so much oil.....

[lucaa135]

So i have always had oil issues with my car. I like to change my il every 3500 miles or so, but even in between that time, i have to add oil to the car. Last service i had 38K miles on the car and i had to add 3 quarts of oil (one quart on 3 separate occasions), before the car even got to 41k...I run a jb4 on stage 1. Sometimes il even see little puffs of smoke (white) when i come to a stop after driving, both aggressively or just cruising along. Anyone else having to add a quart of oil every 1-1.5k miles?

[Eddie135]

I have yet to add any oil yet, I always check the oil measurement in the system weekly through the cluster by pressign the BC button.

[eatsleeplax]

Originally Posted by lucaa135

So i have always had oil issues with my car. I like to change my il every 3500 miles or so, but even in between that time, i have to add oil to the car. Last service i had 38K miles on the car and i had to add 3 quarts of oil (one quart on 3 separate occasions), before the car even got to 41k...I run a jb4 on stage 1. Sometimes il even see little puffs of smoke (white) when i come to a stop after driving, both aggressively or just cruising along. Anyone else having to add a quart of oil every 1-1.5k miles?

white smoke is usually coolant, while blue-ish smoke is oil. have a compression and leakdown test done, or rent a compression tester from autozone and do it yourself. its fairly easy. This will test for a blown hg which could be causing you to burn oil. Are you sure your not leaking it? Thats a hell of a lot of oil

[lucaa135]

I'm absolutely positive I'm not leaking, i check every week expecting to find a puddle of oil...but nothing. I'll get that compression test done soon, whats the going rate on that btw?

[JimD]

I've never paid for a compression check but I would guess an independant would charge on the order of $100 for it. It is very easy to do yourself, however, and I recommend you do it for another reason. To do a compression check, all you do is unscrew the plugs (keep track of the order) and then screw the compression checker in where the plug was one cylinder at a time. You can do a cylinder at a time if you want but the engine will spin easier with the other plugs removed. There is also no chance the car will start with all the plugs out. You need an additional person to crank it over or a remote start device (clips onto the starter and has a button for you to push to turn the engine over). You want good consistency between the cylinders.

Leakdown is similar but you pressurize each cylinder with air and keep track of how long it takes for it to leak out. I've never done one, it should add a lot if you have a garage do the compression.

The other thing you will learn in the process is whether you've been burning the oil. If you have, you will have deposits on the plugs. Especially if you have one or two plugs with black oily flaking residue on them you will know you have an issue. If they all look about the same and are more brown to white then you are almost certainly not burning oil. You have it leaking out somewhere. Something like a rear seal may only leak when the car is moving. So you wouldn't necessarily see a spot where you park.

Jim

[DriveHard]

It is 100% normal that a modern BMW consume 1 qt of oil in about 2000 to 3000 miles... happens all day long..

as odd as it sounds, it was designed that way.

some cars suffer from it more than others...

just enjoy the car..

p.s. although i totally understand your 3500 mile oil change interval.... it is totally a waste of money.. wait till 7000 or 7500 ( basically half way between oil services for the average bmw.. ( avg bmw gets its oil service at 12 to 15k )

[1Fasst1]

Originally Posted by lucaa135

I'm absolutely positive I'm not leaking, i check every week expecting to find a puddle of oil...but nothing. I'll get that compression test done soon, whats the going rate on that btw?

You may want to check to make sure oil is not getting by the turbos.Your sig indicates you have downpipes on your car. Several fourm members have put downpipes on their cars and noticed smoke from the exhaust. It seems the cats were cleaning this up so no problems were noticed before the downpipe install. You can lossen the connection at the mid to downpipe and see if there is any oil residue in the pipes. Keep us posted with you problem. Good luck

[kkrikkett]

Originally Posted by 1Fasst1

You may want to check to make sure oil is not getting by the turbos.Your sig indicates you have downpipes on your car. Several fourm members have put downpipes on their cars and noticed smoke from the exhaust. It seems the cats were cleaning this up so no problems were noticed before the downpipe install. You can lossen the connection at the mid to downpipe and see if there is any oil residue in the pipes. Keep us posted with you problem. Good luck

+1 on this it could be turbos also. I never add oil to mine and change oil just as often.

[eatsleeplax]

Originally Posted by JimD

I've never paid for a compression check but I would guess an independant would charge on the order of $100 for it. It is very easy to do yourself, however, and I recommend you do it for another reason. To do a compression check, all you do is unscrew the plugs (keep track of the order) and then screw the compression checker in where the plug was one cylinder at a time. You can do a cylinder at a time if you want but the engine will spin easier with the other plugs removed. There is also no chance the car will start with all the plugs out. You need an additional person to crank it over or a remote start device (clips onto the starter and has a button for you to push to turn the engine over). You want good consistency between the cylinders.

Leakdown is similar but you pressurize each cylinder with air and keep track of how long it takes for it to leak out. I've never done one, it should add a lot if you have a garage do the compression.

The other thing you will learn in the process is whether you've been burning the oil. If you have, you will have deposits on the plugs. Especially if you have one or two plugs with black oily flaking residue on them you will know you have an issue. If they all look about the same and are more brown to white then you are almost certainly not burning oil. You have it leaking out somewhere. Something like a rear seal may only leak when the car is moving. So you wouldn't necessarily see a spot where you park.

Jim

just to add to that, you should pull the fuses for the fuel pump and relay for a proper compression test. I also recommend pulling all the plugs.

If you have the ability to change your own spark plugs you have more than the ability to do your own compression test.

[lucaa135]

just got new plugs with my 40k service. The technicians told me that there was no excess gunk on them. Car has been running great, I'm going to keep digging to see if there is another problem, id like to be able to look at the turbos but i don't have to means in which to do that alone nor the money to have someone check into it, but if i do i will let you guys know. thanks for the input!

[HIPSI]

FWIW I added about a 1/2 qt during the first 5k miles and not a drop since, now @ 59k
I'd be concerned enough to do a compression check...