[Taunto]

Hey everyone.
Sorry for the late response to this thread.
Working as a licensed tech for BMW We come across with this exact same complaint from time to time.

BMW engines have a break in period for the first 10,000kms.
it is normal for the Engine to burn 0.7L per 1000kms. This is considered normal from BMW.
M engines can Burn up as much as 1.5L per 1000kms.

This is due to the break in of the engine and not all components may have not fully seated yet.
There is a Technical service bulletin put out from BMW for this cause.

If your vehicle is still burning oil 0.7L+ of oil per 1000kms, contact your local dealer for inspection
This of course will be different for each person as each engine is built slightly differently of course

Hope this helps.
(if u have a N63 engine, Your most likely looking at Valve seals and or Turbo's are the biggest concern of oil consumption. Crank case vent valves as well)

[BMWZ4]

A 10k kms break in period? Since when? Or was that a typo and you meant 1k kms....

[Taunto]

Not a Typo.
I will update the post Tomorrow showing the S.I.B if possible when at work tomorrow.

I just printed this off for a Customer with a X6M earlir this week that had the same complaint.

[Taunto]

Sorry for the late response everyone, Been very busy.

S.I.B # SI 11 05 84.

(Copy and pasted from the S.I.B it's self)

SUBJECT
Engine Oil Consumption Complaint Verification and Diagnosis

MODELS
All

INTRODUCTION
All engines normally consume a certain amount of oil. This is necessary in order to properly
lubricate the cylinder walls, pistons, piston rings etc. In addition, engines with less than 10,000 km
will generally consume additional oil because the components are not fully seated. Therefore, oil
consumption complaints received prior to 10,000 km cannot be considered. Once a new or rebuilt
engine has accumulated 10,000 km this procedure should be used if there is a drastic change in
the oil consumption rate (i.e. the oil consumption rate triples) under similar driving conditions or if
the oil consumption rate exceeds 0.7L per 1,000 km at any time (1.5L per 1,000 km for M-Power
engines).

WARRANTY
This bulletin provides a procedure to diagnose the cause of excessive engine oil consumption. It
does not affect the warranty regulations in any way. This procedure must be used for
documenting all engine oil consumption complaints whether warranty or customer paid.

[Luminous]

Originally Posted by Taunto

Sorry for the late response everyone, Been very busy.

S.I.B # SI 11 05 84.

(Copy and pasted from the S.I.B it's self)

SUBJECT
Engine Oil Consumption Complaint Verification and Diagnosis

MODELS
All

INTRODUCTION
All engines normally consume a certain amount of oil. This is necessary in order to properly
lubricate the cylinder walls, pistons, piston rings etc. In addition, engines with less than 10,000 km
will generally consume additional oil because the components are not fully seated. Therefore, oil
consumption complaints received prior to 10,000 km cannot be considered. Once a new or rebuilt
engine has accumulated 10,000 km this procedure should be used if there is a drastic change in
the oil consumption rate (i.e. the oil consumption rate triples) under similar driving conditions or if
the oil consumption rate exceeds 0.7L per 1,000 km at any time (1.5L per 1,000 km for M-Power
engines).

WARRANTY
This bulletin provides a procedure to diagnose the cause of excessive engine oil consumption. It
does not affect the warranty regulations in any way. This procedure must be used for
documenting all engine oil consumption complaints whether warranty or customer paid.

Thanks for sharing this! I'm curious what the procedure involves?

Would you expect to see an increase in oil consumption when running an upgraded turbo? Is there a correlation between oil consumption and boost levels? Thanks in advance!

[Taunto]

An increase in Oil consumption with an upgraded Turbo, I dont think is going to matter too much or change significally. Yes Turbo Engines do use/burn more oil than a N/A engine.
As for Boost levels, i dont think there would be any correlation to be honest, but I could be wrong on that.

[Beartato]

10,000 kms, my salesman did say the car wouldn't be fully broken in until about 6K miles. Makes sense now. What changes about the engine around that point?

[Taunto]

Nothing really "Changes".
Every engine is different.

Some components take longer to seat/break in properly than others.

[hellah]

Im dealing with the same problem right now. I have a B38 engine in my car. Its sold only in Minis in US and Canada, its a 1.5l 3cyl turbo engine.

I bought it a year ago, and has 15k km on the clock. I checked the oil level first time a month ago, with 12k km on the clock. It was a bit over minimum.

I checked the level once again two weeks ago, it was cca the same as before.

I thought it wont go lower, but yesterday as I was returning from a longer trip, cca 1300 km on highway I got the warning message saying to add a liter.

it looks like its a common problem with the new turbo engines, but it looks like the oil consumption in mine didn't stop over 10000 km. I will call the service tomorrow just to make sure.

[AlpsRider]

Originally Posted by rdgray

Have you tried switching oils? for what its worth, mine has never burned a drop of oil after changing it with redline 5w30.

I think every engine is different, so far mine doesn't burn a drop. I changed it 2,000 and at 7,500 miles, the car showed that it was still full at the top mark.

[XutvJet]

My M235 with 7k miles and 7 months on the clock has burned around 3/4 qt. I'm not worried in the least. All my cars, including Infinitis, Nissans, Subarus, and Hondas have burned about this much oil over the same mileage and timeframe. I fully expect for consumotion to subsid as the mileage increases. My 2012 WRX burned 3/4 qt in it's first 5k miles and after that, it consumed less than a 1/4 qt every 5k miles until 4 years and 38k miles when i got rid of it.