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      01-05-2020, 04:17 PM   #1
Joe240
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M40i Oil Consumption

This Z4 is my third vehicle with a B58 motor in it, however it is the first that has consumed oil.

Before my 10k oil change, I had to add 1qt of oil twice. Since my oil change, I had to add a quart at 13.4k miles, currently sitting at 14.5k miles. Never had this issue on my tuned m240i, nor on my X3 M40i. I understand different revisions have different characteristics, but a tuned revision should of had the issue if it was going to happen at all, right?

Has anyone else noticed oil consumption issues? There is a m340i near me with the same issue, similar increments as mine.
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      01-07-2020, 01:30 PM   #2
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I'm just approaching 11k miles and haven't had any oil consumption issues. However the B58 in my UK M40i will be the same as your M240i and X3 M40i had.

The US M40i uses the same as the M340i which is higher tuned, so perhaps that version uses more oil?
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      01-07-2020, 01:37 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J400uk View Post
I'm just approaching 11k miles and haven't had any oil consumption issues. However the B58 in my UK M40i will be the same as your M240i and X3 M40i had.

The US M40i uses the same as the M340i which is higher tuned, so perhaps that version uses more oil?
Potentially. The higher output motor is the latest revision with some changes to oil feed lines (among other changes) so it’s possible that’s why I’m eating oil now compared to the previous motors. Just hoping some others could chime in.
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      01-07-2020, 02:23 PM   #4
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I don't have enough miles on mine to comment but I'll keep an eye on the car and this thread!

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      01-08-2020, 05:49 AM   #5
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Only about 7k miles, so far no oil issues.
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      01-08-2020, 02:15 PM   #6
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Joe240; I seem to remember making an observation in one of your early posts about how hard you seemed to be driving your new car. Just wondering if the heavier than normal oil consumption has something to do with this.
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      01-08-2020, 03:46 PM   #7
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It’s always possible. But I tuned my m240i and drove it just as hard without issue. Newer revision in this car so always possible.
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      01-09-2020, 02:39 AM   #8
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This sounds very unusual for a BMW engine Joe.

None are B58 so you could say irrelevant but I've owned, M235i, M4, M2, M3 amongst some others, putting over 50,000 miles on them and have never noted any oil loss such as this. Something perhaps for a dealer check?
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      01-09-2020, 07:21 AM   #9
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Been to the dealer 3 times for oil top offs, had it in twice to check for oil leaks with nothing found. Ended up putting the car on a lift myself and did a visual inspection for about an hour checking everything. Didn't see any leaks. Pulled the plugs on Monday and took pictures of all 6 of them. Cylinder 1 had some carbon buildup, but it wasn't oily. The other 5 looked normal. Showed it to the shop foreman at the dealership just to be sure and he said they all were fine including the carbon buildup on the first plug being isolated. Without showing oil on the plugs, they couldn't use it as proof of an oil leak.

Next thing for me will probably pull the charge pipe between the turbo and throttle body and see if there's oil in there. If it's dry, I will probably take it to an independent shop and have them do a cylinder leak down test to check the rings. Even if that independent shop does find an issue, I'm curious if BMW will still repair at that point. When I had the car in at the dealership, they said the 1qt every thousand miles is normal for FI vehicles and within BMW specs (which I think is a default answer to ease the minds of uneducated customers who don't know modern BMW motors).
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      01-09-2020, 10:27 AM   #10
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hmm; 1 quart per 1000 miles is the tipping point for a rebuild on a motorcycle forum I participate on.....I know I wouldn't be happy with consumption at that level. ......FWIW, I don't think break in procedures would cause a problem.


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      01-09-2020, 11:36 AM   #11
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It’s about 1qt per 3.5k miles give or take.
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      01-09-2020, 01:33 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe240 View Post
It’s about 1qt per 3.5k miles give or take.
Yes, sorry; my comment related to the tech's "1 qt per 1000 miles is normal"......I'm sure thats the party line but I wouldn't be happy anywhere near that.

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      01-13-2020, 01:30 AM   #13
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Hey there , I have the S30i and I’m about 12k miles in. Tbh I be heavy on the car sometimes.. and at first if I’m not wrong around 6k miles I had the low oil warning and I took it to the dealer and they just put more oil in the car and told it it was all good to go. I got an oil change done when it became due (I don’t remember the miles) and now that I hit 12k on it it just gave me another warning light for low oil. So I came here to see if anyone else was having the same issue and I find this post. I’m going to have the dealer check out again tomm and see what is really going on. Stay tuned.

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      01-13-2020, 06:39 AM   #14
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I’m also pretty heavy on my m40i on the daily. Did you follow the 1200 mile break in period? I didn’t and this was my first bmw that I didn’t and it ended up with this oil consumption
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      01-13-2020, 10:29 AM   #15
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Based on my past experience, I have a very hard time believing that break in could affect oil consumption unless you did something very wrong.

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      01-13-2020, 01:23 PM   #16
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I thought avoiding high (future) oil and fuel consumption was the main reason you should keep the revs down during break-in? It gives the piston rings and cylinder walls time to bed in, otherwise you will likely get a bad fit from imperfections in the manufacturing process.
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      01-13-2020, 03:53 PM   #17
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UPDATE:

I went to the dealer today to get the car checked out and all they did was top off the oil again but I made an appointment with them to check the car to see why I keep getting this problem. They also told me that I'm not the first one that came to them with this issue on the same exact car. Stay tuned to see what they find once they check it out. Will keep you guys posted.
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      01-13-2020, 04:06 PM   #18
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Been 3 times, always topped off for free, never found any leaks each time.
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      01-14-2020, 11:27 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ZedsRedBaby View Post
I thought avoiding high (future) oil and fuel consumption was the main reason you should keep the revs down during break-in? It gives the piston rings and cylinder walls time to bed in, otherwise you will likely get a bad fit from imperfections in the manufacturing process.
Modern cylinders and rings don't really need to "bed in" to the extent they did in the old days. tolerances are way tighter and surfaces are much more finely finished. Many, many knowledgeable people have opined that driving a car hard during break in helps the rings "seat" and creates a better performer with less oil consumption. I've rebuilt many engines and our brake in procedures for our race bike motors was to ride it until it was up to temp, give it a few hard pulls and then shut it down.....ready to race after that.

My personal opinion is that short of doing something really stupid (sustained full throttle or sustained high rpm use), it doesn't really matter. Consider that if you buy a vehicle off the lot, it's likely been test driven.....I don't know about all of you but when I test drive a car, I want to see what it's got so after warming it up, I give it a couple full throttle pulls to see what it can do. This is common and you don't hear of a bunch of warranty failures and repairs for cars that have been test driven, nor does the dealer typically even mention how to drive the car.

some reading: http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

cheers,
Dave
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      01-14-2020, 11:34 AM   #20
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Another; http://blog.jepistons.com/how-to-break-in-an-engine

....I'd also opine that actual break-in period is much, much shorter than the 1000 miles or so that most manufacturer's suggest.


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      01-14-2020, 01:33 PM   #21
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Fair comment Dave, I will bow to your knowledge on this as I genuinely don't know one end of an engine from the other.

I must say though I personally quite enjoyed the anticipation of reaching 1200 miles and then flooring it as hard I could
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      01-17-2020, 09:03 PM   #22
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I'm in the "that doesn't sound right" regardless of how Joe240 broke in or drives the car. The build tolerances on BMW engines with no mechanical problems would not burn/leak oil that quickly. Something is wrong.
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