Change Oil Every 3,000 or 5,000miles?

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by elitesales305

yesterday checked my oil levels..
fuckin at the yellow mark.. one quart will bring it to full..
gonna order a new oil cap and check under carriage for nay leaks .. only visible one I see is around the cap as of now..where more or less is the pcv valve on the n55??
if oil pan/pcv/cap/oil filter housing is all dry im gonna drive my car thru the dealerships doors with 45 pounds of flaming shit in the passenger seat!!!
or ill check out my ext warranty ;(
if all those components are dry next would be piston rings and or valve seals correct?

Wait, if you have an extended warranty, why are you buying parts to try to fix it? Take it to the dealer and let them figure it out.

[elitesales305]

cuz my ext warranty has a deductible of 100 bucks a shot and.. I mean if its just the cap then I would sit at home wait for it to come in then go outside and twist that fucker on..
the stealership here down my way is the biggest joke ever..
honestly I would trust Pablo down the street before I trust them!

[JimD]

My 2009 e88 is my first BMW so I have a lot more experience on vehicles other than BMW. But on other vehicles, valve stem seals were the #1 way for my engines to burn oil. I had an old Aspen wagon my wife drove. Wouldn't pass emissions tests. I knew it used oil. I changed the valve seals (not a terrible job on that motor) and it passed easily. I've changed them on other engines but it was part of a larger rebuild where it would be more difficult to determine the exact benefit.

My 2009 uses no oil between changes - which admittedly occur relatively frequently (5,000 miles). But the gauge doesn't move - if I fill it to full it will be full when I change. My wife doesn't get it changed nearly as often in her 2013 but has to add a quart or two between changes. I think some of the reason she needs to add is the less frequent oil changes but I also think she is burning or leaking some.

[five_timer]

My E36 325is went through 2 quarts between changes. My E46 325Ci and Z3 2.5i used a quart. And now my N52 Z4 and 128i use none.

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by elitesales305

cuz my ext warranty has a deductible of 100 bucks a shot and.. I mean if its just the cap then I would sit at home wait for it to come in then go outside and twist that fucker on..
the stealership here down my way is the biggest joke ever..
honestly I would trust Pablo down the street before I trust them!

You are not leaking a quart of oil out of your oil cap. Just think about how much a quart is, the size puddle you'd see and use some common sense. As far as the dealer you are referring to being a "joke", please tell me why that is, with complete sentences and all. And even if that particular one was less than stellar, surely Miami has more than one BMW store that can manage to fix a N55 for $100 deductible.

[The Wind Breezes]

Guys, the car burns oil naturally. Mostly from vapor thru the PCV. How much depends on how hard you drive but it's 100% normal. It's not your valve stem seals or a leak out the oil cap.

[Happy Jose]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

Guys, the car burns oil naturally. Mostly from vapor thru the PCV. How much depends on how hard you drive but it's 100% normal. It's not your valve stem seals or a leak out the oil cap.

Oil does more than provide lubrication, it's a major source of cooling the engine or removing excess heat. If you push it, you'll burn oil. I just added half a quart, and I have been hammering it!

Remember the old air cooled Porsches? They weren't really air cooled. They had big radiators that circulated 11+ qts of oil through the engine, and it was normal for the engines to use a qt of oil every 900 miles or less.

With a water cooled engine plus a large crankcase capacity and an oil cooler, your 135 will keeps its cool!

BTW, if I see any of you clowns traveling at Autobahn velocities, I'm calling the policia!

[elitesales305]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

You are not leaking a quart of oil out of your oil cap. Just think about how much a quart is, the size puddle you'd see and use some common sense. As far as the dealer you are referring to being a "joke", please tell me why that is, with complete sentences and all. And even if that particular one was less than stellar, surely Miami has more than one BMW store that can manage to fix a N55 for $100 deductible.

I get what your saying.
a visual inspection at the house over the weekend is free without having to drive anywhere.
im gonna do that first to rule out the above mentioned.
I get what your saying a quart will deff show somewhere...
and like I said, besides the krust around the oil cap I havnt seen anything(on the floor or anywhere else in the engine as of yet)
I might be wrong but,if im buring oil, shouldn't I have some smoke out the pipe??
lets say, oil is pooling up on the cylinder.... shouldn't I have smoke on startup?
thanks for your help btw

[elitesales305]

for all the posters that are on board with buring oil...
I put 70 miles a day on my poor car. and I loooooooovvvveeee to test my 130mph limiter!!!

[JimD]

Oil down the valve guides sometimes will cause smoke when you accelerate from a stop. Oil getting past the rings won't do that.

Using a quart every 5,000 miles or so isn't a big deal. Could easily be considered normal. Car manufacturers will try and pretend that a quart every 1,000 miles but I don't agree. Driving hard will raise the pressure inside the engine and push a little more oil past the PVC.

But 4 cycle engines are not designed to burn oil. It happens but it is not intended nor is it necessary. Mine does not use a quart in 5,000 miles. It doesn't even use a pint. I've had many cars that performed that way. I gave my son a SUV that didn't use a quart in 5,000 and it had 150,000 miles on it.

The real question is when do you do something about it. I wouldn't until it gets down to a quart in 2,000 or so.

If it is burning a significant amount of oil you will see it on the plugs. They should be brown, if the cylinder is burning oil they will be black. I changed mine recently, with about 70,000 miles, and they were all brown.

[elitesales305]

for the nay sayers that have never seen a failed cap!

[KNS]

What exactly failed on that cap?

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by elitesales305

for the nay sayers that have never seen a failed cap!

That crusty stuff on your oil cap looks like sand. I know you Floridians like your beaches but you gotta keep your 1ers out of the sand, and the sand out of your 1ers. lol

Here's a another Florida 1ADDICT's car, sunbathing on the sand. (Pic courtesy of desertman123)

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by elitesales305

for the nay sayers that have never seen a failed cap!

Attachment 1871361Attachment 1871362

Its just embarrassing now. Please, do the car a favor and take it to a dealer and have them take a look. You have no idea what you're looking at.

[elitesales305]

Originally Posted by KNS

What exactly failed on that cap?

oil drooling down the side plus dump trucks and shit with their haul kursting up on the oil im guessing..
I don't dune my car

[elitesales305]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

Its just embarrassing now. Please, do the car a favor and take it to a dealer and have them take a look. You have no idea what you're looking at.

what would u call oil coming from under the cap and dumping down the front side???
its a top with an o ring??

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by elitesales305

what would u call oil coming from under the cap and dumping down the front side???
its a top with an o ring??

You don't have "oil dumping down the front side". What you have is some light spillage, most likely when oil change was done, that has gotten road grime/dirt and has become crusty. I'll tell you what. Wipe all the crud off, clean the cap with some brake cleaner, put it back on the car and drive for a week. Then open the hood and see. I guarantee you are not loosing a quart of oil out of the oil cap. Matter of fact, the only way to loose a quart of oil out of the oil cap is to run without one.

I'll say this again, and for the last time, as I ultimately don't care what you do. Bring the car to someone (like a dealer) who knows what they're looking at, and can diagnose the potential leak or mechanical issue your engine has.

[rowsdower]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

You don't have "oil dumping down the front side". What you have is some light spillage, most likely when oil change was done, that has gotten road grime/dirt and has become crusty. I'll tell you what. Wipe all the crud off, clean the cap with some brake cleaner, put it back on the car and drive for a week. Then open the hood and see. I guarantee you are not loosing a quart of oil out of the oil cap. Matter of fact, the only way to loose a quart of oil out of the oil cap is to run without one.

Elite, I have to agree here. If there were significant oil leaking down the side, there would not be dirt caked onto the side of the valve cover under the cap. You have oil residue there from a previous spill where dirt is getting caught. Flowing oil would carry away all that dirt. Looks like just residue to me at least from the angle in the picture.

[elitesales305]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

You don't have "oil dumping down the front side". What you have is some light spillage, most likely when oil change was done, that has gotten road grime/dirt and has become crusty. I'll tell you what. Wipe all the crud off, clean the cap with some brake cleaner, put it back on the car and drive for a week. Then open the hood and see. I guarantee you are not loosing a quart of oil out of the oil cap. Matter of fact, the only way to loose a quart of oil out of the oil cap is to run without one.

I'll say this again, and for the last time, as I ultimately don't care what you do. Bring the car to someone (like a dealer) who knows what they're looking at, and can diagnose the potential leak or mechanical issue your engine has.

num nuts..... I topped off last time and wiped it clean...!!! if you notice theres krust under the cap rim..... how would I get oil spillage from fill up under the lid???
are u a service advisor ?? because u keep pushing the dealer
anyways I appreciate all input but you sir.. have been no help
but I thank you nonetheless

[bagekko]

LOL I ignored this thread because its about unrealistic oil change intervals, then it exploded to 4 pages haha, so I had to take a look...

Burning 1 QT or more between oil changes is nothing to worry about, if not leaking which like said you would notice.

The crud around the oil cap is normal. The oil cap is in the front of the engine and BMWs lately are not as good as they use to be with better sealed compartments, I just had to add a QT last week and my cap looked the same and I thought nothing of it because that is normal. You should see how disgusting the engine compartment gets on the X5 now a days. The oil cap and power steering caps are notorious for collecting grime, maybe a few micro droplets may seep out and dirt will collect massively to the littlest film of residue.

I would like to hear the SA & techs laugh if someone yells at them that their oil cap is a failure point because of a little dirt on the edges claiming a QT leaked out there.

[elitesales305]

Originally Posted by bagekko

LOL I ignored this thread because its about unrealistic oil change intervals, then it exploded to 4 pages haha, so I had to take a look...

Burning 1 QT or more between oil changes is nothing to worry about, if not leaking which like said you would notice.

The crud around the oil cap is normal. The oil cap is in the front of the engine and BMWs lately are not as good as they use to be with better sealed compartments, I just had to add a QT last week and my cap looked the same and I thought nothing of it because that is normal. You should see how disgusting the engine compartment gets on the X5 now a days. The oil cap and power steering caps are notorious for collecting grime, maybe a few micro droplets may seep out and dirt will collect massively to the littlest film of residue.

I would like to hear the SA & techs laugh if someone yells at them that their oil cap is a failure point because of a little dirt on the edges claiming a QT leaked out there.

im just stating my initial post.. not bashing ya fyi
if u read up the thread people were taken back by oil consumption.
wich clearly happens as few have posted as it being normal. (and parts/servce dept at dealer,along with some mechs I have spoken to)
I was just stating that I did have oil down the front of the cap as the engine is not silver/aluminum color there its blk ;(

[MightyMouseTech]

It can't be oil out the cap on an N55. Our cars run a vacuum pump on the inside of the motor. Worst that can happen with the cap is a vacuum leak and noise.

Our motors also do not have a PCV.