3.0 oil consumption

lowlander · Post by **lowlander** » Mon 24 Apr, 2006 06:14

Hi there,

Can anyone tell me what the normal rate of oil consumption is for a 3.0 Z3? I have heard that the 3.0 consumes a lot of oil and I am concerned about buying a car that has been run with insufficient oil in the sump.

Thanks and all the best.

Martin.

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Mon 24 Apr, 2006 07:14

Hi.

My 3.0i was never an everyday car, so mileage is low, approx 7k per year.

She had fresh oil at purchase in July 2003 and Inspection 1 last May. Apart from that, in 2.5 years I only needed to top up the oil twice, with about 0.5 litre each time.

Pretty low consumption I'd say.

A.

pop_sausage · Post by **pop_sausage** » Mon 24 Apr, 2006 08:18

Hi Everybody, normally post on the other side but read this site a lot.

My 3L drinks though 1L about every 5K. I'd say 20:80 fast road:normal driving. BMW say this is well within tollerance.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed 26 Apr, 2006 11:13

Alfie's tiny annual milage means that his 3 litre uses about a litre of oil in 5000 miles or so, which is really pretty high.

I think the problem is the use of synthetic oil from new, which is only required to permit the current crazy fashion for extended oil changes. This prevent the engine from running in properly, and will take a long time to do so.

Our Golf TDI requires a really good synthetic from new to prevent wear on the narrow cam lobes, and dilution of the oil on the topof the bores by the high pressure injection spray. It took about 40,000 miles before it stopped burning oil (about half a litre per 5000 miles) but now at 107,000 it does not burn a drop.

This problem was common on BMW R1100 motorcycles, and was cured by using a non-synthetic until 10,000 miles.

///M_aniac · Post by **///M_aniac** » Wed 26 Apr, 2006 15:24

This use of oil debate is interesting. 2.2s use oil just like the 3.0, so why does my 2.0 not use it and as far as I know the 2.8 block as well

Thanks

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed 26 Apr, 2006 17:13

The 2 litre engine is older than the 3 and 2.2, so perhaps they (or yours)were not filled with synthetic from initial fill, as have all engines since BMW got into bed with Castrol.

stu · Post by **stu** » Thu 27 Apr, 2006 19:38

My 3.0 X3 never used a drop in the 33,000 miles and 18 months I had it!

sundaydriver · Post by **sundaydriver** » Thu 27 Apr, 2006 21:41

My 3.0 oil consumption seems to vary -

approx 850ml consumed in 1149 miles (from 38866 to 40015 miles)
approx 450ml consumed in 164 miles (from 40015 to 40179 miles)

This means it consumed approx 1300ml of oil in 1313 miles!!!!

Which averages at about 1 litre every 1000 miles!!!!

This can't be right - must devise a more accurate way of measuring it - any ideas?

mich · Post by **mich** » Thu 27 Apr, 2006 22:39

Mine has only done 17000k and on Syn from new, and as you would expect has no apparent usage, how ever at 5000k [when purchased] the best fuel consumption I could get was 29mpg. engine now much looser and I now get 33mpg normal driving, so as Mike mentioned running in on Syn does take a wee bit longer, must admit I am a fan of longer service intervals.

///M_aniac · Post by **///M_aniac** » Fri 28 Apr, 2006 09:03

Mike Fishwick wrote:The 2 litre engine is older than the 3 and 2.2, so perhaps they (or yours)were not filled with synthetic from initial fill, as have all engines since BMW got into bed with Castrol.

Thanks for the information, Mike. Appreciate it.

Daneborough · Post by **Daneborough** » Fri 28 Apr, 2006 09:30

Neither my Z3 2.8 (140,000 km) nor Z4 3.0 (50,000 km) have ever used a single drop (other than oil changes).

eonone · Post by **eonone** » Sun 30 Apr, 2006 15:17

My 3.0 2001 reg consumes 1 litre every 2000 miles. Has done this ever since I bought it in June, will be due my 5th soon I reckon...

This amounts to 1 litre every 2 months and I only fill when the oil light comes on, so I know it needs it...

Is this normal?

stu · Post by **stu** » Sun 30 Apr, 2006 19:03

eonone wrote:I only fill when the oil light comes on, so I know it needs it...

Is this normal?

I'd suggest it's not normal and in fact quite bad.

The light means there's insufficient pressure and therefore, you may be losing the lubricating properties required to protect your engine's moving parts.

I'd suggest a weekly top up as a minimum, unless you like your dealer & bank manager, which is definitely not normal either

varptr · Post by **varptr** » Tue 21 Apr, 2015 07:30

An old thread I know but I bought my 3.0 Z3 (2001) last year and have measured my oil consumption at about 1000 miles per litre, I have had the CVV and hoses replaced which didn't make much difference. In every other respect the engine seems fine, pulls like a train and sounds sweet.

Should I be concerned and if so, what can I do about it?

Thanks

Alasdair

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Tue 21 Apr, 2015 08:24

It's all about the mileage.... obviously more miles / more engine wear. It isn't considered "bad" if a motor consumes oil as long as it isn't excessive, simply because the motor is constantly getting fresh oil. If however you think it shouldn't consume any at all, it may require the piston rings replacing and the cylinders honed, or the valves re-seated and the valve guides replaced. Those are the two areas of most common oil consumption.
This is basically a straight forward task, but requires stripping the motor completely just to access the pistons and remove them. It doesn't require the engine block to be removed from it's mountings, provided you're prepared to do some fiddly work under the car to remove the sump, oil pump etc and access the big ends of the piston conrods. The crank can stay in place. All the top end stuff like cylinder head etc will need removing though. Since you're removing the cylinder head it is a good opportunity to re-do the valves anyhow. Obviously items like gaskets and cylinder head bolts are required to be replaced with new parts ( cyl head bolts are not re-usable as they are torqued to "stretch" when fitted ).
So basically you have the opportunity to restore the motor to it's original performance. If you're not very mechanically able, it'll cost you a bit to have a professional mechanic do the work for you and as you know, BMW parts don't come cheap.
You must decide if you want to top up every 1000 miles and that related cost or go for the complete rebuild and that cost. One point I will make is that once having done a rebuild, you will notice a "massive" increase in power. As you know motors lose horses over time, but replacing piston rings and getting the valves back to 100% will recover 95% of those lost HP. This can equate to as much as 30+ HP. If you do go the rebuild route, it might interest you to get a pre and post dyno assessment to establish the benefits.
You can easily check whether the car is leaking or burning oil. If it's burning oil, you will find the inside of the exhaust to be black and the soot to be slightly "oily" - if it's a leak, the exhaust should be sooty but dry. You can also inspect the spark plugs for the same conditions - oily plugs means you have "leaky" valves or valve stem guides. This is because oil is fed to the cylinders via the cylinder head, and if excessive oil is bypassing the valve faces or valve stem guides it tends to foul up the plugs more than normal.

My previous 2.8 had 240,000kms on it and I never ever topped up oil... Although my current 3.0 which only has 130,000kms does use oil.... maybe it's a 3.0 thing ???

varptr · Post by **varptr** » Tue 21 Apr, 2015 08:36

Hi Southernboy,
Wow! What a comprehensive reply!
Milage is about 68K but I suspect the oil has not been changed as regularly as it should have been, it was quite bad when I had it changed last year. I think the engine rebuild is probably out but is a very nice idea, I probably could do it myself but realistically the only way that would happen is if I got a mechanic to do it for me.
Thanks for all the info.
I am using the BMW recommended oil which was pretty expensive as I recall, Mobil I think.

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Tue 21 Apr, 2015 08:42

Being a 3.0 and my own awareness of my 3.0 also using oil, it may be just a "normal" issue for this model.... It would be interesting to hear comments from other 3.0 owners regarding oil consumption.
I think it's still advisable to pull the plugs and check for oily residue on them anyhow. At least you will have an indication of where the problem is - ie. the cylinder head rather than piston rings.

Mike Fishwick · Post by **Mike Fishwick** » Tue 21 Apr, 2015 10:41

Rather than spend money like water, as suggested by Southernboy, I would get a leak-down test performed on the engine - a test of how long the cylinders can hold a given pressure. This tells you if there is any leakage past the piston rings or valves, for only an hour or so of labour. Logical diagnosis is always preferable to blindly stabbing in the dark and hoping.

If you are using a 0-30 type oil, fill the sump with a thicker oil such as 5-40, which should reduce consumption straight away, or even a 10-40. Do not spend lots of money on your oil, as the engine will not care.

The next step would be to use an ordinary 15-50 mineral oil - if this is burnt at the same rate, at least you are not throwing away expensive oil, and the thicker base may reduce consuption. The only Z3 engine which really demands a synthetic oil is the M44 1.9 litre type, due to its use of roller cam followers. In any case, a 'straight' mineral oil (ie non-synthetic) may help the engine to finally bed in properly - but it will not happen overnight. If using such a mineral oil give the engine an oil change at about 5000 mile intervals, and let it warm up thoroughly before exceeding about 3000 rpm.

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Tue 21 Apr, 2015 13:49

All you ever wanted to know about motor oil and more......

http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm

beerbelly · Post by **beerbelly** » Tue 21 Apr, 2015 18:40

our 2.8 is serviced once a year about 7000 miles and has never used any between services we use the recommended Castrol edge my previous 330ci e46 never used any between yearly services nearly 15000 miles .my new 2.5 z4 the previous owner said he had to put about half a litre between 10000 mile services but I haven't had it long enough to comment .as a side note I had a audi a3 2.0 tdi that I was warned would use oil so I bought a litre bottle and 25k later and 3 services the litre bottle was still un opened

I know with modern motorbikes they are filled initially with mineral oil for the running in period then at the 500 mile service re filled with synthetic apparently parts cannot bed in with synthetic oil

Del · Post by **Del** » Tue 21 Apr, 2015 19:39

Some engines do seem to use a bit of oil - even from new. There does seem to be a number of (but not all) BMW M54 engine owners (2.2 and 3.0) who complain about oil usage even on quite low mileage cars - I've seen it mentioned on several BMW forums.

As with forums generally, you don't tend to see a post if a cure is found although like Mike Fishwick above, I have seen a regularly suggested "cure" to move away from thin oils like 0W-30 or 5W-30 to something like 5W-40.

lightning · Post by **lightning** » Wed 22 Apr, 2015 06:52

eonone wrote:My 3.0 2001 reg consumes 1 litre every 2000 miles. Has done this ever since I bought it in June, will be due my 5th soon I reckon...

This amounts to 1 litre every 2 months and I only fill when the oil light comes on, so I know it needs it...

Is this normal?

One litre every 2,000 miles seems normal, from the posts above. Although my 55,000 mile 3.0 does not use any as far as l can tell.

I am guessing the light you are seeing is for low oil level, and not low pressure. As driving with no oil pressure will wreck the engine in about sixty seconds!

Mike Fishwick · Post by **Mike Fishwick** » Wed 22 Apr, 2015 10:33

I heard of an owner being fobbed off by BMW GB with the lame story that the 3 litre engine was 'Designed to burn oil!'

Even a litre per 2000 miles is pretty awful - roughly the rate of consumption we accepted in the early 'sixties, but piston and ring technology and bore machining have improved a lot since then.

I regard this as a sign of using modern 0-30 oil, the engine not being properly bedded in due to the early use of synthetic oil, or too gentle a right foot when new. It could also be a sign that BMW have relaxed their manufacturing standards since they became a mass market manufacturer. The days when they built cars to old school teutonic standards for enthusiasts are long gone - these days they compete with the likes of Ford to sell the largest number of salesmans specials.

My 2.8 does not burn any oil after 130,000 miles, and neither does our Golf TDI after 205,000 miles. Both cars have always been fed on 5-40 synthetic from an early age.

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 15:27

I would also suggest try using cheaper/simpler oil as already mentioned and when warmed up do some lower rpm full throttle acceleration runs and lift off. It may take a long time, a year or so but it may work and go back to fully sythentic.

varptr · Post by **varptr** » Mon 11 May, 2015 12:14

Thanks for all the suggestions, I will probably switch to some thicker oil for a while and keep an eye on the consumption.

c_w wrote:I would also suggest try using cheaper/simpler oil as already mentioned and when warmed up do some lower rpm full throttle acceleration runs and lift off. It may take a long time, a year or so but it may work and go back to fully sythentic.

Not sure I understand what this will do, could someone explain please? thanks.

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Tue 12 May, 2015 07:30

The suggestion of high revving and deceleration causes oil to gather in the cylinder head. It's a good method of thoroughly lubricating the valve train system and clearing any "sticky" guides and lifters. You might consider using a decent engine flush additive next time you are due for an oil change to dissolve and remove gunk from the motor. I don't see how the suggested practice will prevent excessive oil usage though. Oil is "lost" by a leak or by being burnt in the combustion process. So, if you don't have a leak, the only place it can be burnt is in the upper cylinder area. That suggests oil is passing into the cylinders via the valve stem guides and into the cylinders.
Replacing them ideally requires the cylinder head to be removed so that the valve itself can be held in position when replacing the valve springs. The guides can be seen if you remove the valve cover. They are small tubular entities which sit at the base of the valve stem up against the cylinder head where the valve passes through. They could be sticking to the valve because of "gunk" and allowing oil to pass by the valve stem and into the cylinder.
If you remove the valve cover, and turn the motor slowly whilst observing for any movement of the stem seals it may reveal the culprits responsible. To turn the motor slowly by hand, first remove the spark plugs so you eliminate any compression resistance. The motor should be easy to turn using a spanner fitted to the fan securing nut. That nut is a left hand thread - ie. it loosens in the opposite way to common screw / bolt threads.

Here is a link to eBay so you can see a pic of what the stem seals look like.....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Supertech-6MM ... 43cd32ff56

Hoppo1979 · Post by **Hoppo1979** » Wed 13 May, 2015 07:50

Hi all, I've a 3.0 Z3. It's an incredibly low use car, I bought it 7 months ago and I've done 900 miles in it, 250 of which were the journey home when I picked it up. I have checked the oil twice, it's not used a drop. Total mileage is 80,000.

I think some oil consumption on modern engines is expected, but I guess it is all down to how the cars been driven in its life. My car is a toy, it comes out on sunny days and will probably do less than 2,000 miles a year. I do drive it hard though, once it's up to temperature of course.

Gareth 161 · Post by **Gareth 161** » Sun 20 May, 2018 21:27

My 3.0 does seem to get through the oil a fair bit. Did have a small leak around rocker cover gasket but I think probably most is burnt as occasionally notice blue smoke.
Has done mileage of 115,000 so would expect some wear.
Currently touring in Spain and although oil level checked before leaving Blighty, worrying moment today when descending some steep hairpin bends in the mountains as the oil light came on presumably caused by oil getting lower and also running to front of sump?.
Luckily came across a garage fairly quickly for a top up.
Rebuild is tempting but will probably go with just topping up as required (and perhaps carrying a small can of it in the boot when travelling if room allows(might have to ditch some of the wife’s baggage!)
Gareth

Howard Adams · Post by **Howard Adams** » Mon 21 May, 2018 20:16

Hi, my 3.0i has 76k on the clock. Have only had to top the level up once after a week of thrashing it around Corsica. Normally do about 3 to 4K a year. Oil changed every year and don’t normally have to top up between oil changes.
H

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Sun 03 Jun, 2018 17:49

Here's the final word on the M54 motor as fitted into the 3.0 Z3,
All M54 motors use oil, It isn't just the Z3's.
The reason is quite simple and can be permanently sorted, but at some expense.
The M54 motor has 3 piston rings
Top = Compression ring
Middle = 2nd compression ring
Bottom = Oil ring.

The problem lies with the oil ring. It's a 2 piece ring. a thin flat upper ring and a sqiggly sprung lower ring.
The oil ring in the M54 motor doesn't have a third part like the M52 / M52TU motors which have a 3rd thin flat ring below the sqiggly sprung ring.
Consequently the oil ring wears excessively and oil easily bypasses the ring through the gap between the 2 ends of the rings. Oil is burnt especially when "pushing" the car somewhat.
The solution is to replace the M54 oil ring with the M52 oil ring which does fit into the slot of the M54 pistons. They are very sturdy and durable and because the 3 rings are positioned with their ends at different points around the circumference of the piston, any oil getting past flat ring one is collected by flat ring two below.

To see an the actual situation watch this comparative video:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuXU6LDbD4s

And this follow up video :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpKM27Ik2o4

And.... if you want to know how the Germans feel about the M54 engine issue :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn4ZnT5qPpo

Howard Adams · Post by **Howard Adams** » Mon 04 Jun, 2018 05:22

Thanks for the info Southeboy, interesting to know the oil control ring is only a 2 piece ring. This certainly explains the oil consumption that happens with this engine. Interestedly I’m in the process of doing an engine rebuild on a 67 MGB and the bottom oil control rings are a 3 ring construction also this car also has pistons with 3 rings only whilst the newer Mgb engine has 4 rings.
Completely agree about the oil comments. I had a Bmw 1200r (boxer engine) that had 3k on it when I purchased it and that used oil, changed to mineral oil for about 6k, oil consumption drastically reduced and then went back to normal oil.
In my humble opinion expensive 0/30 oil can be a factor on consumption as well as hurting ones pocket.
Howard

Southernboy · Post by **Southernboy** » Thu 07 Jun, 2018 16:36

Here's an interesting angle on saving oil in the M54 motor which would otherwise be burnt.
Link:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo2rLSzNzt0

zroadster.net

3.0 oil consumption

3.0 oil consumption

Oil Consumption

2.0

Re: 2.0

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re:

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption

Re: 3.0 oil consumption