Burning oil

I have been pouring a litre of oil into my 550i roughly every 1500 km..seems excessive given what im used to. I put in mostly highway miles to and from work daily. Now I noticed grey/bluish smoke coming out of my tailpipe. I recently had work done towards this problem 4 months ago and now this. Car is under extended warrantee but im growing suspicious that the adjuster is only approving bandaid solutions and that when the warrantee expires in 15 months, only then will i be faced with a major repair job. Any comment........i'm seriously thinking of trading it in for a new one but would prefer not to.

Really hunt down this problem NOW! The service center still gets paid by BMW for warranty work so it is of their best interest to fix things for you. I'm having issues that were brought up under warranty, not fixed at the core problem, and now costing me time and money to fight with BMW NA about a 6 year old car that can't pass a smog test, with no CEL or fault codes. Be diligent, ask the service manager to get a regional rep involved NOW!,,

Originally Posted by Ro550i

I have been pouring a litre of oil into my 550i roughly every 1500 km..seems excessive given what im used to. I put in mostly highway miles to and from work daily. Now I noticed grey/bluish smoke coming out of my tailpipe. I recently had work done towards this problem 4 months ago and now this. Car is under extended warrantee but im growing suspicious that the adjuster is only approving bandaid solutions and that when the warrantee expires in 15 months, only then will i be faced with a major repair job. Any comment........i'm seriously thinking of trading it in for a new one but would prefer not to.

FYI, BMWNA allows 1qt/750mile as normal. So not much you can about it.

Originally Posted by HPIA4v2

FYI, BMWNA allows 1qt/750mile as normal. So not much you can about it.

Erroneous!!!!!

If this were true, then over the course of BMWs recommended 15k oil change intervals you would "normally" burn 20 quarts of oil!!!! 1qt/7500 miles might be a bit more reasonable though. 1 qt every 1500 km (or just under 1000 mi) is wayyyy to excessive. Track it down to the core of the problem and don't take no for an answer until you're gut feeling tells you its fixed.

Originally Posted by dwlink

Erroneous!!!!!

If this were true, then over the course of BMWs recommended 15k oil change intervals you would "normally" burn 20 quarts of oil!!!! 1qt/7500 miles might be a bit more reasonable though. 1 qt every 1500 km (or just under 1000 mi) is wayyyy to excessive. Track it down to the core of the problem and don't take no for an answer until you're gut feeling tells you its fixed.

Not erroneous. BMW will tell you that they consider oil usage of up to 1 qt every 750 miles.

Doesn't mean it'ss right, but that is exactly what BMWNA will tell you WRT oil consumption.

To the OP...what year is your 550?

CCV on n62tu couple of simple orange diaphragms on top of valve covers.5 min change 30 dollars usually will not stop smoke.Oil leaks will not cause smoke out the exhaust pipe either.Valve seals... ,let car idle hot for 30 sec or more ,stomp on gas pedal.If smoke rolls valve seals.Smoking all the time its more than likely major..,rings cylinder bore etc.

I bought a used 2006 530xi wagon with 87K miles on it about a month ago. It has burned a quart in only 2K miles. This does not seem right to me. My 2002 325xi never burned any oil between changes and it has 130K. Can this possible be normal? If not any ideas of what this could be? I was told the car was always serviced at BMW and had the extended warrantee up to the time i bought it. Thanks, Andy

I've been reading more on the internet...I wonder if this could be a oil sensor issue. ???? Gezzz... I wish this car had a real dip stick.

I would pull the pan and get a thorough look at the cylinder walls.

well i think i will have to leave that to someone who has the knowledge to do that. thanks.

i just replaced my oil sensor so its not the sensor and they filled up the oil all the way and about a month later the warning popped up saying engine oil at min level. where is the oil going? i ran threw a few quarts in a months. please let me no if you had the same problem and what is was that was making the oil disappear.

Originally Posted by bmw9224

i just replaced my oil sensor so its not the sensor and they filled up the oil all the way and about a month later the warning popped up saying engine oil at min level. where is the oil going? i ran threw a few quarts in a months. please let me no if you had the same problem and what is was that was making the oil disappear.

When I said 1quart/1k-mile doesn't mean nothing wrong, it's just a way BMWNA saying "I am not paying for repair cost of CCV or engine wear problems"

My suggestion is google "BMW CCV" porblems and follow alot of discussion on E46 board (the older 3-series, there are many-many 325, 330, 328 inline six M52, M54 engines more so than 5-seris in numbers sold). usually it's the CCV clogged (due to sludge) or torn (rubber rot), allowing backpressure to develop sucking oil fume to be suck into intake and got burn.

I've seen a youtube where someone put a plastic on oil filler opening in the engine and see it it got sucked in when engne is running, if yes then you have the problem, but google it first I hate to see saran wrap got sucked completely into your engine!

The other remote possibility is engine wear so check for compression on all cylinders.

good luck guys, oh yeah sludge problem is due to ext-oil-change interval and short trips, so avoid them if you can.

To the op 550i I sound like a broken record ,valve seals or valve guides.Warranty usually will not cover seals.Search smoke after idle on n62 and n62tu engines.

I got intermittent below min oil level warning twice this month. They found leaks on "Oil filter housing gasket and oil cooler gasket", replaced them. Fault code 2F9E/Diag code: D1140_B00000000_70_312. 47500 miles.