2001 e46 330i - another "using a lot of oil" thread...

[garmcqui]

Now i'm well aware of the tendency of the big six to drink oil, but it's been using quite a bit, I'd say a good litre every 500 miles, maybe even more! It feels like I'm constantly feeding it (expensive) LL01 5w-30. Milage is on 133k now.

I've change the oil separator and all associated pipework (December) which didn't seem to help much. Lately I've changed the oil filter housing gasket (which was leaking a bit), the Vanos seals and the valve cover gasket but haven't seen any noticeable reduction in consumption.

I can see no blue smoke from the exhaust on startup. MPG seems ok (indicated 37 on long run at 70mph, 26 around London) and power seems fine.

What are the most likely culprits, and will they be mega expensive to fix?

Cheers,

Gareth

[Assimilator1]

Re blue smoke check, was that from cold?
And yea that oil consumption is excessive!

Just a thought, if you remove the oil filler cap whilst engine idling, do you get a massive 'whoosh' sucking noise (& hard to remove cap) or just a slight one? (& easy to remove cap)

[Neil_S]

From what I recall, BMW say a litre every 500 miles is acceptable for the engine.

Mine does about a litre every 1000.

[dailydoggy]

stick a tube of forte seal conditioner in it yal prolly see a good improvement...

[digby]

How can BMW, or any other car maker, claim that 1 litre per 500 or 1000 miles is normal for oil consumption ??

This is an enormous consumption

Actually none of my bmw's have ever needed topping up - even my 530d with 350000 kms on the clock

Is it REALLY normal ??

[garmcqui]

Thanks for the replies so far...

I have tried a tube of forte seal conditioner too, forgot to say that. But with the amount of oil that's gone into it since then (i think I have put 5+ litres in since last oil change) it's probably diluted.

I get barely any whooshing noise when the oil cap is removed, but the revs dip slightly as if it's going to stall, then it recovers.

On the plus side, the oil should never need changing! lol

[undetterred]

Time for 10/40.

[dailydoggy]

Time for 10/40.

i really wouldn't on an all alloy engine...

[undetterred]

I've run my last 2 e46' on 10/40 semi synthetic without problem.Admittedly to counter oil loss on my 320,the 330 uses none at all.

[garmcqui]

i really wouldn't on an all alloy engine...

why mate?