One RFT with very low pressure + oil warning!!! Ahhrgh

[7smurfs]

Having only had the car 1 week it seems I am running into issues already.

Tonight as I was driving, the tyre pressure loss signal came up. I went to the nearby servo and checked all the tyres and found that the drivers side rear was only at 20psi!!! My guess is I have a leak or puncture for it to be 20psi below what it should. The strange thing is that the previous owner paid $2000+ to get the RFT changed over 3 months ago!! So I was expecting to keep it for a whole while.....

Since the warning came up I decided to check the engine oil electronically and behold, my engine oils are running the bare minimum according to the system and that I should top up 1L immediately. Not sure how the oils the could have drained so quickly since the last service was July 2013 and the car had only done 3000km since... Or is this normal?

What are everyone's veteran opinions on this... I am on a budget strain atm so am quite worried

[ItsHectic]

The tyre must of punctured when you had it otherwise tyre warning would of came on the day you bought it. It does not warn you of slow leaks or normal loss of pressure over time, only punctures.

As for the engine oil, who stamped it last in the log book? Sounds like he changed the oil himself and did not put enough in.

[thezone135i]

Not an expert myself having only had mine for 2 weeks, but I just put a brand new set of OEM spec REO50a run flats on and they cost me $1100 and in addition they came with a puncture warranty that decreases on a pro rata basis. DO you have he original receipts for the tyres?

Mines hasn't used any oil at all but it was serviced in March by BMW (paid for by the guy who sold it for some weird reason) and I have only done 2,000km since.

[7smurfs]

I do have the receipts and will see what I can do tomorrow.

I'm hoping the tyre pressure was just leaking via something loose and not a puncture. Will go test the pressure now and see the results.

Regarding the oils, they were last changed in July 2013

[7smurfs]

Also was dealership stamped - Doncaster BMW

[froop]

The TPMS monitors wheel rotation. If there is a difference in wheel rotations on an axle to a certain threshold then the warning will trigger.

[7smurfs]

The tyre issue is less worrisome... Worst case is that I will have to buy another RFT.

The low engine oil is the main worry... As I believe it shouldn't be low already. There's also a rattle that I can hear when idle at the engine bay - not sure if related to engine oils. Or... I may just be overly paranoid!!

EDIT:

The rattles only occur after driving and then going idle - from my understanding this could be the VANOS system, wastegate or a bunch of things that are considered 'normal'. On cold starts this does not seem to occur.

I just ran through all the doco and previous service history/receipts for the car and I've found that the last engine oil service was back in 07/12 when the car did 25,000km. The car is currently at 43,000 km so a low engine oil - top up 1L required warning sounds normal now.

Furthermore, I went and retested my tyre pressures after a period of 2-3hours after I had pumped them all up to 40psi. The drivers rear that was reading only 20psi was now 38psi however, the other side read 39psi. Collectively a 2 and 1 psi drop which isn't too bad as of yet. I will have to wait a few more days to test it out again for a puncture/leak.

[flinchy]

burning 1L of oil since JUL 2013 shouldn't be TOO big a worry i wouldn't think

[UR25IO]

the tyre pressure dropping 1-2psi is normal. be mindful when you disengaged the pump,small presure is lost

[7smurfs]

All fixed today...

Oil topped up by BMW service free of charge

Tyre had one that was flat and was burning the rubber from the inside as it was running on punctured tyre for too long. Purchased a new replacement RFT for $350..

[thezone135i]

Originally Posted by 7smurfs

All fixed today...

Oil topped up by BMW service free of charge

Tyre had one that was flat and was burning the rubber from the inside as it was running on punctured tyre for too long. Purchased a new replacement RFT for $350..

Ya know bridgestone have got a buy 3 get one free sale till end of April?

[drjekl]

N54's like a drink of engine oil. It's not uncommon to drop 1L of oil in every 6 months or so, whereas others use no oil at all!

Generally the oil is consumed by blowby, and can pool in the FMIC CP etc a lot of guys install a BMS OCC to collect the blowby and upgrade to a Rob Beck PCV valve to improve the existing PCV system.

At the end of the day most of us carry 5W30 castrol oil in our garages and if I'm on a big interstate trip I keep a 1L in the boot.

Also just in case you don't know the bmw service guideline is way too long in between services for most of us enthusiasts, we either change our oil ourselves or have a bmw indy do it in between the bmw logbook stamped service at 5-7k kms.

I only do about 5k kays every 12 months so its no big deal for me

[Smiley1175]

You've had the car for a week. Did you check the oil and level before buying the car?
I'd be more concerned if the car is burning oil in a week, forget when it was serviced last. Keep an eye on it.
Did you end up getting a pre-inspection done?

[7smurfs]

Originally Posted by Smiley1175

You've had the car for a week. Did you check the oil and level before buying the car?
I'd be more concerned if the car is burning oil in a week, forget when it was serviced last. Keep an eye on it.
Did you end up getting a pre-inspection done?

That's my concern. Will keep an eye on it.

No I didn't yet a preinspection.. took a gamble

[Pyrat 2]

Recommend a full oil change now. If the records are accurate you are well beyond what most people on this forum would recommend.

[7smurfs]

Originally Posted by HeelToe

Recommend a full oil change now. If the records are accurate you are well beyond what most people on this forum would recommend.

I will look into getting a full service done. For now, will have to do with the new topped up oil...

Originally Posted by thezone135i

Ya know bridgestone have got a buy 3 get one free sale till end of April?

Didn't need a new set! The tyres were only changed (by the dealer) last year in August.
Otherwise would have capitalised on this deal

[Kiwi Peter]

Originally Posted by 7smurfs

I will look into getting a full service done. For now, will have to do with the new topped up oil...



Didn't need a new set! The tyres were only changed (by the dealer) last year in August.
Otherwise would have capitalised on this deal

Make that service a priority. These cars can be a money pit and can bite real hard.
Never put off your oil service.

[7smurfs]

Originally Posted by Peter@Advan

Make that service a priority. These cars can be a money pit and can bite real hard.
Never put off your oil service.

Will do! Service already booked in for this Thursday...

Now to do the JB4 tune this soon or not.... am a bit concerned with all these unforeseen costs and it's taking a real hit on my bank account !

[racer_x]

Sort out any oil consumption issues first.

If the previous owners followed BMW's advice with "condition based servicing', they may have gone 25,000 kms between oil changes.... Not good.

[Kiwi Peter]

Originally Posted by 7smurfs

Will do! Service already booked in for this Thursday...

Now to do the JB4 tune this soon or not.... am a bit concerned with all these unforeseen costs and it's taking a real hit on my bank account !

From what you say, i would hold off for a while as a tune can lead to spark plugs, coils, and a charge pipe, so be prepared for some extra cost over and above the JB.

[7smurfs]

Originally Posted by racer_x

Sort out any oil consumption issues first.

If the previous owners followed BMW's advice with "condition based servicing', they may have gone 25,000 kms between oil changes.... Not good.

The previous owner has followed the condition based servicing to the T.
It was previously serviced at 36,000km - car is now at 43,000km. Though it doesn't look like they did the oils at all during that service. I have my service booked at Active Motorwerkes in Melbourne so hopefully it will sort it all out!

Originally Posted by Peter@Advan

From what you say, i would hold off for a while as a tune can lead to spark plugs, coils, and a charge pipe, so be prepared for some extra cost over and above the JB.

Thanks for your advice Pete, I will hold off right now - as keen as I am to get it done!

My concerns are mainly around the coils and fuel pump (still the orignal)... will wait it out till I've driven the car more!

[7smurfs]

Thought I'd update this thread to clear a few things up for anyone in future that does a search with my issues.

- Tyre was punctured and was unfixable as I had apparently been driving on it too long and was eating through the rubber (unlucky for me). So I simply needed it to be replaced

- The low oil warning and rattling at the engine was a result of having 10,000+ km sludged oil in there. Even after the BMW service centre top up, the rattle was still there. After a full fresh flush of the oil, the rattling disappeared and the car has not complained since!

All just extremely unlucky for me since I had only had the car for a few days