epilithic

Hellow fellow bmw enthusiasts,

I have an 08 535i with 62k miles. I just received my service due soon for my engine oil change. 1500 miles left, along with this alert i received "1 quart low, add oil as soon as possible"

In my experience a full quart is a lot of oil to just dissapear out of the blue. I havent seen any smoke or had any other signs that i could be burning oil. Is this common in the 535i? I have since added a quart and the control message went away but i am curious to know where the oil went. No leaks either, i lifted my car, took off the bottom plastic covers and looked methodically. Any ideas?

toyota2bmw

it is somewhat "natural" for BMW engines to burn some oil internally. A quart in 10k to 15k miles is ok.

jaycal3

x2... also, you may want to check for a small leak somewhere like the oil pressure switch which is known to leak. But to reiterate, 1 qt over 14-15k miles is pretty normal I think.

balbs

I had this issue a few weeks ago. The iDrive oil level showed that it was at minimum. I added 1/2 a quart and checked the oil level again and this time it was almost full. I'm somewhat worried that my oil level sensor is going out.

luigi524td

I'd go ahead and do the oil service now and measure the oil that is removed. That way - if the stated capacity of oil is removed you'll know it's a possible sensor issue and not (excessive) consumption . There are posts about leaks at wiring socket of the sensor - an easy and inexpensive DIY replacement.

epilithic

Took the car in for an oil change. Service advisor said that it was very common for 535s to burn a quart in 6 months. I asked where the oil level was he said that it was on the maximum line. Im leaning more towards a oil lever sensor fault.

bpg535i

Your car is completely normal.

Mine just complained earlier this week it wanted more oil, it too is a '08 535i.

The SA said expect it to burn oil at a rate of 1 quart per 1k miles. They topped it off for free though.

luigi524td

REALLY ...

Laci535i

I had an 08 335i that never used any oil and now have an 09 535i and this one never asks for more oil either.

supratreo

sorry to bring this up but i'm having a similar problem. about 2 months ago i checked my oil level and it was one bar low on oil...no biggie. 5 days later (250-300 miles) it was down to the min. line and telling me to add oil. i know it shouldn't be loosing this much oil but i added it and figured i'd keep driving it and see what happens from there. fast forward to yesterday, i park my car and shut it off and the low oil warning light comes on WTF, so i drive it today, about 100 miles then to the dealer to get oil. while i was there i talked to my SA and he told me it could be a bad sensor, he went out with me to check the oil level and by that time it was on the last line and yellow. i added the oil and its good now but whats going on here. also, i should mention, at times it burns a lot of oil. i'd be at a red light and all of a sudden i would see a huge cloud of smoke for 3-5 sec. this happened once in a while. SA also said it could be a bad vac. pump. anyway, i'll be taking it to them when i get a chance, its a CPO so it should be covered. also going to have them check out my fuel pump as its acting up.

cant believe how many problems this car has given me in just over one year of ownership. my toyota supra hasnt given me nearly as many problems in 10 years of owning it and it has almost 200k on it and is about to turn 20 :/