Low oil every 500 Miles? Help to resolve?

[UnopposedCheeseBurger]

2013 Pre lci, coming up on 90k miles. A few months ago I noticed my car would spew black soot sporadically upon start up. I couldn’t ever predict when or the exact cause. Around the same time I noticed my car began to consume more oil then usual, a quart every 450-500 miles. I never noticed any performance or engine issues though.

What i’ve done to try and address this:
-liqui moly engine flush and switched to 5w40
-liqui moly DIJectron
-liqui moly Fuel system cleaner

The DIJectron seemed to do the trick to address the black soot spewing from the exhaust. However the car is still flashing a low engine oil warning about every 500 miles, regardless of how recent the oil change. The car is stock besides a Dinan stage 1 and hasn’t had any other noticeable issues/ symptoms.

[danielgmanm6]

Originally Posted by UnopposedCheeseBurger

2013 Pre lci, coming up on 90k miles. A few months ago I noticed my car would spew black soot sporadically upon start up. I couldn’t ever predict when or the exact cause. Around the same time I noticed my car began to consume more oil then usual, a quart every 450-500 miles. I never noticed any performance or engine issues though.

What i’ve done to try and address this:
-liqui moly engine flush and switched to 5w40
-liqui moly DIJectron
-liqui moly Fuel system cleaner

The DIJectron seemed to do the trick to address the black soot spewing from the exhaust. However the car is still flashing a low engine oil warning about every 500 miles, regardless of how recent the oil change. The car is stock besides a Dinan stage 1 and hasn’t had any other noticeable issues/ symptoms.

I would change the rod bearings if I was you.

[Housekeeping]

Buy a Lexus

[AHall]

Originally Posted by danielgmanm6

I would change the rod bearings if I was you.

Just out of curiosity, what do rod bearings have to do with oil consumption? If you are not a DYI person you probably need to take it and have a good diagnosis. You are burning oil. From my experience either valve seals, valves or piston rings. Could even be bad PCV. Hence the need for a good diagnosis and maybe prayer.

[fstm5]

Originally Posted by UnopposedCheeseBurger

2013 Pre lci, coming up on 90k miles. A few months ago I noticed my car would spew black soot sporadically upon start up. I couldn’t ever predict when or the exact cause. Around the same time I noticed my car began to consume more oil then usual, a quart every 450-500 miles. I never noticed any performance or engine issues though.

What i’ve done to try and address this:
-liqui moly engine flush and switched to 5w40
-liqui moly DIJectron
-liqui moly Fuel system cleaner

The DIJectron seemed to do the trick to address the black soot spewing from the exhaust. However the car is still flashing a low engine oil warning about every 500 miles, regardless of how recent the oil change. The car is stock besides a Dinan stage 1 and hasn’t had any other noticeable issues/ symptoms.

PCV, check the entire system

[vafan13]

Pull the air boxes off and look into the intakes. See if there's a lot of oil in either one. If so I'd start by replacing the pcv tube/valve on that side.

I'd also have someone follow behind you to see if there's smoke out the exhaust either during hard acceleration or immediately after letting off from hard acceleration. Former is more likely pistons, latter more likely valve stem seals. If you see either of these or it's more not oil in the intakes, I'd go straight to a good shop.

[danielgmanm6]

Originally Posted by AHall

Just out of curiosity, what do rod bearings have to do with oil consumption? If you are not a DYI person you probably need to take it and have a good diagnosis. You are burning oil. From my experience either valve seals, valves or piston rings. Could even be bad PCV. Hence the need for a good diagnosis and maybe prayer.

At that mileage I would absolutely change the rod bearings due to it being a issue. Is high oil consumption an indicator of excessive wear on rod bearings? I couldn't answer that. If I were you I would do it!

[RonMexico]

I think it's normal on the 2013 model. I have the same issue with mine.

[vafan13]

Originally Posted by RonMexico

I think it's normal on the 2013 model. I have the same issue with mine.

Even ignoring that it came on suddenly, a quart ever 500 miles is *not* normal.

[danielgmanm6]

Originally Posted by RonMexico

I think it's normal on the 2013 model. I have the same issue with mine.

I have a 2013 with zero oil consumption

[cudakid03]

2013 here going on 80000 miles. I lose maybe a qt every 5000 miles.

[STL_MPWR]

2012 with zero oil consumption issues (oil change every 4,000 miles)

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by RonMexico

I think it's normal on the 2013 model. I have the same issue with mine.

Think some are telling porkies saying their M's don't use oil. It's normal for '11 to even early '17 also, same base engine and even more so with a tune ++

[TaboutWEALTH]

I've been having to add a quart every month, honestly didn't pay attention to how many miles but I will take note next time, I have a 2014 like 80k miles

[TLK]

Like every BMW V8, the valve seals and generally the intermediate levers on valvetronic engines are worn out at 80K miles and the engine must be torn down to change them. The shop I go to (Palo Alto Bimmers) the head mechanic there is really disgusted with BMW not having done anything about this obviously known issue.

I had my E60 545i (the naturally aspirated V8) repaired at 94k miles, after a long period of high oil use and the final straw was that it couldn’t idle properly. No issues after repair and oil usage was very low.

My F10 550i had to have the valve seals repaired at 86k miles, because of extreme oil consumption and black smoke when hitting the throttle that clearly wasn’t going to pass smog. Oil consumption is back to minimal and the engine runs fine and passes smog afterwards. Fortunately the catalytic converter still functioned well enough and eventually the oil buildup in the exhaust system has burned off.

The mechanics warn me that of course my F10 M5 will experience the same problems and require the same repairs sometime around 80k miles. I have 40k miles and doubt that I will continue to own it after around 60k miles.

These were costly repairs in the California Bay Area market because of all the labor involved. The engine has to be removed from the car, and that entails a lot of work, especially on the F10’s because the engine just fills up the engine bay making it even harder to disconnect everything and pull it and later reinstall it. I did get to see the engine from the 550i open on a stand and they showed me the valve seals but I didn’t take any pictures.

[ajm55]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Think some are telling porkies saying their M's don't use oil. It's normal for '11 to even early '17 also, same base engine and even more so with a tune ++

Mine (2103 comp pack) uses no oil between oil changes but I do change oil every 5,000 kms. It seems to be hit n miss. I suspect that a lot depends on how well the motor was run in. Stage 2 BTW

[Stinkyxy]

Do you wait for the engine/oil light to come on or do you measure at ea h 1-2 gas fills and add as needed?

[JTF10M5]

Currently facing this issue now. On my 2013 after it losing oil every 500 miles. It was also putting out really bad blue smoke. Mechanic went through and checked the PCV and said it was clogged with oil. I changed them. And he said run it for a while let the excess oil burn out. So atm I’m just monitoring hoping it’s just that and nothing else…

[imported_danielt]

so I've also got the 2013 F10 M5, and I have been requiring engine oil top ups every 900km / 550 miles (engine oil light starting to come every 6 weeks)

Reported this to the independent BMW mechanic who did in September:

inspected Vehicle for Oil Consumption To High -No Major Oil Leaks
Oil Weep Around Bottom Of Sump - not the cause of High Oil Usage
Checked PCV Valve, Removed Spark Plugs for Inspection all ok
Refitted Spark Plugs
Carried Out Compression Test -Recommend Oil Flush
Carried Out Engine OiI Flush -Drained Engine Oil and Refilled


Now getting the message again after the above. What should I try next? Would there be catastrophic failure without going searching for the problem?

[JDMSteven]

That's majorly excessive oil consumption imported_danielt I would consider selling at that point if everything else is coming back good. Valve stem seals are the only other potential.

[TLK]

Reread my post above. This always happens to the BMW V8’s once you’ve got enough miles on the valve seats. They cost less than a dollar a piece, but it’s $6000 to tear down and replace them. I’ve done it on two so far. I’ll probably sell the M5 before I reach that point.

The oil burning will cause the car to fail smog, it will eventually kill the O2 sensors and the catalytic converter.

[imported_danielt]

Thanks, is there an easy way to assess that the valve seats require replacement? Like should the car be blowing black smoke if indeed this is the problem?