Oil consumption

Taylo63

Member
Hi All.
What is the average oil consumption for an N52 engine?..Been to view a 2006 with just 56k on the clock.
The owner says it consumes approx 500ml every 300-350 miles...It has no leaks, doesn't smoke etc..
 
Whoa, that's a lot, for any engine. Check the the radiator cap to see if there is any oil in the coolant, if there are no dips then it's burning it.
 
Taylo63 said:
Hi All.
What is the average oil consumption for an N52 engine?..Been to view a 2006 with just 56k on the clock.
The owner says it consumes approx 500ml every 300-350 miles...It has no leaks, doesn't smoke etc..

It’s commonly caused by a gunked up ccv system causing the engine to ingest its own fumes, 56k could be a lot of short journeys over 16 years which makes the problem more likely.
Rob
 
My N52 consumed approximately no oil in the 10,000 miles I owned it.

I'm no expert but 1.5 litres per 1,000 miles in any engine indicates something is wrong. I'd want to know what was causing it before I handed over any money, unless it's dirt cheap.
 
Mine has just passed 60k and I've never needed to add any oil between services in 10 years of ownership
 
Don't BMW deem 1L per 1000 miles as acceptable? But that is still less consumption than the OP is quoting, which seems really heavy to me.

But if the seller is quoting miles for 500ml then he must be filling before the car tells him to (which would say add 1L), so there may be some error there on measurement.
 
When I got my car in January 2015 I had to add 1 litre of oil.

Since changing the oil to Millers Nanodrive which is now Millers Performance there's been zero need to add oil added over 35k miles.

Get the oil changed and put some Millers in it.
 
skelters said:
When I got my car in January 2015 I had to add 1 litre of oil.

Since changing the oil to Millers Nanodrive which is now Millers Performance there's been zero need to add oil added over 35k miles.

Get the oil changed and put some Millers in it.
Which Millers Performance would that be Skelters?
Cheers,
Robert
 
That sounds excessive!

My first Coupe had done 54K when I bought it and never needed any oil until I sold it on 62K.

My 2nd had done more miles but only used 2 litres between services at 82K and 88K.
 
Sidewaze Samm said:
Don't BMW deem 1L per 1000 miles as acceptable? But that is still less consumption than the OP is quoting, which seems really heavy to me.

But if the seller is quoting miles for 500ml then he must be filling before the car tells him to (which would say add 1L), so there may be some error there on measurement.

This has been the guidance for m54 engines but AFAIK, there hasn't been anything of the sort with the n52's (certainly nowhere near what OP has been told)
 
Roberltd2 said:
skelters said:
When I got my car in January 2015 I had to add 1 litre of oil.

Since changing the oil to Millers Nanodrive which is now Millers Performance there's been zero need to add oil added over 35k miles.

Get the oil changed and put some Millers in it.
Which Millers Performance would that be Skelters?
Cheers,
Robert

Millers Oils EE Performance C3 5w-30 Fully Synthetic Engine Oil
Oil and Filter Service Pack: 7L + Mahle Original oil filter

I always get the oil and oil filter from Opie Oils.
https://www.opieoils.co.uk/
 
Thanks for the info.
I was using Millers XF Longlife 5W40 which I got from Demon Tweeks but that seems to be no longer available. So in preparation for the MoT a month or so ago I got a service pack of Millers XF Premium C3 5W40 from Opie Oils. They were very helpful over the phone and the delivery was very quick as well.
I was averaging about 2200 miles per "add 1L oil" notification with the Longlife but it would be nice to improve on that.
So that's why was asking really. :thumbsup:
Cheers,
Robert.
 
Thanks all for your comments. Looks like I'm gonna have to avoid this one. It's a shame because in all other aspects its looks a decent car. The guy wanted £4k for it ! Weird though, as I'd have thought the car would have showed some obvious signs of smoke/leaks/poor running if it is using that much oil..?
Anyone got a 2.2/2.5 for sale about the£4k mark????
Would need to be down south ish though..
Thanks
 
My N52 didn’t lose a drop between services.

OP, sounds like you should give that one a miss.
 
Sounds like he didn't want to sell the car - was his Mrs giving him evil eyes out the window? Or maybe just got his numbers muddled. Perhaps double check with him.
 
Roberltd2 said:
Thanks for the info.
I was using Millers XF Longlife 5W40 which I got from Demon Tweeks but that seems to be no longer available. So in preparation for the MoT a month or so ago I got a service pack of Millers XF Premium C3 5W40 from Opie Oils. They were very helpful over the phone and the delivery was very quick as well.
I was averaging about 2200 miles per "add 1L oil" notification with the Longlife but it would be nice to improve on that.
So that's why was asking really. :thumbsup:
Cheers,
Robert.

Might be worth going through these threads to fix the oil consumption or at least to maybe point you in the right direction....

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1900551&hilit=oil+consumption#p1900551

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1882141&hilit=oil+consumption#p1882141

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1853699&hilit=oil+consumption#p1853699

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1712001&hilit=oil+consumption#p1712001
 
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