Engine Oil Top Off at 3800 Miles on 2013 X5 35i

I noticed that the engine oil is a 1/4 way down from the max mark with only 3800 miles. I guess its normal on a turbo car... thoughts/experiences? just curious

It's more "normal" on a new car that is breaking in. You'll have some excess oil consumption until the rings are fully seated, and may have some oil consumption even after but it shouldn't be excessive.

I assume you mean 3,800 miles total on the vehicle?

Jay

Did you confirm it was full when new????

In any even, that's over 12,000 miles per quart...you cannot be complaining or worried,right?



A

This may be off topic, but I would pay for an extra oil and filter change out of pocket right about now. Because you are breaking in a new car. Do not reset the computer.

There is a reason why M series and AMG require an early oil changes at 1500 miles.......

If you ever change oil yourself on a new car at 1000 miles, you know about the iron filings.

While I also did an interim change @ 5k, its not exactly as simple as it seems.

Factory fill oil sometimes contains special addititves to aid in the break-in process. I'm not sure if BMWNA manufactured vehicles do, so I extended my initial change out to ~5k miles instead of the typical ~1k...

Jay

Originally Posted by jashearer

While I also did an interim change @ 5k, its not exactly as simple as it seems.

Factory fill oil sometimes contains special addititves to aid in the break-in process. I'm not sure if BMWNA manufactured vehicles do, so I extended my initial change out to ~5k miles instead of the typical ~1k...

Jay

I don't think BMW does, considering for M series they require an oil change at 1200 miles.

You are thinking of Honda, which does use a special break-in oil, and their manual warns you about it.

1200 miles is the recommended fluid change for M cars, i dont think any manufacturers use break in oil anymore these days. In fact, most if not all engines are somewhat broken in at the factory before getting installed imo.

Originally Posted by kcbimmer86

I noticed that the engine oil is a 1/4 way down from the max mark with only 3800 miles. I guess its normal on a turbo car... thoughts/experiences? just curious

From what was discussed a while back in the 5 series forums ( E60 ) during break in period you will burn oil based on how aggressive you drive. My 2013 X5 35i is at 7,000 miles and oil level is at 1/4 as well. I plan to top it off in the next week or so.

I had read at one point that most German brands used a Fuch's low zinc break-in oil, but that was years ago and could just be stuck in my head with many other worthless nuggets of info.

I know all my GM performance engines came factory filled with normal Mobil 1, guess I should have asked before I extended it. I realized that the Ms had a different schedule but their are a lot of differences between the true n/a M engines and our standard run of the mills, its very possible that engine oil factory fill could be one of those differences

Jay

Honestly, you should change oil and filter on a new car at 500 miles, 1000 miles and 3000 miles....

This is just from personal experience with several new cars. You can literally see iron filings in the oil.

Originally Posted by jashearer

It's more "normal" on a new car that is breaking in. You'll have some excess oil consumption until the rings are fully seated, and may have some oil consumption even after but it shouldn't be excessive.

I assume you mean 3,800 miles total on the vehicle?

Jay

Yes i'm currently at 3800 miles.

Originally Posted by ard

Did you confirm it was full when new????

In any even, that's over 12,000 miles per quart...you cannot be complaining or worried,right?



A

i guess it's normal huh?

Originally Posted by RockChips

Honestly, you should change oil and filter on a new car at 500 miles, 1000 miles and 3000 miles....

This is just from personal experience with several new cars. You can literally see iron filings in the oil.

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

""Let me get this straight... You are swapping out parts designed by hundreds of engineers that get paid thousands of dollars for something you bought at Pep Boys because your buddy who doesn't have a job told you it was 'better'?!? " -- Kevlar, Mod, Bimmerforums"

And please, post pictures of iron filings.

Originally Posted by kcbimmer86

I noticed that the engine oil is a 1/4 way down from the max mark with only 3800 miles. I guess its normal on a turbo car... thoughts/experiences? just curious

Anyway, back to reality, OP, yes, it seems commonplace as per many threads for bmw engines to consume up to a quart breaking in over the first 10,000 miles or so. Providing this does not continue, you should have nothing to worry about.

ill go further, a quart every 10k is fine for the first 300,000 miles.

I do not track how much 35d consumes, but I had 530d. I sold it when it was 280k or 290k km. I was changing the oil when the computer ask to do so, i.e. every 22-24k km. I have never noticed the engine to consume more than 0.6-0.8l between the changes. And it was with aggressive driving. I expect 35d to consume less than this amount.

At the same time my friend was driving Opel with diesel engine - it was consuming 1l/1k km with much lower mileage. Opel says it is fine...

my 35i is currently on 8000 km and the oil is still on max level.

Originally Posted by X5E70lover

my 35i is currently on 8000 km and the oil is still on max level.

Do you drive it aggressively? Or do you take it easy?

Originally Posted by MMME30W

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

""Let me get this straight... You are swapping out parts designed by hundreds of engineers that get paid thousands of dollars for something you bought at Pep Boys because your buddy who doesn't have a job told you it was 'better'?!? " -- Kevlar, Mod, Bimmerforums"

And please, post pictures of iron filings.

Not saying the iron filings or pieces of shaved metal is good or bad, but there was a few topics a while back where a member disassembled the engine to find the metal shavings.

But these days with synthetic oil being superior I don't think it matters much if the filings have any harmful affect to the engines. Most people don't keep their original cars past 5 years... I can never recall ever having driven a 10+ year old car in the last 20 years... No one I know has a car that is over 4 years old... But I guess for people who own their cars for 10+ years it may matter.. slightly???....

Originally Posted by Kzang

Do you drive it aggressively? Or do you take it easy?

Every now and then i drive it aggresively...

Originally Posted by Kzang

Not saying the iron filings or pieces of shaved metal is good or bad, but there was a few topics a while back where a member disassembled the engine to find the metal shavings.

But these days with synthetic oil being superior I don't think it matters much if the filings have any harmful affect to the engines. Most people don't keep their original cars past 5 years... I can never recall ever having driven a 10+ year old car in the last 20 years... No one I know has a car that is over 4 years old... But I guess for people who own their cars for 10+ years it may matter.. slightly???....

I figure BMW recommends an oil change at 1200 for M cars for a reason....

This is my reasoning and answer if I were in the same situation.

IF I am leasing or dont plan to have this vehicle past the warranty, I could honestly not give a flying.....

If I am keeping this vehicle past the warranty, I`d do preventive oil changes at 1k, then say every 3-5k miles.

So figure out who you are, and your golden

Originally Posted by RockChips

Honestly, you should change oil and filter on a new car at 500 miles, 1000 miles and 3000 miles....

This is just from personal experience with several new cars. You can literally see iron filings in the oil.

Really, so Im guessing there was an associated filter malfunction as well?

Originally Posted by kcbimmer86

I noticed that the engine oil is a 1/4 way down from the max mark with only 3800 miles. I guess its normal on a turbo car... thoughts/experiences? just curious

Today I had exactly the same situation, 5900 Kms total from new (around 3.8Kmiles) I had a warning asking me to add one liter of oil. this is the first time in my life to get this warning in a new car when I have not even take my car for its first dealer service. I was looking for leaks, but nothing it just swallowed the oil... is this ok?????

My diesel has 4k miles on it and it's down a 1/2 quart. I'm just going to keep an eye on it.