2008 550i crankshaft sensor.
 

Hello guys, it has been a while. My bmw is an 08 550i with 80k miles on it. It seems my car is burning way too much motor oil, i got an oil change with 8quarts of oil, went on a long trip about 400miles and half of the oil was gone. Also, yesterday i was on a highway when i got an error msg on dashboard regarding transmission malfunction. Rpm was jumping as well got a msg saying the motor oil is very low. Good thing i was near home, next day added two quarts of oil and car seems to functional normal. Went to Autozone and had it checked, starter/battery and alternator are in good condition. Had them run a diagnostic on the car's pc as well and i need to replace crankshaft position sensor. my question is that can this sensor effect car not starting properly and mess with transmission while the car is driving ?. i am currently in Buffalo, NY area, are there any members in this area could chime in and recommend some good shops in this area? The part is around $70 and it is a 10min tops job to change this sensor.

Thank you

4 quarts of oil in 400 miles is very excessive - driving 4 quarts low could cause some serious wear. With an inexpensive part cost and little labor I would do it immediately. It can cause starting issues and burning oil if your valves are not opening/ closing at the right time. Definitely something to fix immediately

So this crankshaft position sensor can really cause the motor to burn more oil?
I just recently started to go through one quart of oil every 500 miles , no visible leaks , nothing dripping from underneath the car , I can't figure it out.

Signs of a bad crankshaft and camshaft sensor

Check Engine Light, Cylinder Misfiring, Acceleration Hesitation, Intermittent Starting, Engine Vibrations, Backfiring and Stalling Irregular Car Function

It also may cause the transmission to go into safe mode (Trans Malfunction) or prevent the car from starting especially if the engine is warmed up.



What type of oil do you use? A premature sensor malfunction can be due to excessive heat. How long have you had the oil burning fast? You can definitely damage the engine by constantly running the engine with low oil.



I do not see a sensor causing oil to burn that fast unless it is leaking around the camshaft sensor. I would definitely check the engine from top to bottom to make sure you are not missing a leak some where.

I have a 07 550i 114k on it and I started having the same oil issue. No visible leaks but burning and adding oil while driving long distances. Took the car to my indy shop and he said sounds like oil is leaking and burning off long distance so he just let my car run for about 15 mins at idle and sure enough white smoke out of the exhaust and he said it was leaking and I need a valve stem seals? Job. Then I started to notice myself when I sat in traffic I would see the smoke. So $3300 later problem solved. He said thats common with v8's and it's a sneaky leak if you drive alot of distance. Well those other issues you mentioned I had them too and I replace sensor after sensor. $1500 in sensors later I found out it was the manifold adjuster unit. There's a flap inside it the breaks off on one corner and causes it not to move properly and it will start throwing a code or two the it will throw more as that flap breaks off even more. I ordered one online $257. And it too 5 mins to instal