Factory fill 0W-20, 2022 BMW X3 xDrive30i @ 1206 miles

[mattsheng]

Vehicle: 2022 BMW X3 xDrive30i with B46B20O1
Miles on oil: 1,206 miles
Time on oil: 5 months since build date
New oil: Ravenol EFS 0W-20 (VOA here: link) because I want to stick with an LL17 oil for now. ISTA and AIR indicate that LL01, LL01FE, and LL17 are suitable for B46 so I may switch to Ravenol VST in the future. But I gotta make sure my car doesn't have a GPF first.

When the car was on factory fill 0W-20, I occasionally noticed the car stutter at full stop. Since switching to Ravenol EFS, I don't notice the stuttering now. But the B46TU isn't idling smoothly. Rough running values (via ISTA) for all 4 cylinders never hang around -1 to 1. They stay above +-3 most of the time and occasionally return to +-1. EDIT: the highest rough running value was 12 on cylinder 3. I also noticed overpressure crankcase pressure at oil filler cap when the engine is idling. It's puffing out strong blow-by at the oil filler cap. The car is at dealer now to measure internal crankcase pressure to see if it is out-of-spec.

I now have a 2020 X3 M40i with B58TU engine. It has way less positive pressure at the oil filler cap than my car. According to SIB 11 03 08, B58 suppose to have a slightly higher crankcase pressure than B46 so I'm quite confident my PCV is probably clogged even though I only filled 93 gas and never let the car idle for more than 15s. I later on figured out you can use ISTA to measure crankcase pressure via the onboard sensor and the M40i passed the ISTA crankcase pressure test. EDIT: the rough running values for the B58TU stay within +-1 most of the time and occasionally will jump up to +-4.

I will report back once the dealer measured my B46's crankcase pressure. I doubt it would be a while since the car is in the dealer for quite a lot of repairs (the entire sunroof for instance). As I'm new to UOA and VOA in general, all feedbacks are welcome!

 

[PimTac]

Are you saying that the PCV is clogged on your 2022 X3? I would doubt that.

 

[mattsheng]

Are you saying that the PCV is clogged on your 2022 X3? I would doubt that.

I would doubt that the PCV is clogged too but there is just too much positive crankcase pressure. I don't know what to think of it. The BMW SIB 11 03 08 says that causes of excessive overpressure can be

• Internal engine damage/wear (I highly doubt that but the master tech is going to do a compression test)
• Obstruction in the crankcase ventilation system (likely given how frequent PCV fails on B series engines)
• Defective pressure control valves (I think that's integrated to the cylinder head cover)
• Cylinder head cover wastegate vacuum reservoir leakage. The vacuum reservoir can also be filled with engine oil indicating an internal leak.

 

[parshisa]

Vehicle: 2022 BMW X3 xDrive30i with B46B20O1
Miles on oil: 1,206 miles
Time on oil: 5 months since build date
New oil: Ravenol EFS 0W-20 (VOA here: link) because I want to stick with an LL17 oil for now. ISTA and AIR indicate that LL01, LL01FE, and LL17 are suitable for B46 so I may switch to Ravenol VST in the future. But I gotta make sure my car doesn't have a GPF first.

When the car was on factory fill 0W-20, I occasionally noticed the car stutter at full stop. Since switching to Ravenol EFS, I don't notice the stuttering now. But the B46TU isn't idling smoothly. Rough running values (via ISTA) for all 4 cylinders never hang around -1 to 1. They stay above +-3 most of the time and occasionally return to +-1. EDIT: the highest rough running value was 12 on cylinder 3. I also noticed overpressure crankcase pressure at oil filler cap when the engine is idling. It's puffing out strong blow-by at the oil filler cap. The car is at dealer now to measure internal crankcase pressure to see if it is out-of-spec.

I now have a 2020 X3 M40i with B58TU engine. It has way less positive pressure at the oil filler cap than my car. According to SIB 11 03 08, B58 suppose to have a slightly higher crankcase pressure than B46 so I'm quite confident my PCV is probably clogged even though I only filled 93 gas and never let the car idle for more than 15s. I later on figured out you can use ISTA to measure crankcase pressure via the onboard sensor and the M40i passed the ISTA crankcase pressure test. EDIT: the rough running values for the B58TU stay within +-1 most of the time and occasionally will jump up to +-4.

I will report back once the dealer measured my B46's crankcase pressure. I doubt it would be a while since the car is in the dealer for quite a lot of repairs (the entire sunroof for instance). As I'm new to UOA and VOA in general, all feedbacks are welcome!

Sunroof repairs on a 5 months old BWM?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

The PCV is integrated in the valve cover not the cylinder head.

Is this your first BMW? If so what made you want to download ISTA?

 

[andreigbs]

I think a bit of neurosis may be the issue... That and a bit of automotive hypochondria perhaps.

You didn't need to change the oil at 1200 miles, but you did. You also don't gain any real insight with just one UOA.

Turbocharged engines, especially 4-bangers, are a different animal. Yours isn't even properly broken in yet, but you're worried about a part failure already. Were there any trouble codes? Were there any warning lights? Was it suffering from performance issues?

Playing around with ISTA is great but you can also potentially screw up things. At only 1200 miles, I would've just kept the factory fill for the normal OCI and let BMW change it (assuming you have the included maintenance package), or do it myself. No need for UOAs on such a young motor.

YMMV

 

[mattsheng]

Sunroof repairs on a 5 months old BWM?

Yup, 5 months old if you count from production date. I got the car in late Sept 2022 and noticed the rattling ever since. See detail here: https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1976207
The car has gone in for the 3rd repair for the same issue now and the dealer is replacing the sunroof cassette as we speak.

 

[mattsheng]

The PCV is integrated in the valve cover not the cylinder head.

Is this your first BMW? If so what made you want to download ISTA?

Yes, I said in my post that the PCV is integrated into the "cylinder head cover", at least that is the terminology that BMW uses.

Yes, this is my first BMW. I download ISTA mainly to check repair manuals on things that I want to retrofit, for instance, acoustic glasses. I also use ISTA to update I-level.

 

[mattsheng]

I think a bit of neurosis may be the issue... That and a bit of automotive hypochondria perhaps.

You didn't need to change the oil at 1200 miles, but you did. You also don't gain any real insight with just one UOA.

Turbocharged engines, especially 4-bangers, are a different animal. Yours isn't even properly broken in yet, but you're worried about a part failure already. Were there any trouble codes? Were there any warning lights? Was it suffering from performance issues?

Playing around with ISTA is great but you can also potentially screw up things. At only 1200 miles, I would've just kept the factory fill for the normal OCI and let BMW change it (assuming you have the included maintenance package), or do it myself. No need for UOAs on such a young motor.

YMMV

Thanks for the feedback! I know oil change at 1200 miles is absolutely not necessary but the owner's manual does say a break-in period of 1200 miles so I wondered how much metals were in a 1200 miles oil. The data, as is, is not very informative since I only have 1 sample point and the data was taken very early. But I want to keep track of UOA every 5000 miles or so to get a better sense in the future. EDIT: the car is at 4200 miles now so it's a bit more broken-in compared to before.

There were no check engine lights but it occasionally stutters at idle, e.g. waiting at traffic light. So I looked into what's causing the stutter and I think it may be due to excessive crankcase pressure. My car is basically doing this: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1466050

I'm not using ISTA to reset adaptations, learn adaptations, etc. It is mainly a tool to diagnose my car and to check the repair manual. You'd be surprised how many things were wrong with the car. For starters, the sunroof was rattling (see my post above) ever since I brought the car brand new in Sept 2022. The AC also has high pitch interference noise and this complaint is also identified by the dealer: https://bmwrepairguide.com/sib/640422.pdf

All in all, I really enjoy how the X3 drives and would not trade it for anything else. Just want to get the broken things fixed.

 

[andreigbs]

The car has gone in for the 3rd repair for the same issue now and the dealer is replacing the sunroof cassette as we speak.

That might just qualify it for the lemon law then.

 

[parshisa]

Yup, 5 months old if you count from production date. I got the car in late Sept 2022 and noticed the rattling ever since. See detail here: https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1976207
The car has gone in for the 3rd repair for the same issue now and the dealer is replacing the sunroof cassette as we speak.

We went to Colorado over the Xmas I was lucky to get bumped to '23 BMW X3 with no extra charge and really enjoyed the car. It certainly is a different level compared to my Hondas (in signature). One thing I've noticed though, on the first start in the morning after sitting overnight, the engine is super loud. It also feels like exhaust valves are being open during initial warm-up and then get closed after 2-3 minutes (not sure if that's the case, it was really my first experience with BMW). But all in all, really nice car. Hopefully you'll get all the issues fixed!

 

[mattsheng]

That might just qualify it for the lemon law then.

Yea, but I doubt I will ever use lemon law. BMW has something called trade assist. It's basically a goodwill-based lemon law. It the issue is still not addressed after the 4th repair (which is what TX lemon law calls for), I will probably have my service manager put in a request for trade assist.

 

[mattsheng]

We went to Colorado over the Xmas I was lucky to get bumped to '23 BMW X3 with no extra charge and really enjoyed the car. It certainly is a different level compared to my Hondas (in signature). One thing I've noticed though, on the first start in the morning after sitting overnight, the engine is super loud. It also feels like exhaust valves are being open during initial warm-up and then get closed after 2-3 minutes (not sure if that's the case, it was really my first experience with BMW). But all in all, really nice car. Hopefully you'll get all the issues fixed!

Thanks! Yea they can be very loud at cold start. The exhaust valves stay open for like 1 minute or so and they partially shut afterward. I also noticed something very interesting with the exhaust valves. They make a clicking sound whenever you're at 10mph because they're closing/opening at that speed. More details here: https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1966790

 

[KCJeep]

This is common in newer cars, my VW does it also, it's an attempt to heat the catalytic converter up asap. Super annoying for the first 10-15 seconds then it sounds normal.

Your oil actually looks like a special break in oil with all that moly. Color me surprised.

 

[TomYoung]

Thanks for the feedback! I know oil change at 1200 miles is absolutely not necessary but the owner's manual does say a break-in period of 1200 miles so I wondered how much metals were in a 1200 miles oil. The data, as is, is not very informative since I only have 1 sample point and the data was taken very early. But I want to keep track of UOA every 5000 miles or so to get a better sense in the future. EDIT: the car is at 4200 miles now so it's a bit more broken-in compared to before.

There were no check engine lights but it occasionally stutters at idle, e.g. waiting at traffic light. So I looked into what's causing the stutter and I think it may be due to excessive crankcase pressure. My car is basically doing this: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1466050

I'm not using ISTA to reset adaptations, learn adaptations, etc. It is mainly a tool to diagnose my car and to check the repair manual. You'd be surprised how many things were wrong with the car. For starters, the sunroof was rattling (see my post above) ever since I brought the car brand new in Sept 2022. The AC also has high pitch interference noise and this complaint is also identified by the dealer: https://bmwrepairguide.com/sib/640422.pdf

All in all, I really enjoy how the X3 drives and would not trade it for anything else. Just want to get the broken things fixed.

I think that early oil change is smart.

 

[wemay]

This is common in newer cars, my VW does it also, it's an attempt to heat the catalytic converter up asap. Super annoying for the first 10-15 seconds then it sounds normal.

Your oil actually looks like a special break in oil with all that moly. Color me surprised.

The Palisade does the same thing on morning start up. Very clatty.