normal.

the only weird thing is that you went 4500 miles without ever checking your oil level.

Point well taken, I guess the whole no service needed until 15k has me being a little lax. To be honest I don't think I have opened the hood since I got the car. Perhaps I should pop it open and have a look.

Yeah, you might find a pretty spiffy motor under there!

The oil loss is pretty common (maybe more so for 330's than 325's?), so you should keep an eye on it yourself. Especially in the early part of having the car. It should get less with time.

TranceLvr said:

Point well taken, I guess the whole no service needed until 15k has me being a little lax. To be honest I don't think I have opened the hood since I got the car. Perhaps I should pop it open and have a look.

Click to expand...

I've been changing my oil (and checking levels) on a regular basis since new. I check levels weekly and change oil every 5000mi till 30K then 3000mi.

Ditto... I had to add a little bit at about 2900 miles. I only check the oil about every third tank of gas though...(~850-900 miles)

atyclb said:

normal.

the only weird thing is that you went 4500 miles without ever checking your oil level.

Click to expand...

You might want to do a search in the archives here. That rate of consumption is probably LOW for a 330i. I've seen a few that burnt through a couple of quarts in 1,200 miles.

You're not driving hard enough.

Yup, same here. I've already added oil on two occasions. I'm about to come up on 7k miles over the weekend...normal.

I posted about the same exact thing on Monday. 4500 miles as well. BMW service and members here think it is nothing out of the ordinary. Picked up a few quarts from the BMW dealer for 4 bucks a quart w/o cca discount. Seemed reasonable enough to me. Previous thread:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10581

So it sounds like I need to quit whining, get in the car and drive the hell out of it on the way to the dealer to pick up some oil.

Well that and start using the search function! :lmao:

For what it is worth, I've put in about a quart and a half in 9k miles. The dealer said that the 02's seem to be consuming oil at a higher rate than usual and they are watching it. They also said that they've seen a number of cars arrive low on oil, and it may not have been topped of before I got it.

-Charles

No, don't drive the hell out of it when you are low on oil! :banghead:

Do it after you have topped up your oil to the max mark.

If you have followed break in procedures correctly as you state, there probably is not going to be any further oil consumption, but check regularly.

I needed about 0.75 qts up to 1500 miles, not a drop since then.

Oh, thanks for the advice, I am going to go pick up some oil after work. :thumbup:

I was concerned as well, thats why I posted. Only reason I was concerned to begin with was because in the 3 years I had my '99 328i, I never had to add oil. I'm hoping the others are right and this is a one time deal. That after this she'll take it easy on the oil consumption. We got our cars at the same time and we both have the same amount of mileage :thumbup:

Hey, is mobile 1 synthetic ok for the car, or should I buy BMW oil?


P.S. TD, ever figue out if Irish guiness has bacteria or not? I have been waiting.

Mobil 1 synthetic is fine, in fact it is listed in the manual as an approved oil.

Make sure you put in 5W-30. I put in a couple of quarts of 10W-30 to top it up around 2 and 4K miles and it noticably slowed the car down. Had to add a quart today, actually. 18.9K.

I thought for sure this was sarcasm towards us newbies. :lmao:

dredmo said:

Hey, is mobile 1 synthetic ok for the car, or should I buy BMW oil?

Click to expand...

I went over to the dealer and grabbed three quarts today. The car was about 1 quart low. BTWm I paid 3.42 /Quart with my CCA discount.

just wondering... if oil is low, and you drive up to bmw serivce and complain, will they fill it up base on warranty?

they did said no service needed until 15k miles...