BMW M4 F82 - Big oil consumption

[inti]

Hi all,

In the last 3k miles, I had to add about 4 or 5 quarts of oil. Basically I need to add a quart/liter of oil every second full tank of gas.

At first, I was getting the message "Add 1 quart of oil" quite regurarly. Took the car to a dealer, where they haven't noticed anything broken/damaged.


Then I decided to replace the oil level sensor. Once I've replaced it, it was OK. During the sensor replacement we've noticed, that there was about 1 quart of oil more in the engine that it supposed to be so obviously the oil level sensor was also failing.

In the last 1k miles I noticed, that if I drive from home to work (about 30 miles) I don't see any smoke cloud. But in case, that I go from my home to for example to a store, where I park the car for 5-10 minutes and then I start the car, which is still warm, after the 100meters on the next junction when I push the gas pedal, I notice a white/blue smoke comming from the exhaust for about 5-7 seconds.

During normal driving or even if I do a pull, there is no smoke... I only notice smoke in the case, described above.

There are no oil leaks under the car. There are no oil stains visible in the engine bay.

What woud be the cause of this big oil consumption? Broken gasket seal? Broken charege pipe seals?

Please, any feedback appreciated, before I take the car to a repair shop.
Thanks all.

PS: Car is stock. No ECU modifications were made. I only have Eventuri intake, that is the only mod on the engine.

[andrei.m4]

turbo seals. usually

[inti]

Any other suggestions?

Let me just add, that I'vem been measuring the oil level every day after driving... and sometimes it shows full, sometimes 3/4 full... Let me remind you, that oil level sensor was replaced about 1k miles ago.

Thanks.

[JAI///M3]

I know you said the sensor was replaced but to lose that much oil I would expect to see a puddle and/or smoke. Me personally, I would drain the oil and measure how much comes out. Then refill with the correct amount of fresh oil and drive it. When it shows low oil again, drain and measure and compare to how much you put in. This will tell you for sure if it's leaking/burning or if the new sensor is lying.

Oh the joys of no dipstick…

[hellokitty]

How many miles are on the car? I would stop driving it until you figure it out.

Could be the turbos seals due to the smoke.

[inti]

Car has 40k miles. I drive it as a daily... no racetracks, an overtake or an easy pull here and there, nothing extreme overall...

[TopJimmy]

Pull off the chargepipes and see if oil spray has made it to the top near the TMIC end. Also see if one side of tailpipes is oily. You could have a blown seal inside the turbo and oil going up the outlet, or past wastegate into exhaust. CPs can have a little crud on the front pipe due to the PCV venting, but not gunky, rear pipe should be dry. Healthy tail tips are only dusty, or wet w vapor, not slippery.

(Added after reading more)
Your blue smoke indicates the oil is probably going out the exhaust side. There's an electric motor that circulates oil to the turbos when the car is shut off. I bet one DP and exhaust pipe are loaded with baked oil. This may be why you get the blue smoke after a short sit, oil hasn't baked in yet. That's a fairly easy and inexpensive place to look, just need new DP-to-Exhaust donut gaskets for reassembly.

[AlmondJayRoM3]

Catalytic converters, once fully warm, can burn oil so well that you won’t get the blue smoke out the tail pipe.

Definitely don’t wait too long because if you are burning as much oil as you say, your converters might get plugged up making for an even more expensive fix.

[papasmurf_m3]

Take off your downpipes and charge pipes. Have a look in there.

Sounds like the turbo seals done. Buddy had this issue too.

Car was drinking oil. New turbos and back to normal.

[inti]

New turbos and back to normal
Sounds like a 200$ job, when you say it like this

I'll start selling my kidney, service is scheduled in a few weeks.

[JAI///M3]

In that case it's only an extra $200 to just upgrade to Pure turbos. We have 2 kidneys, right?

[inti]

Sorry for stupid question: When you guys say that it's turbo seal, that automatically means, that turbos needs to be replaced as a whole? Not possible to change just the seal?

[Jeremy Billiel]

Originally Posted by inti

Sorry for stupid question: When you guys say that it's turbo seal, that automatically means, that turbos needs to be replaced as a whole? Not possible to change just the seal?

The turbo seals can be changed, but it requires sending the turbos out to be rebuilt which means your car is down for that amount of time

[inti]

Car is at the mechanic, and he called with the diagnose. One turbo was failing quite badly, second one was following his more-broken brother.

Not sure, how the previous owner drove the car, but I can imagine, that he wasn't gentile on the turbos.

Anyway, mechanic called and told me, that two new turbos and all gaskets are ordered and this will solve the issue by the end of the week.

[papasmurf_m3]

Originally Posted by inti

Car is at the mechanic, and he called with the diagnose. One turbo was failing quite badly, second one was following his more-broken brother.

Not sure, how the previous owner drove the car, but I can imagine, that he wasn't gentile on the turbos.

Anyway, mechanic called and told me, that two new turbos and all gaskets are ordered and this will solve the issue by the end of the week.

Glad you got it resolved.

I've been hearing this a lot lately.

When you consume oil between changes it's usually going to be turbo seals.

If you have engine failure, your plugs would be wet and smoke pouring out as you drive it.

As jimmy said tail pipes are perfect indicator of health.

My car is straight piped so it's dark and dusty not slippery but, just a tad bit of smudge my guess from normal oil consumption especially after high boost runs.

[inti]

I've seen the old turbos. I was able to move the rotating core on both - both were producing the clicling sound if I tried to pull out the core... They were moving in and out for a few milimeters. The one, that was "more damaged", I was able to move it also up and down a bit, not just in and out...But none of the turbos were damaged, so there were no turbo parts flying in/out/around the engine.

I find this really strange, that both turbos failed so fast. As I've said, car has 40k miles.

What I also find strange is, that I own the car for little more than 2 years now, and issues started about half a year ago... before that, there was no oil consumption issues.

And I always start the car, drive it easy for 10 minutes to warm it up... also I don't do any pulls for 5-10 minutes before shutting it off. I drive the car 50% in normal mode, 50% in Sport plus..., depending if I want to hear the exhaust note more than usual. I also respect the neighbours

So overall... I care about cars health. So that's why I'm so surprised.
It seems that the car doesn't like this. Obviously I should be much more agressive

[Track/S]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Pull off the chargepipes and see if oil spray has made it to the top near the TMIC end. Also see if one side of tailpipes is oily. You could have a blown seal inside the turbo and oil going up the outlet, or past wastegate into exhaust. CPs can have a little crud on the front pipe due to the PCV venting, but not gunky, rear pipe should be dry. Healthy tail tips are only dusty, or wet w vapor, not slippery.

(Added after reading more)
Your blue smoke indicates the oil is probably going out the exhaust side. There's an electric motor that circulates oil to the turbos when the car is shut off. I bet one DP and exhaust pipe are loaded with baked oil. This may be why you get the blue smoke after a short sit, oil hasn't baked in yet. That's a fairly easy and inexpensive place to look, just need new DP-to-Exhaust donut gaskets for reassembly.

The pump that is activated after shut off the car is the antifreeze pump, the s55 does not have any electric oil pump.

Originally Posted by inti

I've seen the old turbos. I was able to move the rotating core on both - both were producing the clicling sound if I tried to pull out the core... They were moving in and out for a few milimeters. The one, that was "more damaged", I was able to move it also up and down a bit, not just in and out...But none of the turbos were damaged, so there were no turbo parts flying in/out/around the engine.

I find this really strange, that both turbos failed so fast. As I've said, car has 40k miles.

What I also find strange is, that I own the car for little more than 2 years now, and issues started about half a year ago... before that, there was no oil consumption issues.

And I always start the car, drive it easy for 10 minutes to warm it up... also I don't do any pulls for 5-10 minutes before shutting it off. I drive the car 50% in normal mode, 50% in Sport plus..., depending if I want to hear the exhaust note more than usual. I also respect the neighbours

So overall... I care about cars health. So that's why I'm so surprised.
It seems that the car doesn't like this. Obviously I should be much more agressive

The td04 of the s55 are prone to breaking, always with axial play, I have repaired several and curiously all the ones I have repaired were from gypsy owners