[noshab]

Hello
I own a 2007 e90 325xi . The problem i am having is that sometimes i smell fuel / engine oil odor inside the cabin ( usually when i drive it hard ) .
Also whenever i drive it hard and then check the engine oil the next day , the engine oil level is decreased and i don't drive it hard often . There are strict speed limits ( 60 km/h ) where i live .
It gives me a warning to add +1L engine oil after every 40-45 days . I am running 10W-40 engine oil .
I bought the car used and the previous owner gave me the oil changes booklet and he had the oil changed just 1000km ago so i didn't change the oil
I have driven the car about 2000 km more after that . Have added 3L of engine oil though in this time period ( about 1L at a time whenever the warning came up ) . I don't know which brand 10W-40 he ran in the car but i have been adding Castrol Magnatec 10W-40 in it after buying it

Now there are no oil leaks on the road or on my garage where i park the road ( not a single drop ) and the engine bay also looks fine . I had the electronic water pump , thermostat, spark plugs , ignition coils changed last month and the mechanic said everything looked fine ( if there was a leak , he would have noticed it )

After reading online , i feel like it might be a minor valve cover gasket leak but I'm really not sure because its my first bmw and i have encountered my fair share of problems during my few months of ownership and i have already spent $1000 on the repairs so far


Should i go ahead and run a fuel additive in the Oil which claim to stop leaks and reseal etc or should i do something else ?
Any help appreciated

[noshab]

Bump . Seriously what has happened to this group

[e91Owner]

This section isn't very active. The general forum is.

Based on your post, it doesn't sound like you're a DIYer. Unfortunately most the advice you're going to get is it going to be conditioned and being able to diagnose problems.

For the fuel smell, one possible and common cause, particularly in a car it's age is the fuel pump or it's gasket underneath the right rear passenger seat. It should be pretty obvious after pulling the seat up if that's the culprit.

For the oil consumption, you didn't say how many miles you were traveling to burn a liter of oil. It could be entirely normal, or excessive based on that mileage. If it's excessive, you would need to pull the codes to see if there are any faults to get a better diagnosis.

[noshab]

Originally Posted by e91Owner

This section isn't very active. The general forum is.

Based on your post, it doesn't sound like you're a DIYer. Unfortunately most the advice you're going to get is it going to be conditioned and being able to diagnose problems.

For the fuel smell, one possible and common cause, particularly in a car it's age is the fuel pump or it's gasket underneath the right rear passenger seat. It should be pretty obvious after pulling the seat up if that's the culprit.

For the oil consumption, you didn't say how many miles you were traveling to burn a liter of oil. It could be entirely normal, or excessive based on that mileage. If it's excessive, you would need to pull the codes to see if there are any faults to get a better diagnosis.

Thank you for the reply
I showed it to a mechanic yesterday and he told me it was i fact a valve cover gasket leak ( there were oil stains on the exhaust pipe under it )
I will have it replaced and hopefully it will solve my problem

One more thing, just suddenly like a week ago my car has started giving me terrible fuel economy . It was giving me around 7-8km/L last week and now it isn't even reaching 5 km/L
You think it can also be due to the leaking valve cover gasket ?

[e91Owner]

Originally Posted by noshab

[
Thank you for the reply
I showed it to a mechanic yesterday and he told me it was i fact a valve cover gasket leak ( there were oil stains on the exhaust pipe under it )
I will have it replaced and hopefully it will solve my problem

One more thing, just suddenly like a week ago my car has started giving me terrible fuel economy . It was giving me around 7-8km/L last week and now it isn't even reaching 5 km/L
You think it can also be due to the leaking valve cover gasket ?

It could be that, since a leaky valve cover is leaking more than just oil, but vacuum as well.

In my experience, though, on N52s with plastic valve covers, you are just changing leaks by replacing the gaskets until you replace the valve cover itself. It's a terrible design. If you have the magnesium VC, you're in much better shape.