X3 high oil consumption, what could be the problem

[Ralf*]

posting here on behalf of an aviation friend from an aviation forum,
I have directed him to come over to these forums as well

below is a quote of his post, anybody have advice, on where to start investigating

by Bearcat » Wed May 21, 2014 8:36 pm
My wife has a 2004 3L petrol BMW X3. It has 230K km and although it still goes well and is in very good condition, it has started using quite a bit of oil and am worried its going to get worse.

I have looked at buying a replacement ... however, even a newer second hand model is plenty bucs...

Apparently the book value is 90K ... but given the engine situation and some work that needs to be done on the gearbox, BMW have offered a R 55K trade in

So the question is ... does anyone know any engine re-builders that you can recommend, what sort of cost do you think I would be looking at.
If it was not for the engine, I would not be looking to replace the vehicle as my wife still loves it (more than me )

I am located in Sandton ... but pretty much anywhere in Joburg would be OK

Thoughts, comments advice appreciated

 

[Philip Foglar]

How much is "using lots of oil"?

I would suggest that he first checks for oil leaks! This will no doubt be the M54B30 engine which is known to suffer from oil leaks. The typical areas are around the valve cover gasket, normally on the exhaust side, and usually the oil slowly leaks and seeps down dripping away onto the exhaust, so there is often no "signs" of oil leaking and dripping on the garage floor. But in most cases you should be smelling this burning oil at some point. So he needs to run his fingers along the side of the valve cover gasket and especially towards the rear to feel for traces of oil.

Another place that is common for oil leaks is the oil filter housing gasket. Not so easy to see, but from certain angles you will be able to see if there is an oily mess below and slightly rear of the oil filter housing. Easier to see if the intake air box is removed. Since the oil is also leaking onto and running down the side of the engine, I reckon it should burn off or dry slowly and not really drip much beyond the sump guard.

One more place is the rear seal - this should be easy to see from under the car. At least this is as I understand it.

There could also be a blocked PCV, and considering the mileage, if it has not be changed, it would make sense to replace it and all of the vent hoses.

Personally I feel that these are fantastic engines provided they have been well maintained.

Hope this helps! :thumbs:

 

[RAArmstrong]

Aaand it will need vanos seals done so he should just send it to Axis :rollsmile:

Sent from my RM-885_im_south_africa_231 using Tapatalk

 

[Blue Shirt]

What is high oil consumption? Anything less than 1 liter per 3000km or so is acceptable.

The M54 engine should not require a rebuild by 240000km. If the engine is not visibly leaking oil or smoking, a common fault on the M54 is the crankcase ventilation valve that is blocked or dirty. This causes excessive oil vapours to be sucked into the intake and burned off, causing apparent high oil consumption.

I recommend having the CCV checked out, and replace the VANOS seals while you are in there. They are guaranteed to have failed at that mileage.