High Oil Consumption - On the Track

L

Louv

Member
 Das cats, Cali
Car: 2007 Z4 Coupe 3.0si
Mileage: 12,000

My car, in daily commute driving consumes very little, if any, oil.

However, when I take it to the track, it consumes a liter of oil in approximately 200 miles. ...during which time I am getting a fabulous 8 mpg, which makes my gas:oil mix about 100:1... oh, wait is this a 2-stroke engine? :-)

I was just curious if any other 3.0si owners, who have taken their cars on the track, have this same issue?
 
Doesn't sound normal to me at all.

I have done a couple of track days now in mine and noticed no differences in oil consumption at all. I have been checking the gas mileage just for grins and at the last track day was getting around 15mpg.

I have around 13K miles so we are pretty close for overall wear and tear (or lack thereof).....
 
My gas mileage on track ranges from 8-11 mpg, depending on how hard I'm pushing her.
I run in the "A" group with BMW CCA, so I'm not exactly slow. :driving:

I'll have video from Infineon Raceway as soon as Apple fixes their software to not crash when importing from my new HD camcorder. And in June I'll be on track at Laguna Seca.
 
That oil consumption is still a little worrisome.

I will confess that I have not been pushing my Coupe to it's limits because I don't want it to suffer that fate of hard core track mileage like my previous 3 cars have done. As of when each of them went away they felt like they had an extra 40-60K miles on them because of heavy track use with extra rattles all around the interior.

At the same time I am pushing it hard enough to keep up with everyone (and pass quite a few) in the instructor run groups where I have been driving for quite a few years.
 
Well... perhaps I should be worried... If only I could get a more accurate oil level reading... you know, with a dipstick or something.

I'm at a loss as to why it would burn oil ONLY under very heavy use. Any ideas? Valves? Valve seats? Rings not seated? Crankcase vent problems?

As for the heavy use of track mileage... well, I figure that's what it is built for, and it's fun, so I'll take the rattles and squeaks as badges of honor!

Good to know you are an instructor. Do you ever instruct on California tracks? (I'd love to have an instructor who knew my car)
 
On occasions I have ventured down to Thunderhill but at the moment I don't have any plans to do that this year.

I pretty much destroyed 2 Audi S4s and a Honda S2000 with heavy track use and would kind of like to keep this one a little longer than any of those lasted. Between the 3 of them I logged 80 events so I am trying to ration myself this year to 5 or 6 events only.
 
Louv said:
Well... perhaps I should be worried... If only I could get a more accurate oil level reading... you know, with a dipstick or something.

I'm at a loss as to why it would burn oil ONLY under very heavy use. Any ideas? Valves? Valve seats? Rings not seated? Crankcase vent problems?
Click to expand...

Know any shops that could check the compression? That would give you an indication of issues with rings and valves. I hear you loud and clear on the lack of a dipstick. I always like to see what my oil looks like at the end of that stick and I have this really neat oil extractor that works by shoving a probe down the dipstick tube. It did work quite nicely on my last 3 cars..... sigh.
 
I have about 30 event under my belt with an e39 M5, an e24 M6, and the last 3 with the Z4.

I have a friend and mechanic who can check compression. I can't really imagine there is a problem... the car runs so well. On track I keep up with (and often pass) e46 M3s. :poke:
 
We have a pretty good weight advantage over the M3s so I am not at all surprised to hear that you are keeping up with them. Your previous steeds weren't exactly lightweights either so I imagine you are having a blast with the Z4 right now :D

Have you asked your friend about the oil consumption? Maybe he has some ideas about what it going on with that. On the other hand, drag along extra oil when you head for the track and keep tabs on the oil level throughout the day. I am guessing you already do that given this thread topic in the first place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom