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      11-12-2012, 07:43 PM   #67
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Quote:
Originally Posted by svensk View Post
I purchased a new 2012 M3 9 months ago and I have about 6500 miles on it now. Yesterday got a warning on the dash that I need to add a quart of engine oil. Is this normal? We also have 2011 328i (inline 6 cylinder engine) and we have never had to add engine oil on that car.
You are good. Performance engines tend to use a bit more oil than "regular" engines. Also, engines tend to use more oil during break in and I would consider your M3 to still be in that phase.
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      11-12-2012, 11:02 PM   #68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3PO View Post
You are good. Performance engines tend to use a bit more oil than "regular" engines. Also, engines tend to use more oil during break in and I would consider your M3 to still be in that phase.
Yup, just got this myself for the first time. Just drop by a dealer and they'll add a quart of 10w60. Ask them for a few extras to keep in case you're not by a dealer - should be no charge.
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      11-13-2012, 12:01 PM   #69
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Thanks guys. My BMW service advisor also confirmed that this is normal for a new M3 engine. He offered to tap it off for free. However, the engineer in me thinks that there should be enough engine oil available in the oil pan to avoid having to tap off (inconvenience issue).I guess it is not a big deal if this only happens during the first few oil changes. Hopefully the oil consumption will reduce after the engine is broken in?
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      11-13-2012, 12:23 PM   #70
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Quote:
Originally Posted by svensk View Post
Thanks guys. My BMW service advisor also confirmed that this is normal for a new M3 engine. He offered to tap it off for free. However, the engineer in me thinks that there should be enough engine oil available in the oil pan to avoid having to tap off (inconvenience issue).I guess it is not a big deal if this only happens during the first few oil changes. Hopefully the oil consumption will reduce after the engine is broken in?
There is plenty of oil in the pan so you aren't risking damage but you should still top it off. The oil usage will be reduced after break in but you will still have to top it off. I put in half of a quart every 4k or thereabouts.
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      11-13-2012, 01:52 PM   #71
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Good information. Nothing they would tell you at the dealer :-)
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      11-13-2012, 08:59 PM   #72
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Ok, sorry for the noob question. I just picked up a 2008 e92 M3. I noticed after my 1100 mile drive home the oil did go down some. What I'm trying to figure out is whether the oil light comes on when you are a quart low or should I add more oil when I notice the gauge is getting lower? And when the light comes on is it just a quart low or do you need to add a minimum of one quart?

Again, sorry, I have a lot to learn. Going from a Subaru to this while both love oil are two completely different beast.

Thanks!
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      11-14-2012, 01:11 PM   #73
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mdefalco25 View Post
Ok, sorry for the noob question. I just picked up a 2008 e92 M3. I noticed after my 1100 mile drive home the oil did go down some. What I'm trying to figure out is whether the oil light comes on when you are a quart low or should I add more oil when I notice the gauge is getting lower? And when the light comes on is it just a quart low or do you need to add a minimum of one quart?

Again, sorry, I have a lot to learn. Going from a Subaru to this while both love oil are two completely different beast.

Thanks!
If you searched, you'd find the answer but here it is anyway. The light will come on and tell you to add one quart. Don't do that. You will likely overfill it. Add a 1/4 or 1/2 a quart and drive it around and let it remeasure. If it says it's fine, you're good to go. It it still tells you to add more, add another 1/4.

The gauge is not very accurate so don't rely on it as a true measurement. One time it might say half, the next time it might say full. If you fill it based on the gauge, you might overfill it. Wait till the light goes on and add enough to make the light go off.
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      11-14-2012, 01:46 PM   #74
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3PO View Post
If you searched, you'd find the answer but here it is anyway. The light will come on and tell you to add one quart. Don't do that. You will likely overfill it. Add a 1/4 or 1/2 a quart and drive it around and let it remeasure. If it says it's fine, you're good to go. It it still tells you to add more, add another 1/4.

The gauge is not very accurate so don't rely on it as a true measurement. One time it might say half, the next time it might say full. If you fill it based on the gauge, you might overfill it. Wait till the light goes on and add enough to make the light go off.
Every time the car has said minimum oil level I have added a quart and all is well.

mdefalco25: I would suggest to reset it and see what it reads. If you're at the middle mark or above after it recalculates leave it alone until it says minimum engine oil level. Then add a quart and it should be at the top. Even if it's not don't add more.
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      11-14-2012, 02:16 PM   #75
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Thanks for the heads up. I did actually search, however, I kept getting people stating that their low oil light was on or something regarding low oil in general. What I was trying to locate was how much oil is gone at the point of the light coming on which sounds like 1 qt. max, but to proceed cautiously when adding and go in increments. Thanks for the replies!
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      11-15-2012, 01:40 PM   #76
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3PO
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdefalco25 View Post
Ok, sorry for the noob question. I just picked up a 2008 e92 M3. I noticed after my 1100 mile drive home the oil did go down some. What I'm trying to figure out is whether the oil light comes on when you are a quart low or should I add more oil when I notice the gauge is getting lower? And when the light comes on is it just a quart low or do you need to add a minimum of one quart?

Again, sorry, I have a lot to learn. Going from a Subaru to this while both love oil are two completely different beast.

Thanks!
If you searched, you'd find the answer but here it is anyway. The light will come on and tell you to add one quart. Don't do that. You will likely overfill it. Add a 1/4 or 1/2 a quart and drive it around and let it remeasure. If it says it's fine, you're good to go. It it still tells you to add more, add another 1/4.

The gauge is not very accurate so don't rely on it as a true measurement. One time it might say half, the next time it might say full. If you fill it based on the gauge, you might overfill it. Wait till the light goes on and add enough to make the light go off.
I went to BMW Encinitas yesterday and my service advisor gave me a quart of engine oil to add. He told me the exact same thing as you. Add half and see it it is happy. If not add the other half and you should be good.
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      12-19-2012, 12:56 AM   #77
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bape_sta206 View Post
I just did some research on how often I filled my oil since I bought my car. I bought my car on Feb 28th 2010. Since then, I have bought a qrt of oil on 2/21/12, 5/9/12, 8/15/12, and 10/25/12. I rarely redline the car. I'm averaging about 1000 miles a month. I'm not sure if I should be toping her off this frequently!
December 18th, I get another low oil light..... Drove about 1500-2000 miles from the last top off (10/25). I don't think this is right!
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      12-19-2012, 02:25 AM   #78
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mthrice View Post
Yes, its more noticeable when I track...and i have heard the newer models burn less
My car is a 12' it has 12k miles and I have only added a quart once So maybe your right. My 06' M6 would burn oil like crazy too!
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      12-19-2012, 10:14 AM   #79
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I'm thinking of getting my car checked out.
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      12-19-2012, 12:33 PM   #80
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MRV99 View Post
From what I know about engines(heavily modded early 90's and only USA blocks) short run times and not really getting the engine up to temp tended to burn oil. I could run 500 miles on/off over 2 months in town and burn oil yet run 1500 miles (100 at a time) over 15-20 days and not lose a drop.
I agree. What do the S65 motors typically run for oil temp? That would be my first question.

60W is incrediably thick. I don't know of anyone that specs that kind of weight for their consumer powertrains except BMW .

To clarify what I'm thinking is occuring (assuming I'm right about the oil temps) is that the S65 isn't reaching 100C on the oil. TWS is acutally a fairly light 60W with a 22.7 Cst (the range SAE spec's for a 60W is 21.9 to 26.09), but It wouldn't surprise me to learn that it's simply not reaching 212F in temp for normal driving, as most of the N/A engines I've had like to turn between 150-180 or so. if it's running something closer to that, then you're basicly paying $14/bottle for a 60W that only ever acts as a 40W (TWS @ 40C has 160 mm2/s which is that of a 40W oil) .

A F/I engine would have no problem reaching this, you'd see 200-225 all day long, but unless the S65 runs a pretty high t-stat, I'm thinking it's simply not reaching it's nominal viscosity, and if it's not then all the bearing and ring tolerances are not in spec, and then you'll have excessive blow-by.

I believe BMW initally recognized this with the E39 m5 when they spec'd M1 5W30 for a time, simply because you don't drive these car's hard enough to warrant a 60W. The problem there was that they didn't readjust the ring tolerances to run a 30W oil-- they acutally TSB'd new rings to try to solve the problem but eventually they simply went back to a bandaid fix and spec'd the 60W in thinking that some customers would acutally reach the temp and others would just have to make due.

What you get when you have a high RPM oil consumption situation is typically crankcase blow-by and that's different in that it's a function of high crankcase pressures causing blow-by.

This is simply a function of the oil not being hot enough to close the tolerances to their nominal spec.

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      12-19-2012, 03:29 PM   #81
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Per what BMW is stating 1 qrt of oil is normal for every 1,000 miles.
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      12-19-2012, 03:35 PM   #82
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bape_sta206 View Post
Per what BMW is stating 1 qrt of oil is normal for every 1,000 miles.
correct, which IMO is on the verge of excessive.



All these cars use oil, I wouldn't worry. One thing to note as well though is the area around the oil cap as I see under throttle and a weak oil cap seal this may weep from around the cap. I saw my oil consumption raise when y cap was just barely leaking. I'm also like Mike, in that when the +1 light comes on, I add a full liter and never have any issues. Goes right to full.
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      12-19-2012, 03:57 PM   #83
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Are you guys burning more oil as the mileage increases?
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      12-19-2012, 05:51 PM   #84
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bape_sta206 View Post
Per what BMW is stating 1 qrt of oil is normal for every 1,000 miles.
Most manufacturers will say this. It does seem a bit excessive. I wouldn't be terribly concerned until that point. They won't do anything for you under warranty (IMO) until it's worse than 1qt/1000 miles and if you're out of warranty, they'll help you waste your money chasing "it" down.

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Are you guys burning more oil as the mileage increases?
Not that I have noticed. Mine has 56K miles on it and I've put 14K of that on it. If anything, mine may have decreased a little bit.
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      12-19-2012, 07:02 PM   #85
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This thread reminded me of my very first car I purchased a 1953 Oldsmobile ... it leaked engine oil like crazy ... still I took it to New York City

Filled the trunk with oil cans and on my way I went ... on arrival in NYC I told the gas station attendant ... Check the Gas and fill up the Oil ... the fellow simply replied in his fine NY accent "Say what dude?" ... I simply repeated ... "Check the Gas and fill up the Oil!" for I used every can of the 24 pints of oil I had in the trunk when I left Montreal

BTW. Needless to say I never made it back with that car to Montreal, it was scrapped in NYC I took the train back home ... them were the good old days the year was 1961.
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      12-20-2012, 06:00 PM   #86
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Wow, that car didn't even last 10 years!?! Was that normal back then? When I worked at NASA, my boss told me a similar story, he had to put a quart in his Beetle every morning for his 10 mile commute back in the Apollo days.

Quote:
Originally Posted by M3RD View Post
This thread reminded me of my very first car I purchased a 1953 Oldsmobile ... it leaked engine oil like crazy ... still I took it to New York City

Filled the trunk with oil cans and on my way I went ... on arrival in NYC I told the gas station attendant ... Check the Gas and fill up the Oil ... the fellow simply replied in his fine NY accent "Say what dude?" ... I simply repeated ... "Check the Gas and fill up the Oil!" for I used every can of the 24 pints of oil I had in the trunk when I left Montreal

BTW. Needless to say I never made it back with that car to Montreal, it was scrapped in NYC I took the train back home ... them were the good old days the year was 1961.
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      12-20-2012, 06:08 PM   #87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3PO View Post
Most manufacturers will say this. It does seem a bit excessive. I wouldn't be terribly concerned until that point. They won't do anything for you under warranty (IMO) until it's worse than 1qt/1000 miles and if you're out of warranty, they'll help you waste your money chasing "it" down.



Not that I have noticed. Mine has 56K miles on it and I've put 14K of that on it. If anything, mine may have decreased a little bit.
I didn't need to add any oil when new. Then a quart right before a regular scheduled oil change at ~30K. Now just needed a quart 6-7K miles after my last change.
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      12-20-2012, 06:16 PM   #88
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sensi09 View Post
I didn't need to add any oil when new. Then a quart right before a regular scheduled oil change at ~30K. Now just needed a quart 6-7K miles after my last change.
Do you change your oil at less than 15K? Like say 7.5K like I think most people do? If so, I could see how your oil consumption could be almost constant. Maybe it was just a bit above triggering the light those times that you didn't have to add any. Even if you don't a quart every 6-7k is healthy.

I remember the first time I changed the oil in my 350Z and only HALF of the oil capacity drained out (2.5 of 5 qts)! Needless to say, I checked it often after that!
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