I know our engines burn a little oil but c'mon!

[MDCTFTW]

Requested a quart after 8k miles. Broke it in per instructions.

[ChinoOrtega]

I had my first service at 1,500Km, now I'm at 16,000Km, my driving style is aggressive, dragstrip, street racing events, I never had to put a single drop of oil into my car, not once, I had to change tires PS2's twice, but never any oil, my e46 m3, consumed more than my friends, there's something odd about this, since most forum members add oil between services, never ha ppened to me before, I use Castrol TWS Motorsport 10W-60

[OckEME3]

This seems right to me, I have 10K and it's almost to the point where I'm going to need to add a Qt of oil, I'm waiting for the light to come on. The first time I added a Qt was when I had about 6K on the ODO.

Originally Posted by Lemans_Blue_M

The oil consumption rate for the S65 engine is very unpredictable from car to car...

From my own personal research, I have polled over a 100 M3 owners all over the world in the past two years, and the results seem to suggest that our engines will burn 1-liter of oil per 5000 miles on average.

The owners manual states that an oil consumption rate of 1-liter per 1000 miles is 'normal'. I call BS on that oil consumption rate!

[AMOCHOSTO]

I had a low oil warning right after I had the 1200 mile service I took it in immediately and the SA told me they had not re-set the oil sensor, so the sensor was incorrect and the oil level was fine.

Hopefully he was not bs-ing me

[cpiguy]

Originally Posted by endofanera7

1 quart every 3k miles or so.

+1

[TOOMANYCARS]

Drove hard these few weeks before the oil change, the oil indicator dropped from max to half, I guess I was too happy because winter was finally over in NE.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by AMOCHOSTO

Hopefully he was not bs-ing me

Yes and no . Sensor resets itself every ignition cycle, so no need for that. But the right way to check oil level is with a manual 'reset' with car idling, fully hot, and on a flat surface; hope that's what tech did. If you rely on sensor picking up oil level while driving (you can be braking, cornering, on an incline, etc), you'd NEVER get consistent readings since DME triggers a reading anywhere from 10 to 15 miles into each drive, so my advice is to always disregard oil level unless you do it as explained above.
It's the same thing with tire pressures. If you check them after driving the car, they'll always be all over the place; you should always check them COLD to be consistent.

You can do a lot of reading on how the sensor works... if you're interested . Most folks here just want to rely on dealers, and that's okay. I don't. Take care.

[drivendriver]

My car burnt quite a lot in the first couple of hours after delivery. And then it stopped. I've done 5.3K miles (including 7 track days) since the 1200 miles service, and I haven't had to add oil.

[M3Captain]

If it needs oil make them pay for it. Seems like mine likes a qt every 7000mi.

[NeoE46]

My gauge has never moved. I wonder sometimes if it is broken. Had oil changed at 1200 and 8800. Have 13500 on the car and it reads the exact same level as the day I picked her up in Munich.

[MysticBlue]

Originally Posted by NeoE46

My gauge has never moved. I wonder sometimes if it is broken. Had oil changed at 1200 and 8800. Have 13500 on the car and it reads the exact same level as the day I picked her up in Munich.

I'm right there with ya. They changed it at 1200 and I changed it at ~ 8000. I've never seen anything other than all the way full. A couple of track days, several autoX days, a handfull of LC's, etc. Don't redline it every day but it gets a full throttle redline run at least once or twice a week. Definitely don't baby it, but don't abuse it either, at least not until it's fully warmed up. As far as I can tell, it hasn't used a drop.
Ironic, as it wouldn't bother me any to top it off as necesary. As far as asking the dealer to top it off... I would be embarrased to waste their time, not to mention mine. Would you go to the dealer to ask them to put air in your tires? Considering you can't buy this oil just anywhere, it would be wise for folks to buy a few liters next time they're at a dealer and keep one in your trunk and a couple in your garage.
edit: FWIW, I followed break-in procedure.

[GT3 Tim]

Wow.

I have almost 10K on my car. I did the 1500 mile change and also an oil change at 5K. I have never seen the oil level below the top mark. I have almost 5K on the most recent oil.

However, my old 92 Toyota 4x4 truck with 225K on it burns a quart every 1K. lol

Strange how some engines are burning oil and some not.

How did you all break in your cars? I broke mine in "hard", as I have alwasys done and NONE of my engines have burned any measurable oil (not original owner of toyota truck!). My Lexus with 95K burns no measurable oil nor did my old toy truck with 265K (stolen)....wonder if it is related to break-in? There has got to be a reason...

edit: I drive my car fairly hard too. I average 13.8 mpg.

[formgen99]

I still think its BS this car burns oil in the first place, my Supercharged Mustang with 439 RWHP(500HP+ at the crank) doesnt burn a drop of oil between oil changes. That's a 6 year old car with no where near the tolerances or technology the M3 has, and it gets better mileage with 3.73 gears and a 5 sp manual.

[gemini330zhp]

I use 1 quart at about 5000 miles.

[JOHNBMWM5]

I have covered 3000+ miles NO Oil used.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by formgen

That's a 6 year old car with no where near the tolerances or technology the M3 has.

Tolerances is probably the root cause of oil consumption IMO. None of my 2+ dozen new cars ever consumed any oil. And now, both my Hondas are the first ones to consume oil, and broke them in same as always. So far, my M3 hasn't moved from full, but only have 3K miles on the oil, which is a good sign. Both Hondas consume about 1/8 to 1/4 qt. every 1K miles. And this with 5/30 oil (damn EPA with their 5/20), which is what I've used for decades in this hot climate. Not a lot, but still unacceptable in my book. And same as M3s; a lot of other Hondas don't burn anything.

It has to be increased tolerances, or crappy quality control; take your pick. The M3, with molasses-like 10/60 oil, shouldn't burn a drop. Oh well. I was sure my M3 was going to be an 'oil-burner', and so far it's my only vehicle not to consume oil . Good day.

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

Tolerances is probably the root cause of oil consumption IMO. None of my 2+ dozen new cars ever consumed any oil. And now, both my Hondas are the first ones to consume oil, and broke them in same as always. So far, my M3 hasn't moved from full, but only have 3K miles on the oil, which is a good sign. Both Hondas consume about 1/8 to 1/4 qt. every 1K miles. And this with 5/30 oil (damn EPA with their 5/20), which is what I've used for decades in this hot climate. Not a lot, but still unacceptable in my book. And same as M3s; a lot of other Hondas don't burn anything.

It has to be increased tolerances, or crappy quality control; take your pick. The M3, with molasses-like 10/60 oil, shouldn't burn a drop. Oh well. I was sure my M3 was going to be an 'oil-burner', and so far it's my only vehicle not to consume oil . Good day.

None of my last 6 new cars used any oil at all, RS6, S8, RS4 B7,s8 v10, M6 ,635DS, X635D and M3.

[Raustin]

8,500 miles with zero added. I followed the 'break-in' instructions to the tee. I wonder if those who have a high burn rate did not???

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by Raustin

8,500 miles with zero added. I followed the 'break-in' instructions to the tee. I wonder if those who have a high burn rate did not???

My thoughts also.

[EJ_92606]

Originally Posted by ChinoOrtega

I had my first service at 1,500Km, now I'm at 16,000Km, my driving style is aggressive, dragstrip, street racing events, I never had to put a single drop of oil into my car, not once, I had to change tires PS2's twice, but never any oil, my e46 m3, consumed more than my friends, there's something odd about this, since most forum members add oil between services, never ha ppened to me before, I use Castrol TWS Motorsport 10W-60

Just curious, did you break the car in hard as well? That might be a reason you don't burn oil...?

[powertrip]

I didn't follow the BMW break-in instructions at all, and my engine runs great and doesn't burn oil either. I would imagine that different mechanical tolorances from the factory are responsible for increased consumption, rather than break-in method.

Originally Posted by Raustin

8,500 miles with zero added. I followed the 'break-in' instructions to the tee. I wonder if those who have a high burn rate did not???