Help! S55 Heavy Oil Consumption - What is it?

[DeTh]

Creating this post just to see what people's ideas are.
I've had my new M4 for a little over 2 months now, and have done around 3500 miles.

Timeline:
-I picked it up with 14,690 miles (2017 car).
-1150 miles later, engine minimum oil popup. Added 1 quart of 5w40.
-Full oil change at 16,235 miles since the previous owner had used 0w30 and I didn't want to mix weights. Switched to Motul X-Cess Gen II 5w40.
- Spark plug change at 16,325 since the car was breaking up under throttle. Very very small amount of oil on spark plug number two.
-~17,200 miles I had to add another quart.
-~18,000 miles added another .5-.75 quarts.

So in total I've added around 3 quarts over the course of 2800 miles.
I will add, I drive this car HARD. I've started measuring the oil level after hard runs (the car sees 180mph+ once a week, and many 40/60-160 rolls.)

The car is always warm before any moderate/heavy load, and the oil temp never exceeds 235F. It normally sits just above 220 during hard pulls. Top speed run it climbs to around 230-235 since it's sitting at the top of 6th for extended time.

The car is on BM3 Stage 2 OTS E30. I briefly turned the burbles way up on BM3 to shoot flames (~200 miles with this, 10 out of 12 agg setting), but turned it back down since it was super obnoxious. I'll post a revving video later, there was some smoke coming out of the exhaust, not sure if its because of the fuel dump or if its oil burning.

Basically, my question is: Is this normal oil consumption for how hard I am driving this car? Or am I looking at turbo seals/valve cover gaskets/something else burning oil/going bad? My last M4 didn't burn oil like this (2016, bought at 23k miles, lady totaled it at 28k), and I drove it similarly (not as hard but close)

[DocL]

Where in Miami are you going 180mph lol? That area is a constant traffic jam.

[DeTh]

Originally Posted by DocL

Where in Miami are you going 180mph lol? That area is a constant traffic jam.

I've hit 193mph on the turnpike and 196mph on Krome. Both with no traffic, very late at night.

(In Mexico)

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

maybe the constant raping of your car is causing the low oil?

[AlmondJayRoM3]

That’s a lot of oil so I’m assuming you already looked for an external oil leak but if you haven’t, start with that. Then do a compression test and cylinder leak down check. Hopefully those are good and which would lead you down to the turbos or maybe a failed PCV valve.

Edit: this is not normal oil consumption. Although I don’t hit 180mph, my daily driven car gets tracked and sees 150ish MPH. Car is 75k miles and haven’t had to add oil once between oil changes (7000 mi avg intervals).

[jagus]

If this is really oil consumption, you should see blue smoke from the exhaust...

Perhaps the oil sensor is faulty...

[DeTh]

Originally Posted by AlmondJayRoM3

That’s a lot of oil so I’m assuming you already looked for an external oil leak but if you haven’t, start with that. Then do a compression test and cylinder leak down check. Hopefully those are good and which would lead you down to the turbos or maybe a failed PCV valve.

Edit: this is not normal oil consumption. Although I don’t hit 180mph, my daily driven car gets tracked and sees 150ish MPH. Car is 75k miles and haven’t had to add oil once between oil changes (7000 mi avg intervals).

Originally Posted by jagus

If this is really oil consumption, you should see blue smoke from the exhaust...

Perhaps the oil sensor is faulty...

Thanks everyone for the input. I don't believe there would be a compression loss here, as the car isnt down on any power.
I currently have the stock midpipe on (so Im not sure if I would see any blue smoke since the secondaries are still there), but these revving videos below are with an AA EL.

Some smoke can be seen. It looks like there could be a blueish hint in one of the videos, but I'd like someone else to weigh in.
If it was faulty oil sensor.... Then the car has way too much oil in it currently and no problems. I don't think this is the case.

https://youtube.com/shorts/fW7WATBLC...WyRbf4w4K_erEJ

https://youtube.com/shorts/3qhabFKf-...f4bZrPWec3CVBH

I've looked a little bit for external oil leaks, and with my rate of loss I feel that there would definitely be a puddle below my car. I haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe there is seepage, but will check on it this weekend.

I also do not have the PCV squeal. Is it possible for it to fail without this noise?

[Track/S]

In the first video you can see the blue smoke, probably the front turbo is damaged, check if it has axial play

[gerri]

Originally Posted by DeTh

-Full oil change at 16,235 miles
-~17,200 miles I had to add another quart.
-~18,000 miles added another .5-.75 quarts.

So in total I've added around 3 quarts over the course of 2800 miles.

I don't dispute the mathematical error, it's just to clarify what the real oil consumption is. From 16,200 miles to 18,000 miles it's 1,800 and not 2,800. The TIS gives the maximum consumption allowed for M cars to be 1.5L every 1,000 km.

[DeTh]

Originally Posted by gerri

I don't dispute the mathematical error, it's just to clarify what the real oil consumption is. From 16,200 miles to 18,000 miles it's 1,800 and not 2,800. The TIS gives the maximum consumption allowed for M cars to be 1.5L every 1,000 km.

I included the consumption before the oil change into my figure. I added the first quart at ~15,600 miles, and the car sits at 18,400 miles currently. Looks like I am under the max oil consumption, but 1.5L every 620 miles seems like a very high number

Originally Posted by Track/S

In the first video you can see the blue smoke, probably the front turbo is damaged, check if it has axial play

When I was installing my downpipes I spun one of the turbines and checked for axial play and there was none. It's possible it could have been the other one (I didn't touch one of them). Is there a way for me to check these easier than removing the downpipes?
Is the turbo inlet pipe easier to remove to check for play?
And are there any give aways surrounding the turbo that would indicate turbo seals/damage? I.e., oil around the housing, etc?

Thanks

[N1rve]

Probably a dumb question but how do you know to add oil? Is it your car telling you to? Because there is no dipstick on the car.

[DeTh]

Originally Posted by N1rve

Probably a dumb question but how do you know to add oil? Is it your car telling you to? Because there is no dipstick on the car.

iDrive -> My Vehicle -> Vehicle Status -> Engine Oil Level.
If it gets low enough it will tell you anyway, but you can measure it here before it gives you the pop up

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by DeTh

iDrive -> My Vehicle -> Vehicle Status -> Engine Oil Level.
If it gets low enough it will tell you anyway, but you can measure it here before it gives you the pop up

I know that. I just want to make sure the OP is doing that and it's not by feel or having ESP lol.

[DeTh]

Originally Posted by N1rve

I know that. I just want to make sure the OP is doing that and it's not by feel or having ESP lol.

Gotcha. I am OP, that’s how I’ve been measuring when to add.

[Suds]

I’m on my third M-car with an S55 with your kind of mileage, I do add oil during a track weekend where I’m driving +250 miles on the track. I might add a half quart over the weekend. My M2 has over 9k track miles, 24k total miles and it drinks a bit of oil.
It has also been tuned BM3 stage 1 or 2 it’s whole life, with some time at E85 stage 2.

[gerri]

Originally Posted by DeTh

Looks like I am under the max oil consumption, but 1.5L every 620 miles seems like a very high number

Extracted from TIS:
Engine oil consumption
Engine oil consumption is dictated above all by the structural design of the individual assemblies or systems. Every combustion engine has a lubricating oil consumption determined by the system.

The surface topography used for the cylinder liner and piston ring is the primary variable directly influencing engine oil
consumption, as piston rings do not form a perfect seal, but instead act as a metering unit. With regards to design, there is a conflict of interest between engine oil consumption and friction loss. The letter has a direct effect on horsepower and fuel consumption. With each piston stroke, tiny amounts of engine oil remain on the cylinder walls, and this oil is essential for lubricating the piston rings and piston skirt (see above, lubricating film). During the downward stroke of the piston, the engine oil deposited on the cylinder wall participates in the combustion near the wall itself and is discharged with the combustion gases. The higher the engine speed, the greater the effect, as more combustion cycles occur per unit time. For this reason, engines with a high-revving concept (BMW M engines) tend to have higher engine oil consumption than other BMW engines. The same goes for the lubricating film on valve stems.

For BMW positive-ignition and diesel engines, the maximum permissible engine oil consumption is 0.7 l/1000 Km.
Due to their greater power and torque, M engines have a maximum permissible oil consumption of 1.5 l/1000 km.

The measurable result of an engine oil consumption is overridden by the quality of the fuel used and the driving profile. If, for example, many short distances are driven in winter (= high fuel input since the vaporization temperature is mostly only briefly reached) and then a longer distance is driven (the fuel can now evaporate), a significant drop engine oil level is encountered during this trip. This does not constitute engine oil consumption, but simply a different level of engine oil due to the fuel content in the engine oil. Customer complaints can often be traced back to this fact. The situation may arise where the engine oil level drops by approximately 1 liter in a few 100 km. Added to this is a degree of uncertainty of some engines of up to 0.3 liters by the associated measuring system.

The oil mist particles carried through the crankcase ventilation (technically never 100 % separation efficiency) also participate in the combustion process with the intake air. The design is particularly problematic here. On the one hand, the engine oil should be separated as completely as possible; on the other hand; Crankcase pressure requirements must be met. Furthermore, conventional separation systems only work optimally with a specific gas flow rate; the separation effect decreases with lower or higher gas quantities.

[Track/S]

Originally Posted by DeTh

When I was installing my downpipes I spun one of the turbines and checked for axial play and there was none. It's possible it could have been the other one (I didn't touch one of them). Is there a way for me to check these easier than removing the downpipes?
Is the turbo inlet pipe easier to remove to check for play?
And are there any give aways surrounding the turbo that would indicate turbo seals/damage? I.e., oil around the housing, etc?

Thanks

If you remove the downpipes you will be able to see the wet casing

[DeTh]

So I didn’t remove the downpipes to inspect for play, but I did pop off the midpipe and used an inspector scope to look at the turbos.
Input on the visual condition of them would be greatly appreciated, since I’m not sure what they’re supposed to look like.
The first 3 are the driver side downpipe, the other 2 are the passenger side downpipe

For note, this car has 18,000 miles

[DeTh]

Any feedback on turbo condition would be greatly appreciated.