[Typhoon707]

Hi,
I recently bought a used 2013 E92 328i xDrive (37,099 miles), now it is currently at ~38200 miles. Basically I drove 1000 miles in 2-3 weeks. Looking at CARFAX, oil change was done at a BMW dealership 2 months before I bought the car.

The electronic dipstick showed full engine oil, and now it shows exactly half.

Is this engine sipping too much oil? What could be the result of this? I've popped the hood and couldn't visually see oil, but then again, I have no mechanic skills and I wouldn't even know burnt oil if I smelled it.

Thanks!

[Blueeyesredpanda]

Originally Posted by Typhoon707

Hi,
I recently bought a used 2013 E92 328i xDrive (37,099 miles), now it is currently at ~38200 miles. Basically I drove 1000 miles in 2-3 weeks. Looking at CARFAX, oil change was done at a BMW dealership 2 months before I bought the car.

The electronic dipstick showed full engine oil, and now it shows exactly half.

Is this engine sipping too much oil? What could be the result of this? I've popped the hood and couldn't visually see oil, but then again, I have no mechanic skills and I wouldn't even know burnt oil if I smelled it.

Thanks!

1. Not sure how carfax work, if it doesnt say the km of the car when it got the oil change, I recommend you to get a oil change, see if the oil is still going lower after driving for awhile.

2. It could be a lose drain plug, but if it is you should see it at your overnight parking spot

3. Still low km, oil pan gasket shouldn't be a problem yet

[Noir]

Originally Posted by Typhoon707

Hi,
I recently bought a used 2013 E92 328i xDrive (37,099 miles), now it is currently at ~38200 miles. Basically I drove 1000 miles in 2-3 weeks. Looking at CARFAX, oil change was done at a BMW dealership 2 months before I bought the car.

The electronic dipstick showed full engine oil, and now it shows exactly half.

Is this engine sipping too much oil? What could be the result of this? I've popped the hood and couldn't visually see oil, but then again, I have no mechanic skills and I wouldn't even know burnt oil if I smelled it.

Thanks!

When this happened to me, it was my crankcase ventilator valve.
It goes out quicker when you have alot of short commutes.
It will literally drink the oil (some way, somehow)...

Hope this helps you.

[Typhoon707]

Originally Posted by Blueeyesredpanda

1. Not sure how carfax work, if it doesnt say the km of the car when it got the oil change, I recommend you to get a oil change, see if the oil is still going lower after driving for awhile.

2. It could be a lose drain plug, but if it is you should see it at your overnight parking spot

3. Still low km, oil pan gasket shouldn't be a problem yet

When I went to a dealership earlier for a separate issue, they verified the information on CARFAX with what was in their systems...so that part checks out.

I also don't see anything on my parking spots...sighs.

[Typhoon707]

Originally Posted by Noir

When this happened to me, it was my crankcase ventilator valve.
It goes out quicker when you have alot of short commutes.
It will literally drink the oil (some way, somehow)...

Hope this helps you.

What is that exactly, and what is it about the valve that causes this...

And "most" importantly...how much did it cost to fix?

Thanks!

[W37V]

Originally Posted by Typhoon707

When I went to a dealership earlier for a separate issue, they verified the information on CARFAX with what was in their systems...so that part checks out.

I also don't see anything on my parking spots...sighs.

You most likely will not see anything on parking spots as the almost entire underbelly is encased in plastic.

[hassmaschine]

You're not reading the dipstick correctly. It doesn't show the level of the full 7 quarts - it only shows 1 quart. if it's showing "half empty" then you're down 1/2 quart. Not really much to worry about. I think this is in the owner's manual as well.

[Noir]

Originally Posted by Typhoon707

What is that exactly, and what is it about the valve that causes this...

And "most" importantly...how much did it cost to fix?

Thanks!

Ah... you need to give me some time to get home and look at my maintenance folder...

But Hass is right about what he said, it is only reading the last quart.
Keep in mind, your driving style may have something to do with it, I know if I drive my car really hard, over time that last quart will dwindle little by little.

So I wouldn't go to my conclusion yet.
As stated, your mileage is pretty low for that to happen. I think I had to replace mine between 80-90k miles.(I know, huge gap, sorry... Need to review the maintenance sheet.) I was literally having to top off week and a half, IIRC.

[Typhoon707]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

You're not reading the dipstick correctly. It doesn't show the level of the full 7 quarts - it only shows 1 quart. if it's showing "half empty" then you're down 1/2 quart. Not really much to worry about. I think this is in the owner's manual as well.

Oh I better give that manual a good read...

Seems like I know even less than I thought, thanks for the good info...

[Typhoon707]

Yeah ok...I actually thought I used up half of my oil so I was pretty concerned...

Thanks trying to help my non-issue...

[Typhoon707]

Sorry for reviving this thread but since its been 955 miles since the last top up and now the low engine oil warning is back on.

So basically it used up a quart in ~a month and a half.

Engine bay is clean and completely dry as confirmed by a dealership mechanic who had a simple look with a flashlight.

For my mileage, what seems to be the problem here? The symptom seems to be of what Noir said with the crankcase ventilation. Should I do anything to try and fix the issue or just keep topping up oil every ~1000 miles?

[tlow98]

I would certainly try to replace the crank case ventilation system. Depending on the year of your car this system is either outside or inside the valve cover. If it's outside it will be a rather cheap and easy replacement. Not so much of it's inside.

If it's inside I'd wait to replace when there is a valve cover related issue as even 50 quarts of oil is cheaper than pulling the cover.

These cars rarely have real issues when it comes to oil burn off so I'm guessing your issue isn't serious. There's also not much harm in topping off a car. Yours is still within manufacturers recommended guidelines as is.

[Typhoon707]

Originally Posted by tlow98

I would certainly try to replace the crank case ventilation system. Depending on the year of your car this system is either outside or inside the valve cover. If it's outside it will be a rather cheap and easy replacement. Not so much of it's inside.

If it's inside I'd wait to replace when there is a valve cover related issue as even 50 quarts of oil is cheaper than pulling the cover.

These cars rarely have real issues when it comes to oil burn off so I'm guessing your issue isn't serious. There's also not much harm in topping off a car. Yours is still within manufacturers recommended guidelines as is.

Its a 2013 N51 engine. (end of 2012 build date iirc).

Is the system outside or inside?

Thanks!

[hassmaschine]

It's in the valve cover

If it's an N51 is the CCV part of emissions? Because the N51 has a 100k warranty on emissions equipment.

[iahawkeye]

Should be!

fwiw my car (07 n52@ 96k miles) goes through about half a quart over about 5k-7k miles. I've recently had all the gaskets redone so it's normal to consume some oil... but not that much.

[Typhoon707]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

It's in the valve cover

If it's an N51 is the CCV part of emissions? Because the N51 has a 100k warranty on emissions equipment.

Too bad the warranty wouldn't apply right...since the car is registered in Illinois which isn't a SULEV state....

[Typhoon707]

Originally Posted by iahawkeye

Should be!

fwiw my car (07 n52@ 96k miles) goes through about half a quart over about 5k-7k miles. I've recently had all the gaskets redone so it's normal to consume some oil... but not that much.

So do you think I need my gaskets redone too? I'm only at nearly 40K miles and yet I'm consuming so much more oil (yet within manufacturer specifications).

[iahawkeye]

It's possible.. but you'd know if it was that bad. my vcg ended up getting bad enough to drip oil on the exhaust, so you'd know it if it was really bad. My car had a leaking vcg at 55-60k and it's weeping again about 50k miles later.

look around the engine for oil spots and/or dirt. it's probably not the main cause of your oil consumption/loss though is my guess

[desertman123]

That consumption isn't tooooo bad but it isn't great either. Valve covers can leak internally too (like onto the spark plugs, I had a small amount on mine).

[Typhoon707]

Haha if by too bad you mean worse than manufacture specs....

I see people on this forum worry when their N52 consumes 1 quart per 5000 miles...I'm doing less than 1000!

[BuildAndDrive]

How is your oil consumption now? Be careful with the electronic dipstick as it varies depending on how long you've been driving as it takes measurements overall several intervals (like every 15 minutes) and then averages them.

I have an e90 that i've been trying to figure out what exactly was going on with the engine as I was burning oil at a rate of 1L/1000km all the way down to 1L/300km

So I decided to rebuild the engine. Before you go that extreme, I would try to change the CCV. I have a tutorial on how to do that on my channel.

Here is what i've done so far.

[unixnerd]

Originally Posted by BuildAndDrive

Here is what i've done so far.

Your videos are amazing, can't wait for the next one! My E91 loves to drink oil even more than I love to drink malt whisky.