3.0si Oil Consumption?

Ed Doe

Ed Doe

Veteran
 Ashbourne or Frimley
Evening all,

Just had the orange oil light come on when I switched the car off after a hoon this evening, saying I need to top up +1.0L.

Just curious really as to what people's oil consumption is like on the N52, now the cars are circa 50-80k? I've done 8k since I had an inspection 2 - is ~1L per 8k lots? It's been driven fairly enthusiastically during those 8k I would add(!)

Thanks in advance

Ed
 
I wouldn't say a top up in 8k was at all excessive with the 3.0 , you may find it actually needs less than the 1litre ?
It gets back to the lack of dipstick being a real negative for me as i like to check fluids every couple of weeks & at least you know with the bars on a stick its roughly a litre from one to the other .
I would start with half litre then check after running
 
Mines showing 1 bar from the minimum, but it due a service in 500 odd miles so it will most probably get done before it requires a top up.

Ive only had to top it up once in the 75K+ I've done in it :D and I drive it pretty hard at times.
 
Bought mine with 53000 miles and have had to add 1 litre after about 12000 miles

now on 69000 and haven't had to add any more but it has been serviced since.

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
mr wilks said:
I wouldn't say a top up in 8k was at all excessive with the 3.0 , you may find it actually needs less than the 1litre ?
It gets back to the lack of dipstick being a real negative for me as i like to check fluids every couple of weeks & at least you know with the bars on a stick its roughly a litre from one to the other .
I would start with half litre then check after running
Click to expand...

I have a theory about putting 0.5L in. Having had an inspection 2 done where only 6L was filled the +1L message came up shortly after. No issues after adding the missing 0.5L. So I have a feeling that the datum is 6.5L - if the level falls below 6L then +1 will be indicated taking it up to 7L total fill and giving a normal range of 6 to 7L.
Thoughts?
 
Mine is much the same Ed.
I tend to check mine everyday after parking up.. just becomes a habit but I top up around 250ml every 2-2.5K miles.

It was a lot worse when I used to do short journeys to work.. was around 1ltr for every 1.5k miles.. dealer said it was normal and the fresh hold for them to start looking is 1 lt. to every 750miles! Insane!
 
Morning all, thanks very much for all the info :) Dan that's mad!

In terms of usage, the car was previously doing a 15mile journey twice a day and was using less, but i've since changed jobs and now do a 4 mile commute. If it is as you say Dan that oil consumption is worse with short journeys then my mind is now more at ease!

Scuba_steve that's an interesting thought, I intend only to top the car up in small increments so as to not overfill (and to check if the sensor is actually working properly! I suppose it's not possible to check without taking the sump off with the sensor in it and physically looking at how far up the side 6L of oil comes!

So in summary I wont worry myself too much!

Cheers!
 
Great topic. I have had the same issue with mine. I check my 3.0i every week to see if it has dropped. Like you, I commute short distances which isn't very good for the car. I try and take the longest route possible to work but usually end up topping up every two weeks. Like you, I thought I was the only one with an oil issue! But if its normal, that's great news all round! One less issue to worry about! :cheers:
 
Great topic, especially for a newbie owner like me. I checked the oil on mine and it was okay, but of course had to look up how to do it after spending a good 20 minutes looking for a dipstick (there was one, but it was the bloke leaning over the car). My commute is only 7 miles, but 5 of those are at 50mph so not much town driving. I'll be keeping an eye on the oil more carefully now I think. Cheers
 
yeah i do fairly short journeys in my 3.0, daily commute is all motorway but 12miles'ish just and i'd say 500ml-1lt every 2k'ish.

yellow oil light seems to come on when it's hit just below the midway mark though so it's generally a fairly early warning/a bit over cautious
 
I can't say I've noticed consumption but then I'm doing an oil change at least twice as frequently as the schedule. Having seen what came out 10k miles after an Inspection 2 there's no way I'm going to leave the oil as long as the indicator shows. I've not done any oil analysis so this is all anecdotal but I'd rather spend a little extra for peace of mind.
If you're sticking to garage services then do a DIY change in between each service. I'm only going to be having inspections done by garages.
 
Insp2 at local indy. Oil services are DIY now after the wrong fill amount debacle at the Insp2. I certainly take more care than they would!
 
I'm trying to think of how many miles I'm doing before adding another litre but it's not all that many. My commute is approx 25 miles round trip and I've still got 10000 miles until my next service. I'd say I've added 3 litres since it was last serviced in July/August last year.

I've never had to top up a car in between services but this one certainly seems to drink it.
 
thanks for all the info guys, it certainly seems to be par for the course. I just didn't really notice it when driving the 17mile twice daily commute I used to have, so was a little alarmed when it suddenly beeped at me!

I'm popping down to TWG to grab a top-up this afternoon - they do the correct oil for the cheapest I can find it around, and it's always good to go have a poke around Will's racecar :P
 
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