BMW Forums : BimmerForums banner

328i Oil Consumption

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  The Crocodile Hunter 
#1 ·
I have a 328i F30 with N20 engine - 14 plate. Bought it in Aug'17 with 55k miles on clock, I've now done just short of 60K miles.

Not had any issues with it until Apr '18 when it went into limp mode after going round a sharp up-hill bend. Stopped the car, restarted, drivetrain warning cleared and all seemed fine. Took the car round the same bend a day or so later and same thing happened, drivetrain error on iDrive and car in limp mode. Restarting the car it was all OK again.

Took car in to Bowker Preston on 4th Apr '18 and they quickly diagnosed the engine was short of oil - 2L short of oil in fact. However, the car did not warn me the oil was too low. I was assured by Bowker that oil consumption is normal and the sensor was working, despite it not triggering an oil low warning in iDrive system.

Car all seems fine following that until 31st July '18, again going round a corner (different corner) the warning chime sounds and I see another drivetrain warning and car in limp mode. I pull over where I can and having had the same symptoms before I run the oil check. Oil check completes and it tells me the oil level was at the minimum level and to add 1L of Oil as soon as possible. Again, no oil warning was triggered prior to the car going into limp mode.

I filled up with 1L of oil, ran the oil check, it still read at the minimum level and said to add 1L. I added another litre of oil, ran the oil check and again it said it was at the minimum level and to add 1L. I added a 3rd litre of oil and ran the oil check, then it reported the oil was at the max level and all was OK. At that point, I booked it in to Bowker again to have them look at why the oil sensor is not pre-warning me of the shortage of oil before it almost breaks down and the fact it appears to be rapidly consuming oil.

After adding 3L of oil on 31st July, I did a check yesterday (7th Aug) and the reading came back half way between the minimum and maximum levels on the iDrive gauge.

Surely this much oil consumption cannot be normal, even by BMW's standards for a turbo? Issue I have is the fact the oil warning is not being triggered can I even trust the oil level measurements given to me by iDrive?

There have been no signs of a leak or any coloured smoke out the back, nor do I smell anything burning.

Any help appreciated! :)
 
See less See more
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top