Will changing oil help my oil consumption (BMW)?

[RustyH]

Vehicle is a 2002 530i,man trans, M54 engine, purchased 8/2005 (CPO). I noticed that I have to top off more than any other vehicle I have owned. I finally started measuring and since last year, it's about 1 qt every 2500 miles. From my reading, these engines can consume a fair amount of oil. I believe the BMW spec for worry is when it exceeds 1 qt every 1000 miles or thereabout. I drive 9000-10000 miles per year and perform twice yearly oil changes since my use is 95% city. I try to do some hour long trips each week in the winter. I have used GC since purchase. Engine is quiet, smooth. Had the dealer check for leaks (none) and perform crankcase ventilation system changeout (no clogs) in Jan. Oil consumption unchanged after that visit. I'm wondering if changing to thicker oil or perhaps an High Mileage oil might be worthwhile. I read here that High Mileage oils may help reduce oil consumption and the Valvoline Full Synthetic Maxlife meets A3 spec--it comes in both 5W30 and 10W30, both visc 11.7. I also ran across Chevron Full Synthetic 5W40, visc 13.9, ACEA A3 and BMW LL01. My local NAPA can order this and receive in one day.
The Maxlife would be a slight step down in viscosity compared to GC (11.7 vs 12.)--not sure if that makes a difference. Anyway, some opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[RustyH]

Left out a few details. Purchased in 8/2005 with 38,000 miles, presently has 77,000.

 

[JAG]

What oil have you been using?
How long are your average trips?
A compression and leakdown test may help diagnose how the oil is entering the combustion chambers.

 

[td1]

Originally Posted By: RustyH
Left out a few details. Purchased in 8/2005 with 38,000 miles, presently has 77,000.


Rusty

I had the same car - a 2001 530 sport with 5speed. I bought in 05 with 35 miles and from when I got it it used one quart in just over 1k miles. It drove me crazy and I tried to figure out what was wrong - in the end I traded it in with 65k miles. Biggest mistake - I miss that car dearly. Other than the inconvenience of topping it off, no other problems with the car.

Did you car just start to develop this problem? If not, I'd just live with it. Might have been how the original owner broke it in

 

[Craig in Canada]

I know it doesn't answer the question, but I see a LOT of M54 530s reporting oil consumption. There was discussion in another BMW forum I'm on where many weren't certain if the M54 still had cylinder liners or if it was straight Al alloy cylinder walls. We believe we found info that it's still lined.

My M52 (iron block, Al head) doesn't use any perceivable oil in 8000km and it's always been that way. I'm still on the factory CCV from 1998 too. I've chatted with M54 folks who have checked EVERYTHING and still consume oil at a high rate.

I've read about too many now to believe it's a coincidence. That isn't to say that these engines have been problematic for these owners other than the consumption, but I know it would drive me a little crazy.

Maybe the M54 is a power plant which is finicky about break-in for long term low consumption?

 

[RustyH]

Thanks for the replies.
Jag, I've been using GC since I purchased the car in 8/2005 at about 4500-5000 mile OCIs. Yes, that's overkill, but I wanted to do some short OCIs given that I didn't know the history of the maintenance and my short drives. My average trips are 11 miles twice daily and whatever errands on the weekend. I do try to do longer trips but I'm blessed with having a demanding job, so that's limited.

I wrote to Mike Miller of Bimmer magazine. He writes the tech Q&A section. He is very familiar with M54s consuming oil and in the absence of leaks, crankcase ventilation problem, blames the problem on lack of initial break-in oil at 1200 miles (the old school BMW recommendation) and too long OCIs.

I do like this vehicle and plan to keep it for a long time.

td1, I really don't think this oil consumption is new. I just topped it off whenever it reached 1/2 way down on the dipstick. But, I finally decided to keep track. It's all a bit of a guess at how I'm reading the dipstick which is a very small increment between add and full on that dipstick.

I like how the engine runs on GC, but I'm not against experimenting. I'm undecided on whether to try Maxlife full synthetic which is not thicker, but perhaps the seal conditioners might do something OR just a thicker oil like the Chevron I mentioned above OR continue what I'm doing. Someone wrote on a BMW forum about his oil consumption, changed out the crankcase vent system without improvement and simply went to a 5W-40 oil and his consumption stopped.

The BMW LL01 spec states 0-5W/30-40 so that's a bit of a range for the viscosity at operating temperature although that excludes the ligther 30Ws since the HTHS > 3.5 has to be achieved. I seem to remember that Mr. Miller (Bimmer) has a E46 and has used Redline 10W-40 from the inception. I don't recall him ever stating that he has oil consumption.

I know I am rambling on, but I wonder if I really need synthetic at these low OCIs. But, I'm not the engineer so I tend to want to follow the spec.

I'm not really interested in using Mobil 1 0W-40 based on comments by Craig in Canada and others in previous posts about noise and thrashing.

So, I'm still thinking. I have a few months.

 

[2KBMW]

RustyH. I'm using Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic 5w30
in my 328i. I don't have problems but this oil was available
for a short time up here and bought a few jugs. I would give
it a try. It may help.

 

[sprintman]

Maxlife 5W30 syn doesn't meet spec. Synpower 5W40 does. Outside the U.S the dealership oil would be XW40 as there is no CAFE. Your call.

 

[Craig in Canada]

RustyH: If it stays warm for a while where you are, you could try something like Rotella 15W40 and see what happens. If your consumption stops, you know that viscosity or increased HTHS will help. If it doesn't stop on 15W40 it may not be practical to eliminate with a change in viscosity. I would probably just "live with it" before going to 20W50 or similar.

If it pretty much stops on 15W40, you can then dial back from there to 5W40 syn on the next OCI.

An HDEO meets all of the M54 standard drain requirements and will still do a good job on clean up duty. You could also run ARX in dino HDEO if you feel so inclined, just in case it's a ring issue. As with other users it may or may not do anything but you wouldn't know unless you tried. These days I'd probably recommend 1.5-2 bottles in conventional 15w40. I also recommend against running ARX maint dose in GC based on personal experience, if you were inclined to try that.

I'm currently shopping around for a cost-effective 5W40 to run year round instead of GC. Due to a variety of factors I've been running 15W40 HDEO the last couple of summers. I notice increased smoothness above 3500rpm on a 40 weight (vs GC) and despite it getting cold here my E39 always starts and ends in the garage so it rarely sees the worst of the winter chill anymore. I'm hoping Rotella T6 is available here by the fall.

 

[HondaMan]

I would do the following:

i) Drain the GC and use a mineral based 15w40, BMW has a black bottled version if you want to stick with BMW brand.
Any CJ4 or the BMW bottled with meet the HTHS requirements called for.
Some dealers have this in OE bulk, but very few.
ii) run the oil at least 5k miles
iii) drain and repeat to monitor consumption

I'm sure that after 5k miles the oil will still look amber on a clean white towel/rag. (not black)

My favorite in my little M44 is Rotella 15w40

I've run GC and feel I cannot approach 5k miles without it being very noisy. ( very smooth at first )

I'm running Delvac right now and feel it is not as quite as Rotella. ( Could not resist the $ 9.50 per gallon at Walmart )

 

[antonmnster]

Forgive me if this was mentioned, but how's the PCV system. The m54 in my 325 doesn't burn any oil at all at 141,000, but it does like to build up a lot of condensation under the VC in the winter. I'm thinking the cyclonic oil separator thingie is partially plugged - enough to not operate effectively but not enough to cause excessive consumption.

That seems to be the number one cause of oil consumption in the m54, especially in locations that have real winters.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted By: RustyH




The BMW LL01 spec states 0-5W/30-40 so that's a bit of a range for the viscosity at operating temperature although that excludes the ligther 30Ws since the HTHS > 3.5 has to be achieved. I seem to remember that Mr. Miller (Bimmer) has a E46 and has used Redline 10W-40 from the inception. I don't recall him ever stating that he has oil consumption.



Mike has an E46 325 and he does like Redline (5w-40 IIRC). Personally I think the oil consumption is the result of BMW's break-in procedure. This is just my opinion of course, but driving around with a light foot (never exceeding 4k rpoms) for the first 1000 miles seems counter-intuitive for proper ring seating. I also think it's a liablity issue. If BMW said drive it like you stole it, drive it in the mtn's, and vary engine load then they'd be open for a lawsuit when some (blank) blames BMW's 'aggressive' break-in procedure for why he hit a tree.

Oh and the M54 does have cast iron cylinder liners.

As for oil type you can always try the 5w/0w-40w oil and see what that does.

 

[Craig in Canada]

Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
Personally I think the oil consumption is the result of BMW's break-in procedure.


But why does the M54 seem to have a far higher incidence of this consumption issue than the other similar I6s (M50, M52, M52TU)? I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but the recommended break-in procedure didn't change when the M54 was released and neither did what the average owner ACTUALLY does during break-in.

 

[td1]

Rusty,

You're following my footsteps. I never got around to trying the Rotella, but did try castrol 5w-40 and an auto-rx treatment with no difference (I was using Mobil 1 0w30 prior too). Also replaced the spark plugs at 60k to see if the plugs were fouled (they were not that bad).

I'm back to BMW, got an 05 x3 with the same engine as my 01 530 (though this car is an auto rather than 5speed). Funny part is that the X3 uses like less than one quart in 7,500 miles - I kind of miss popping up the hood and checking things out underneath of the 530. It drove me crazy and my x3, while nice, is no 530. I still get a little depressed when I see an 01-03 e39 5 series with the sport package.

You are better off just living with it. 2k miles a quart is not that bad - don't do anything dumb like I did and dump it. My wife used to complain too until she realized how it really got to me

 

[2KBMW]

Originally Posted By: sprintman
Maxlife 5W30 syn doesn't meet spec. Synpower 5W40 does. Outside the U.S the dealership oil would be XW40 as there is no CAFE. Your call.


Sprintman. This is the spec from the 5w30 Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic label : A3/B3/B4
BMW LL 01/98
VW 502.00/505.00
MB 229.3/229.1

 

[sprintman]

Hmm I looked on the web ands saw 11.7 cSt viscosity and no mention of LL01/98. Need new eyes I guess but STILL no way I'd run an oil starting at 11.7 cSt which then shears. you need some margin hence no XW30's in BMW's outside the U.S.

 

[addyguy]

Going thicker usually won't hurt on a BMW - some even spec a 10W-60 oil (M3).

I know your vehicle isn't the one that 'needs' a 10W-60 oil, but I'd be inclined to get some, and try it just to see how it does.

If that's too radical for you, as others have said (Craig in Canada's advice was well-put) try a 15w40 HDEO and see how it does.

There are LOTs of options for going thicker - 15w40 HDEO, 5W-40 HDEO, Mobil 1 15W-50, Castrol Syntec 5W-50 (some members here really like this one for BMW's), 20W-50...if you're going to have the car a while, experiment and see what works.

 

[CivicFan]

Is 1qt at 2.5k miles really an issue? AFAIK, it's a normal consumption from what I have read BMW recommend. If it was 1qt per 500-1000 miles than I would think there would be an issue.

 

[RustyH]

CivicFan: Excellent point. Per previously posted M54 engine specs, BMW does not think it is an issue at this level of consumption. I am simply wondering what others might do in this situation. I have never owned a vehicle with this level of consumption. One option is not change my usual routine with GC and simply add the quart when required. Other options are mentioned above (replies appreciated). When I had the CCV system changed out at the dealership, the tech wrote on the ticket to use a heavier oil (he thought Syntec 0w30 was lighter than Syntec 5W30). I also learned from the dealer that they don't even use the BMW 5W30 for the vehicles they service--they use Syntec 5W30 which of course, doesn't meet the spec!

 

[Craig in Canada]

CivicFan and RustyH:

There's a difference between "normal" and "acceptable to the manufacturer". The latter is more about handling complaints and reducing cost under warranty - it sets the bar for when a dealer will be required to really tear into the hard parts and spend serious coin fixing the issue.

That level of consumption is not "normal" compared to other BMW I6s on the road. However, as I mentioned it seems that there are a lot of people with M54 530s with consumption. I haven't heard a lot of M54B25 owners (ie. the 525s, 325s) complaining but I bet there are a lot fewer 525s on North American roads than 530s so the sample set is smaller. Heck, you're an "outsider" in the North American area having the I6 instead of the V8 it seems.