Oil Consumption

Has anyone else had to add 1 quart of oil when the warning light comes on? FYI, my car is at 56,3xx miles right now.

Did the Idrive give you the specific warning that says to add 1 quart of oil?

I have done this one time, I believe within the first 5,000 miles I owned the car. I bought it with 27k miles. I have never had the message again. I have changed the oil at the recommended service intervals so twice since then, but that was the only top-off.

Originally Posted by tampamark

Did the Idrive give you the specific warning that says to add 1 quart of oil?

I have done this one time, I believe within the first 5,000 miles I owned the car. I bought it with 27k miles. I have never had the message again. I have changed the oil at the recommended service intervals so twice since then, but that was the only top-off.

Yes, it was a warning by iDrive. I bought the car a week ago with 55k on the clock and I put 1,000 miles in a week of ownership. I'm going to monitor the oil closely to ensure that there are no leaks.

My car burns almost no oil between changes - I do changes every 3-5K miles. The light probably does not come on until you are 1 quart down from full.

The big question is when was your last change? If 7K miles then you are probably fine. If you are under 5K miles since the last change I would look for a leak - check valve covers, front timing cases, vacuum pump on front of engine etc..

Originally Posted by Yorgi

My car burns almost no oil between changes - I do changes every 3-5K miles. The light probably does not come on until you are 1 quart down from full.

The big question is when was your last change? If 7K miles then you are probably fine. If you are under 5K miles since the last change I would look for a leak - check valve covers, front timing cases, vacuum pump on front of engine etc..

Just before I picked up the car, the dealer changed the oil during a pre-purchase inspection and claimed to fix a leaking timing cover under remaining warranty. However, I don't believe that they changed the oil as it looks dark on the dipstick. Thank you Yorgi for pointing out the dipstick as that is one way to prove the oil changes and that is far more reliable than sensors. I plan to change the oil myself once the car hits 60k miles.

Hi! sometimes you have to be careful judging the colour of the oil as often garages do not empty via the drain plug preferring to suck the oil out through the dip stick. This method does not get all of the old oil out as you would with emptying at the sump plug. The old oil discolours the new oil fairly quickly, I found this out by arguing with my dealer when the car was in warranty and they were doing the service, I always checked afterwards and once complained that they had missed changing the oil it was quite dark......As always the only way you know exactly how and what was done is to do it for yourself........

Originally Posted by 645/333

Hi! sometimes you have to be careful judging the colour of the oil as often garages do not empty via the drain plug preferring to suck the oil out through the dip stick. This method does not get all of the old oil out as you would with emptying at the sump plug. The old oil discolours the new oil fairly quickly, I found this out by arguing with my dealer when the car was in warranty and they were doing the service, I always checked afterwards and once complained that they had missed changing the oil it was quite dark......As always the only way you know exactly how and what was done is to do it for yourself........

Wow, I can't believe that. Thanks for letting me know. Hoping that my car is ok (knock on wood).

I thought the oil change interval is 14k miles? Is it better to change every 5,000 miles? I only change when my iDrive told me to do so, since it's free for me because I paid the maintenance agreement.

When you have a dealer maintenance contract they will stick to their own replacement intervals! However many who want to keep their cars long term prefer to change either at least once per year or down to 5-6k miles, in some cases this equals the annual mileage anyway.
There is nothing stopping anyone, even with a maintenance contract, of changing the oil or anything more frequently, just make sure you use the original BMW parts!!!!!

I definitely wanna treat my car well. But when I do oil change, it will reset in iDrive, true (Im not sure about this)? So if I change every 5-6k miles instead of the 14k miles interval of BMW suggest, I probably gonna loose the oil change part of the maintenance contract? Is there a way to do oilchange without resetting the service info in iDrive? Im just asking but I probably gonna do 5k miles oil change no matter what after knowing this. Since it's my first bmw so I thought BMW oil is much powerful than normal synthetic mobil1 oil I used to put on my old drive.

Hi! It will not reset the IDrive!!! The IDrive is reset manually on each car by the mechanic or the person doing the oil change!!!! The only thing that will happen is that the oil sensors which monitor the condition of the oil will be saying WOW !! this is wonderful oil in this car it does not degrade !!! Lol
CBS condition based servicing is what all manufacturers use, which is dependant on how the car is driven, in this instance determines when the oil needs to be changed, and is why some people can wait as long as two years before the CBS says it needs an oil change. This is why manufacturers put a time period into the service schedule!!!!!!

Originally Posted by 645/333

Hi! It will not reset the IDrive!!! The IDrive is reset manually on each car by the mechanic or the person doing the oil change!!!! The only thing that will happen is that the oil sensors which monitor the condition of the oil will be saying WOW !! this is wonderful oil in this car it does not degrade !!! Lol
CBS condition based servicing is what all manufacturers use, which is dependant on how the car is driven, in this instance determines when the oil needs to be changed, and is why some people can wait as long as two years before the CBS says it needs an oil change. This is why manufacturers put a time period into the service schedule!!!!!!

This is why we are more prone to engine problems if we stick to the 15,000 mile interval. I personally feel that 5,000 miles is just right for an oil change using BMW LL-01 approved oil along with a genuine BMW oil filter.

Hell no. I just thought BMW have better oil consumption than Japan cars. So now I know. I have been treating my car like a princess except for oilthen. Thanks for all the great info.