50i loves to eat oil :)

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by perry8912

It's been a year and 6000miles since last oil change, I checked the oil level this morning, and it is right in the middle between "max" and "min".

Is that normal? Or I should be worried, since the car only has 25k miles on it? I do daily drive short commute(10miles one way) in rush hours.

Thanks.

You're fine.

[kanvas]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

Does this mean you're only doing 1 oil change a year? I hope you're doing them at least once every 6 months.

I take in the X5 for scheduled maintenance every 5k miles.

[frenchie1013]

So my X5 this afternoon asked kindly for 2 quarts again in the last 4000 miles. We definitely don't beat on it constantly but we do like the rush of the acceleration quite a bit. Anyways, long story short I looked for oil around the engine and found this pic below. Drivers side. Anybody know what this part is ?
It's also going in for service on Thursday so ill have the dealer look at it

Thanks all

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by kanvas

I take in the X5 for scheduled maintenance every 5k miles.

Which does not include an oil change. It's highly recommended You be doing one in between them as close to 5000 as possible.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by frenchie1013

So my X5 this afternoon asked kindly for 2 quarts again in the last 4000 miles. We definitely don't beat on it constantly but we do like the rush of the acceleration quite a bit. Anyways, long story short I looked for oil around the engine and found this pic below. Drivers side. Anybody know what this part is ?
It's also going in for service on Thursday so ill have the dealer look at it

Thanks all

Zoomed out shot would help but looks like it might be the crankshaft breather hose.

[kanvas]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

Which does not include an oil change. It's highly recommended You be doing one in between them as close to 5000 as possible.

Thanks for the heads up, I thought it was inclusive of the maintenance program.

[MizikeTSK]

Dropped of my car last Friday but my SA is out until Wed/Thur this week. I am not feeling that the 1 qt pr 1000 miles is ok per BMW. At least with how old my car is and the mileage on it. I can live with 2 qt's in between scheduled maint but plan to do oil every 5k once I get this sorta out.

[MizikeTSK]

Good news is my car is not burning oil, the bad....they found a leak in oil pan gasket. I also had a failing ignition coil. Glad I have CPO.

[kanvas]

Originally Posted by MizikeTSK

Good news is my car is not burning oil, the bad....they found a leak in oil pan gasket. I also had a failing ignition coil. Glad I have CPO.

Ignition coil problems are common for the 50i. I had them all replaced recently.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by kanvas

Thanks for the heads up, I thought it was inclusive of the maintenance program.

They do but it's only 1x a year or 10k miles plus or minus

[Teufelshund]

Figured I'd add my interval for reference:
'15 50i CPO
Maxed out @ 44,941
Add 2 qts warning @ 48,808.
Happened to be in the middle of BFE and the closest BMW center was 80 miles in the wrong direction.
Found an Advanced Auto and pulled in. Viscosity listed by the onboard Owners Manual was: SAE 0W-30 or SAE 0W-20. The required rating was BMW Longlife-01 or API SL.
Popped the hood to make sure I could access the filler tube and noticed the cap was emblazoned with "BMW recommends Castrol."
After the clerk said he'd never heard of SAE 0W-30, I settled for a couple bottles of Castrol Edge SAE 0W-20 for $9 a quart. It claimed to exceed API SL among other ratings.
I poured it in and moved to a nice level spot to check the electronic dipstick. It was right at max.
On a side note, I initially wasn't sure I was going to be able to remove the filler tube cap. It was tight as hell and I was reluctant to force it for fear it might not be a simple twist off. FWIW, it is.
So... that's roughly a 1qt per 2k miles. Oh, and I park on white concrete in a garage so any leaks would tell on themselves pretty quick.

[mikew2069]

Originally Posted by Teufelshund

So... that's roughly a 1qt per 2k miles. Oh, and I park on white concrete in a garage so any leaks would tell on themselves pretty quick.

^^^This

Just got my first "add oil" message so figured I'd start reading around and found this thread. I've probably put about 2k miles on the truck since I got it but I'm not sure if I was maxed out on delivery or not so I'll start watching it.

What I know for sure is that its not from a leak. 2 quarts in 2-4k miles and your garage/driveway would alert you a long time before the onboard computer does. I don't know if I find comfort in the fact that this is par for the course with this motor. Just doesn't seem right but oh well, I guess it is what it is for now.

[Road Carnage]

I’m starting to think this issue is very dependent on what oil is used.

I picked up my current X5 in September and had to add 2 qts. Within the first 2,000 miles. I alerted the dealer, who checked for leaks (none) and did a proper oil change then put my truck on surveillance to check oil consumption. That was 750 miles ago. I just checked my oil level yesterday and it’s still reading max.

I have no idea what kind of oil was in it when I picked it up, but I’m sure the dealer put in the correct oil. It’s the only thing I can think that might be making a difference.

[alphaod]

Originally Posted by Teufelshund

Figured I'd add my interval for reference:
'15 50i CPO
Maxed out @ 44,941
Add 2 qts warning @ 48,808.
Happened to be in the middle of BFE and the closest BMW center was 80 miles in the wrong direction.
Found an Advanced Auto and pulled in. Viscosity listed by the onboard Owners Manual was: SAE 0W-30 or SAE 0W-20. The required rating was BMW Longlife-01 or API SL.
Popped the hood to make sure I could access the filler tube and noticed the cap was emblazoned with "BMW recommends Castrol."
After the clerk said he'd never heard of SAE 0W-30, I settled for a couple bottles of Castrol Edge SAE 0W-20 for $9 a quart. It claimed to exceed API SL among other ratings.
I poured it in and moved to a nice level spot to check the electronic dipstick. It was right at max.
On a side note, I initially wasn't sure I was going to be able to remove the filler tube cap. It was tight as hell and I was reluctant to force it for fear it might not be a simple twist off. FWIW, it is.
So... that's roughly a 1qt per 2k miles. Oh, and I park on white concrete in a garage so any leaks would tell on themselves pretty quick.

The 0W20 is only suitable for the 4-banger engine. Next time get the 5W30 if don't have the 0W30.

[mp25]

Same refill issue here, but I'm also refilling the anti-freeze too at about the same interval. I'm at 70K so my engines a little longer in the tooth than most. No drips around the car but I'll do a closer inspection once I do the oil change this weekend.

[DuSh]

Did an oil change today and went with 5w30. I'll see how it goes. I'm leaning towards heavier oil recently considering we have 2 turbines.

[Stev_chu]

Originally Posted by DuSh

Did an oil change today and went with 5w30. I'll see how it goes. I'm leaning towards heavier oil recently considering we have 2 turbines.

Sorry..what were you using before?

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by Stev_chu

Sorry..what were you using before?

I previously jumped on hype of using 0 weight oils like 0w20 and 0w30/40, but I'm going to stick with 5w30 or 5w40 or 10w40 lol from now on. I don't need 0 weight oils: I don't want to achieve mythical 0.0001% increase in mpg and I live in AZ right now - so I can get by with 5w or 10w oils and have happier turbines. Also, oil might get consumed less with 5w or 10w - we'll see. I'll report back in 5-8k miles.

[CT335xi]

Originally Posted by DuSh

I previously jumped on hype of using 0 weight oils like 0w20 and 0w30/40, but I'm going to stick with 5w30 or 5w40 or 10w40 lol from now on. I don't need 0 weight oils: I don't want to achieve mythical 0.0001% increase in mpg and I live in AZ right now - so I can get by with 5w or 10w oils and have happier turbines. Also, oil might get consumed less with 5w or 10w - we'll see. I'll report back in 5-8k miles.

When I went to the dealer to pick up a few quarts of oil, just to have on hand if I need to top off ..... the counter guy told me that they had switched from the 5w/30 to the 0/30, but he told me he still had some 5w/30 left which he said the mechanics preferred to the 0w. I conviently picked up 4 quarts, wasn’t too bad at about $8 a quart. I know I have heard that some dealers will top your oil off for you when low, but to me that’s just a hassle I would rather just keep a few on hand. To date I have added maybe 3 quarts in 12,000 miles , so 1 every 4,000 ...I wouldn’t say is too bad.

[alphaod]

Originally Posted by CT335xi

When I went to the dealer to pick up a few quarts of oil, just to have on hand if I need to top off ..... the counter guy told me that they had switched from the 5w/30 to the 0/30, but he told me he still had some 5w/30 left which he said the mechanics preferred to the 0w. I conviently picked up 4 quarts, wasn’t too bad at about $8 a quart. I know I have heard that some dealers will top your oil off for you when low, but to me that’s just a hassle I would rather just keep a few on hand. To date I have added maybe 3 quarts in 12,000 miles , so 1 every 4,000 ...I wouldn’t say is too bad.

Just a heads up, dealer oil is bottled in Liters. Technically speaking when the car is asking for 2 Qt, I wouldn't pour two whole bottles in since 2L > 2Qt

[CT335xi]

Originally Posted by alphaod

Just a heads up, dealer oil is bottled in Liters. Technically speaking when the car is asking for 2 Qt, I wouldn't pour two whole bottles in since 2L > 2Qt

A liter is only a little over a ounce more 33.xx vs 32 for a quart, I don’t think it’s enough to worry about. I usually check the oil every few weeks to a month , so haven’t had the 2 quart low warning yet so I added some and check again to see if I’m approaching the max level.

[Road Carnage]

Sidebar question- has anyone seen their idrive display show greater than 100%? The reason I ask is that my X5 is currently under surveillance by the dealer for oil consumption. When they started surveillance my oil level showed exactly 100% and it stayed there for quite a while (~1,000 miles), but suddenly started dropping quickly and I’m down a quart in another 1,000 miles. Seems like the oil level gauge max’d out at 100% and I might have been a little over filled from the dealer?