Burning oil 1qt 500 miles

[ricosan]

Hey Guys,
I have a 2011 X6 50i. About 5000 miles ago my engine started using oil at a rate that's now 1qt every 500 miles. I only have 51000 miles on the car. My service rep at the BMW dealership said that replacing oil every 750 miles was "normal"!

I don't know about the rest of you but as for myself, I'm outraged. Who is going to buy my car if it's burning oil at 1qt every 500 miles? Is there a class action suit underway. We can't just lay down for this.

I know others are having this problem too. What do we do?

ricosan

[askjeeves]

That's absolutely not normal. If there is any extended warranty on it I would insist they determine the source of the leak and fix it. I would imagine with it losing that much oil it should be pretty easy to find the source.

[ricosan]

Thanks Jeeves, I think my warranty may have expired. Dealership is the next stop. I was there 3 weeks ago and they told me that 1qt every 750 miles was "normal". In whose world?

ricosan

[Frankkao14]

It could be the valve stem seals.

Start your car and let it idle for 20 minutes or so and then hit the gas pedal hard (5000-6000rpm) and if you see severe white smoke comes out from the exhaust that tells you your valve stem seals need to be replaced soon. They are very expensive to fix. (Dealer will charge you somewhere in between $8000-$10000 to fix.

[peter2772000]

I dunno if the rules have changed, but in my day, white smoke while idling had nothing to do with valve stem seals.
A sure-fire sign that valve-stem seals are leaking is starting up the engine after it's been off overnight. Blue smoke on start-up was the sure-fire indication of valve seals in need of replacement

[ricosan]

It's a beautiful car with a crap engine! This is so discouraging. I'm going to see what BMW will give me on a trade in for a new 35i.

ricosn

[philly42]

What sucks is that we don't have a dipstick. I still need to confirm but...I believe the engine also uses pressure sensors in measuring the level of oil. I had my oil level monitor drop from 3/4 full to min when I was running a vacuum test and removed a crankcase hose.
So when trying to diagnose oil consumption, keep in mind crankcase pressure can affect oil level readings.
I can imagine a lot of people adding more oil than is needed because because there is a small vacuum leak in the crankcase system.

[Bmwlover x]

You have ccp (customer care package) on your engine. They have to change injectors, chain,, valve seals and other parts for no charge even if your car does not have warranty or has 500000 + millage.

[JoeyBimX5din]

The CCP included pulling the heads and doing the valve seals? I thought it was just a check over and replacement of injectors if required?

I knew my 50i would burn oil. I have slowed mine way down by going to a higher viscosity. My 5w-40 seems to hold out a lot longer then the 5w-20 I had in there for the second oil change. I am probably going to switch over to a 15w-50 mobile 1, or a 5w-40 Rottella T6 oil.