I just noticed that after less than 3,000 miles my electronic dipstick reading has dropped one bar. Cause for concern? Should I expect some consumption? No leaks are evident. Car has less than 40,000 miles. Any comments or observations are appreciated.

 

Just had issue with this. Had to fill car with full qt. of synthetic after about 4k miles of driving. Totally normal. If you're burning more than 1 qt per 750 miles of driving that is a serious issue. If no apparent leaks, you're ok.

 

The car usually needs an extra quart after 3k miles.

In your case, with 40k miles, you are probably fine, but keep an eye out.
Perhaps you were already on the line, and you just lost some ounces that put you over by a bit.
Usually, at 40k miles, you should not be losing oil.
Put more in and see if it drops again.

 

My car often needs a quart of oil. In fact, its twice gotten to the point where the warning about low oil level has come on.

At first I was worried, then I realzied "what the hell, its a lease" and quit worrying about it.

I do drive the car very agressively, so that must have a lot to do with it.

 

Thanks- that puts me a little more at ease.

 

for the N52 and N54 that is normal to add 1L
I have never added oil in my 04 M54 engine