11 00... Oil consumption measurement
Many complaints about oil consumption are caused by the oil level being measured using the wrong method.
The oil consumption should be measured after a distance of 7, 500 km at the earliest, as the process of running in the engine will not have been essentially completed and the engine oil consumption stabilized until this distance has been covered.
Engine oil consumption that may occur in an engine can only be determined by the customer on the basis of the refilled engine oil quantity. as soon as the engine oil level falls below the max mark on the dipstick, many customers top up the engine oil without paying attention to a number of basic rules, such as the vehicle must be standing on level ground, a certain period of time must be left to allow the oil to flow back to the sump. in such cases, the available container sizes (e. g. 1-litre can) make it easy to top up above the max mark. too much added engine oil is damaging to the engine and is consumed more quickly due to the splash effect.
It is therefore recommended to allow the engine oil level to the min mark and only then to add the required engine oil quantity. the distance between the marks is equivalent to approx. 1.0 to 1.5 liters.
The procedure for checking the oil level is given in the owner's handbook for the vehicle concerned.
The service delegates will only deal with claims made under warranty if exact measurements by weighing are available (see below).
Measuring Oil Consumption By Weighing:
To assess a warranty or goodwill claim, only the following oil consumption measurement method by weighing can be accepted (this must have been carried out by a BMW contractual partner):
The engine must not leak any oil.
Engine oil may only be drained off when the engine is at its normal operating temperature. the engine oil temperature must be at least 95 °c and read off on the diagnosis system.
- Eliminate any leaks before measuring the engine oil consumption.
- Allow the engine to run at idling speed for 5 minutes, during which the engine oil temperature must not drop below 90 °c.
- Unscrew the main flow oil filter cover (the engine oil will flow back into the oil sump from the oil filter housing).
- Unscrew the oil drain plug.
- Allow the engine oil to drain off for 15 minutes.
- Turn the engine once through 360 degrees by the vibration damper.
- Allow the engine oil to drain off for 15 minutes.
- On all N4X, N5X engines, remove and clean the oil level sensor. to do this, hold the oil level sensor upside down and blow it out through the inlet opening on the base until it is dry on the inside.
- Refit the sensor with a new sealing ring.
- Retighten the primary flow oil filter.
- Pour in the specified engine oil quantity for the engine type in question (with filter change).
- Drive the vehicle for a distance of about 1, 000 km. increasing the distance will produce significantly better measuring results.
- Drain off the engine oil as described in steps 1 to 8, collecting it in a suitable receptacle.
- Weigh the drained engine oil quantity. (engine oil at room temperature has a density of approx. 0.86 g/cm3 )