine that burns a shit ton and sometimes you get something like I have which burns almost no oil. I do however highly recommend running a high mileage oil as when I got my car I was just running 5w40 syn Castrol and oil consumption has been almost eliminated with maxlife high mileage 5w30. Of course this is with a new valve cover and pcv so it's a fair comparison. You could also perform a leakdown test to see what shape the engine is in internally but chances are it's pcv related

[mousefarmer]

I've noticed a reduction in oil consumption when going from 5w - 30 to 5w - 40. The engine sounds much better too. I change the oil about every 7000-7500 miles for N51 / N52 and for N55 I change every 5000 miles. As the oil gets dirtier and in hotter weather it will burn more, especially with turbo engines according to a BMW technical bulletin about oil consumption. Using thinner weight oil will increase consumption even more.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...49281-9999.pdf

[mousefarmer]

Drain your oil and make measure how much oil is there. Maybe you are adding more oil than max if your oil level sensor off or bad.

[Efthreeoh]

We'll just have to repeat this...

Engines with oil consumption issues, are burning the oil in the combustion process. If an engine leaks oil at a high rate through a gasket, it makes a serious mess and smells like burned oil.

[gT-BMW]

I have to add oil a quart of oil every 800-1000 miles. 175k miles on the engine. Ive replaced all the CCV hoses none helped. however i traced my oil consumption to bad valve stem seals. Im waiting for someone to do a write up so i can replace mine lol

[E92William]

I would think the process for valve seals on the N62s would be somewhat similar to the N52. They do those with the heads installed on the engine.

[6Inarowmakesitgo!]

Yup, mine has leaky valve stem seals, can see a very slight blue smoke on a cold start when it sits overnight. Not even worried about it, I just top it up every 2600 or so miles.

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by E92William

I think like said before this is a bit of a toss up. Sometimes people get an engine that burns a shit ton and sometimes you get something like I have which burns almost no oil. I do however highly recommend running a high mileage oil as when I got my car I was just running 5w40 syn Castrol and oil consumption has been almost eliminated with maxlife high mileage 5w30. Of course this is with a new valve cover and pcv so it's a fair comparison. You could also perform a leakdown test to see what shape the engine is in internally but chances are it's pcv related

Also curious what oil the OP is running. If there aren't any leaks, then it doesn't sound like you have a leak. I'm sure any shop/dealership would be trying to spot a leak so they can charge you money to fix it. It's either a PCV problem (your profile says 2008 so I assume 2008 328i, which has the PCV inside the plastic valve cover) or it's burning oil, which is common on these engines. Since you mention the valve cover was replaced, the PCV was replaced also. You could try switching to a high mileage oil like E92William mentioned.

[6Inarowmakesitgo!]

I run 5-30 in the winter and 5-40 in the summer. Yes I am old school like that, it’s just my choice. Lighter weight oil will cause an increase in consumption.

Easiest way to see where the oil is going, look at your plugs. If it has white/grey baked on deposits that are hard, that’s oil being burned.

[Stephenj007]

Originally Posted by mousefarmer

What oil weight are you using and how many miles are on the vehicle?

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Need more info.

You say "consumption" but then go on to describe a leak, so it sounds like you're not concerned about burning oil so much as losing it. Not trying to be semantical; just want to make sure I'm understanding this.

You don't mention oil pan gasket replacement, which, in addition to death and taxes, is the third guarantee in any N52 owner's life. Has this been done? Not suggesting you do it preemptively—it usually doesn't gush oil either—but figured I'd ask anyway.

Is there any evidence of an oil leak? If so, where are you seeing oil? How many miles on the car? If there is evidence of a leak, got any pics or a more detailed description of what you're seeing?

5w-30 I believe and 120k miles