burning oil help?

[1991 525i Novs]

Hey guys, today i was driving and my car said low engine oil, just wondering what could be the cause, i stopped and put more in, but how come im burning oil, im about 1000 miles from my oil service, should i be worried, also im not leaking anything on the garage floor so i know its not that, just wondering if i can get some help. thanks

[Morgenster]

No oil in your coolant?

[1991 525i Novs]

No oil in your coolant?


my coolant level seems normal, what color would it be if it was in the coolant, like what color would the coolant be then? and if so what does that mean?

[632 Regal]

some oil use is normal, it will tend to use more as the oil gets more and more miles on it especially if it's thin dino oil that has broken down.

[Alexlind123]

Maybe its leaking out to somewhere under the engine that doesnt drip until you drive the car.

[1991 525i Novs]

some oil use is normal, it will tend to use more as the oil gets more and more miles on it especially if it's thin dino oil that has broken down.


should i be really concerned about this, or just pray to god its nothing big, the car runs great, i have been driving it alittle hard since i got the eat chip?

[joshua43214]

You should always be concerned about any loss. If its just burning a bit from age and hard driving, thats one thing. But if you have an oil leak, it can grow into a bigger leak depending on where it is coming from.

Some times oil will leak onto a body part, then flow into a pocket somewhere when you park in your driveway, this is especialy common if you park on a slope of any kind. You probably don't need to panic about it, but make sure its on the list of things to do soon.

[1991 525i Novs]

You should always be concerned about any loss. If its just burning a bit from age and hard driving, thats one thing. But if you have an oil leak, it can grow into a bigger leak depending on where it is coming from.

Some times oil will leak onto a body part, then flow into a pocket somewhere when you park in your driveway, this is especialy common if you park on a slope of any kind. You probably don't need to panic about it, but make sure its on the list of things to do soon.


i park it on a flat surface in the garage, i will check it out, and if i cant find anything then i will have my mechanic check it out?, what could be the worst thing

[joshua43214]

what could be the worst thing

A cracked engine block? lol.

really, thats not a fair question. Most likely thing is a leaky valve cover gasket, will set you back less than $50.00 for OE parts if you do it yourself, its easy enough.

[1991 525i Novs]

A cracked engine block? lol.

really, thats not a fair question. Most likely thing is a leaky valve cover gasket, will set you back less than $50.00 for OE parts if you do it yourself, its easy enough.


so investing in a service manual like the bentley one is a good idea huh, easy enough with little experience?

[Bill R.]

concerned about it. When you say 1000 miles till the next oil change i'm guessing that your talking about 3500 mile oil changes? If so then thats 1 quart per 2500 miles which is nothing at 155k miles. I know I know any number of people here will say that they don't use any at all at that mileage or higher. But its considered perfectly normal to consume some oil, in fact i'm suspicious on a number of them that don't use any that they are actually getting fuel dilution into the crankcase. Bmw has a normal wear limit of 1 quart per 800 miles on that engine and on most of their engines except for the m cars. I personally wouldn't get excited if i used a quart every 2500 miles, in fact i'd be quite happy at that mileage to use that little or leak that little oil. Keep in mind that hot weather and high speed driving both will increase oil consumption. If i drive on the freeway at a steady 75 to 80 mph i will use about a quart every 1500 or so. I'm not in the least bit concerned.




i park it on a flat surface in the garage, i will check it out, and if i cant find anything then i will have my mechanic check it out?, what could be the worst thing

[1991 525i Novs]

concerned about it. When you say 1000 miles till the next oil change i'm guessing that your talking about 3500 mile oil changes? If so then thats 1 quart per 2500 miles which is nothing at 155k miles. I know I know any number of people here will say that they don't use any at all at that mileage or higher. But its considered perfectly normal to consume some oil, in fact i'm suspicious on a number of them that don't use any that they are actually getting fuel dilution into the crankcase. Bmw has a normal wear limit of 1 quart per 800 miles on that engine and on most of their engines except for the m cars. I personally wouldn't get excited if i used a quart every 2500 miles, in fact i'd be quite happy at that mileage to use that little or leak that little oil. Keep in mind that hot weather and high speed driving both will increase oil consumption. If i drive on the freeway at a steady 75 to 80 mph i will use about a quart every 1500 or so. I'm not in the least bit concerned.

yeah 3500, i do alot of highway driving to work with speeds in the 80s and also have done alot of highways driving from a trip from Michigan, i will do an oil change and see, thanks for the help, im glad that i found this forum!!

[Alexlind123]

I dont burn any! :)

[DaveVoorhis]

Hey guys, today i was driving and my car said low engine oil, just wondering what could be the cause, i stopped and put more in

Did you check the dipstick level after getting the warning? After running at high speed through some puddles, I've had my low oil warning come on, which I attribute to water getting into the sensor connector. I'll clean and pack the connector with dielectric grease when I remember to buy some dielectric grease.

Assuming it was low, it sounds like nothing to worry about. I've had it drop a bit after a lot of high speed driving.

[1991 525i Novs]

Did you check the dipstick level after getting the warning? After running at high speed through some puddles, I've had my low oil warning come on, which I attribute to water getting into the sensor connector. I'll clean and pack the connector with dielectric grease when I remember to buy some dielectric grease.

Assuming it was low, it sounds like nothing to worry about. I've had it drop a bit after a lot of high speed driving.


yeah and it was low, so i put about a full quart in there....per thing

[Morgenster]

[QUOTE=Bill R.]But its considered perfectly normal to consume some oil, in fact i'm suspicious on a number of them that don't use any that they are actually getting fuel dilution into the crankcase. Bmw has a normal wear limit of 1 quart per 800 miles on that engine and on most of their engines except for the m cars.[\QUOTE]

That's odd, because mine doesn't consume oil at all and fuel dilution is kind of out the question when running on LPG which is just gas. Admittedly, I never go on trips longer than 120km.
Should I worry? I mean could there be issues with oil distribution throughout the engine?

[Bill R.]

distribution issues with the engine. You're just one of the few that consumes very little oil.. I think if you measured it out precisely on an oil change and then very carefully checked the dipstick each week you'd find out that your using some oil, just not much. LPG doesn't hurt either since they tend to consume a lot less if they have only been run on lpg. I had a truck that ran on lpg the first 100k of its life and i bought it shortly after that. It was a work truck and was pretty well beaten on the outside, they pulled all the lpg apparatus to put on their new truck and i got the standard carburator setup back on it. When i pulled the heads a few months later to check it over since it was going to be a keeper, there was virtually no wear on the cylinders walls or on any valves or guides, which was unheard of on a small block chevy at this point in time, (early 80's)... So the lpg would definitely slow down wear on your motor



[quote=Bill R.]But its considered perfectly normal to consume some oil, in fact i'm suspicious on a number of them that don't use any that they are actually getting fuel dilution into the crankcase. Bmw has a normal wear limit of 1 quart per 800 miles on that engine and on most of their engines except for the m cars.[\QUOTE]

That's odd, because mine doesn't consume oil at all and fuel dilution is kind of out the question when running on LPG which is just gas. Admittedly, I never go on trips longer than 120km.
Should I worry? I mean could there be issues with oil distribution throughout the engine?

[Morgenster]

Hooray!