Post-Mortem after 850 miles and recent repair

[mjposner]

Has my valve cover gasket replaced by the dealer. According to the service ticket, oil was added (unclear how much). 850 miles later the low oil warning turns on. Stop by dealer for two quarts and refill (per new BMW instructions, when it asks for one, add two).

At lunch the check engine light comes on. Code reader says its air mass flow sensor. Back to dealer for that and the oil issue. BMW NA has rejected my oil burning issues at 675 a quart. Will see what they say now at possibly 425 a quart.

[BMWM5NYC]

You have much more patience than I do.

[BMWM5NYC]

And how do they explain adding 2 quarts of oil when the difference between the Min and Max reading is 1 quart? Anytime my M5 asks for a quart , I give it one and the reading goes from Min to Max. It is almost like BMW decided to Overfill cars that burn a lot of oil, to lengthen the time between refilling again. SMH

[mjposner]

BMW issued a bulletin that they miscalculated the oil capacity of the S63 engine. Its 9.5 quarts now, not 8.5, so that when it is asking for one quart it is now nearly two quarts low. So they told me to always add 2 quarts when the warning comes on. This means I go longer between refills (about 1300 miles) and, of course, complain less.

see: https://blog.bavauto.com/16906/bmw-v...1-f02-b001314/

[BMWM5NYC]

Originally Posted by mjposner

BMW issued a bulletin that they miscalculated the oil capacity of the S63 engine. Its 9.5 quarts now, not 8.5, so that when it is asking for one quart it is now nearly two quarts low. So they told me to always add 2 quarts when the warning comes on. This means I go longer between refills (about 1300 miles) and, of course, complain less.

see: https://blog.bavauto.com/16906/bmw-v...1-f02-b001314/

Yeah I had read those before. And rereading it now, they make a point of saying overfilling can be a cause of Increased Oil consumption. And to be honest I think that change in oil capacity is BS. If every car actually ran 2 quarts low when the light came on, you would have engine deaths all over the place. I think the 8.5/ 9.5 difference is from Completely dry/New Engine and refilling a running engine where you always get left over oil. I see this in the motorcycle world where they give you 2 fill capacities in your owners manual. One for a completely dry engine with oil filter change and one without changing the filter.

Like I have said, I have NEVER added 2 quarts at one time , and my engine does not burn excessive oil and I am at 48000 + miles and my engine is robust as ever.

Like I said before you have "Saintly patience" Lol

[BMWM5NYC]

The N63 oil consumption service bulletin (#SI B11 01 13) states that it is common and acceptable for the N63 engines to consume more oil than what may be considered normal for other BMW engines, due to the turbocharging. BMW has modified the oil service procedures to reduce the time between oil changes from 15,000 miles to 10,000 miles. Additionally, the oil fill is increased by 1-quart, for a total capacity of 9.5 quarts. We assume this is all so that the vehicle owner/driver will not notice, or be alarmed by, the higher than expected oil consumption in the period between oil services

That right there confirms to me, that they are overfilling cars that have high oil consumption so the customers won't complain/ get constant oil warnings.

[mjposner]

I would agree by about .5 quart. I am still under warranty and have documented my case such that even if after warranty expires I have an issue, I will be positioned to make a coverage case. Will likely know more on Monday as no word yet on repairs.

[mjposner]

Well a week has gone by and no news on my check engine light. They said they might know something today.

Well at least I have saved 250 miles of driving on my car (I have a 2018 VW Tiguan loaner). Its slow, gets poor gas mileage for being so slow, but it has a nice big touch screen that works well.

[mjposner]

Car was returned yesterday, they replaced the Hot-film air mass meter. They also topped off oil and told me to come back when the warning about oil returns....

Stay tuned.

[BMWM5NYC]

[schnell1982]

Originally Posted by mjposner

Has my valve cover gasket replaced by the dealer. According to the service ticket, oil was added (unclear how much). 850 miles later the low oil warning turns on. Stop by dealer for two quarts and refill (per new BMW instructions, when it asks for one, add two).

At lunch the check engine light comes on. Code reader says its air mass flow sensor. Back to dealer for that and the oil issue. BMW NA has rejected my oil burning issues at 675 a quart. Will see what they say now at possibly 425 a quart.

Did they replace both valve cover gaskets or just 1 and which side if you dont mind sharing. The valve covers are a crazy amount of labor in the labor guide to replace.

[mjposner]

They replaced just the one that was bad (right side cylinder head). Same with the air mass meter, just one side. I am still under warranty (until 10/12/18) so both were covered repairs.

[Booie]

A $100K car burning a qt every 463 miles is a joke as is BMW calling itself "The Ultimate Driving Machine". Japs run circles around the Germans and never require oil!

P S I also have an oil burner that is being monitored by BMW. Going in next week. Will let you know what there words of wisdom are. Want to bet they say a qt. every 750 miles is normal.

[mjposner]

"Want to bet they say a qt. every 750 miles is normal." They will, the N63 standard is 1 quart every 700 miles. Its worse for the S63.

[Booie]

I have the N63T which is supposed to be much better reliability wise. Runs great just drinks oil.

[mjposner]

Well Mike Miller of Rouncel and Bimmer Mag fame says that the valve cover failure is expected due to excessive heat under hood. he also did not see a connection between the loss of oil and the air mass meter.

Of more interest, he suggested "If you are using something else, switch to Lubri-Moly or Red Line 10W-60 engine oil. This engine does not like low viscosity engine oil, and the BMW 10W-60 tends to test out "finished" upon oil analysis at 4,000-5,000 miles. Reduce oil and filter change intervals to every 5,000 miles using one of these two products, and have analysis performed: www.blackstone-labs.com."

[Booie]

I've heard good things about Lubri Moly and Amsoil 5-40. Why should we have to switch oils because they have an inferior engine? I say fix the problem or through in some $ compensation for the extra oil consumption we have. I do think if/when I switch to Amsoil or Lubri Moly it will help immensely. Probably only burn a qt every 2-3K miles. WOW! Not bad for the Ultimate Driving Machine. JOKE!

[mjposner]

Will switch at next oil change (first I am actually paying for).

[Booie]

Originally Posted by mjposner

"Want to bet they say a qt. every 750 miles is normal." They will, the N63 standard is 1 quart every 700 miles. Its worse for the S63.

Got results from dealer today. Used 1 litre over 900 miles. Said it was normal. Amsoil 5-40 next oil change.

booie