<E30> re:Eng.OIL Light On (eta on IV)

[Christopher Pawlowicz <chrisp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Leo sez
>She has 176,000 miles on her. She purrs like a kitten and roars like a 
>lioness on my command. Yet she started demanding transfusions (a quart) 
>right around the time she is due for an oil change :( This is the third 
>time this has happened before she is due for a lube swap.
>

I don't quite get the question..
you are concerned that the engine uses a bit of oil, is that correct ?

BMW says that up to a quart of oil every 1000 miles
or something can be considered *normal*.. even for a NEW engine..

you don't say what your oil change interval is, but assuming it is
3000 miles, a quart of oil every 3000 miles is NO BIG DEAL.

Unless your car never used *any* oil and now it drops a quart. But
if you rely on the 'oil level' light to tell you it's low, you probably
haven't been keeping track of oil consumption too closely.

When you buy gas, check your OIL. When it gets low, add some.
Maybe even write it down.


If you are:

using name brand oil (Castrol, valvoline, kendal, etc)

using the right viscoscity ( 20w-50 hot/summer, 10w-30 or 5w-30 snow/cold/winter
 and maybe 10w-40 for the spring/fall seasons)

*not* revving the engine up until the oil is up to operating temperature
 (one reason lots of people add a VDO oil temperature gauge)

AND

oil consumption gets to the point where you have to add a quart whenever
you buy gas,

OR

oil consumption suddenly goes way up compared to normal for your car

THEN you are in trouble.


Other than that, relax and enjoy.
Do the good things listed above and don't rev a cold engine.

A couple of notes based on my E30 M20/B25 engine:

revving it cold *really* uses oil

oil consumption is very slow from 'full' on dipstick to 1/2 way point,
 then seems to speed up pretty quick to the 'fill' line

oil temperature increases *way* slower than coolant temperature

now that I've had synthetic in for about a year, I am getting a bit
of oil seepage past the head gasket. Very slight, no big deal, common
when changing to synthetic on a high mileage engine.


hope this helps

chris pawlowicz
'89 325i - 185k+ miles, sometimes needs a top up of oil @ ~3000 miles
'74 2002

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