Topping up engine oil on 325i

[dannis]

Push them for an engine change and if possible... change to a 325 engine :wink:

That's exactly my plan!

 

[infinityKL]

just doesn't sound right to me this topping up thingy.... it doesn't happen to every single E90... to be honest, im losing confidence in Bimmer's little by little... you guys spend a fortune on these new cars and our dealers got the guts to say its normal and give all kinda explanation. CURIOUS, since there is this foaming and special grade oil, why wait for 10K km, just get rid of it on the first day you drive off the showroom...BTW, what is special grade oil???

no heart feeling guys, im really sad to hear more n more defects on these new machine's, not only oil top up, many other issue's are being discussed in other forums where BMW's are less reliable cars NOW. Just hope the respestive dealers take more responsibility and give you guys ur car back in perfect condition. yes, everyone makes mistakes and so does BMW, but i can understand the pain you guys feel, so Local Bimmer dealers got to buck up or they will sooner or later loose their market share here in Malaysia. yeah, right like they care...haha

no manufacturer would make a car that has to top up oil regardless of time or distance driven!!!

all the best....

 

[dannis]

Ingress auto change my oil sensor today....

 

[astroboy]

New car tend to consume oil because many hollow cavity in the engine block to coat and fill up. My Toyota faces this problem and I totally accept this explanation but it should end after the first oil change. Toyota first oil change is 1,000km.

No one know what kind of oil is the special grade oil because its specially formulated for BMW AG, filled in Germany before shipping the N52 out from its plant to Malaysia. The dealer cannot simply touch the oil without directives from BMW Malaysia or BMW AG.

Again, we are just speculating its caused by this special grade 1st fill oil..

Now oil level sensor pulak! All I can say is... stupid engine design.. no engine oil dipstick..

 

[dannis]

I can actually accept their explanation.

Why other make car dun "makan" engine oil?
Simply bcos u change engine oil every 5-10k and you won't tell if reduce, and most of the Jap's cars do not come with oil level sensor too...

 

[Schwepps]

Sorry dannis but I find that to be nonsense too. Who says other cars change engine oil every 5-10k? BMWs aren't the only cars using LL oil. Eg, Mercs also go ~25k between changes and I can vouch that my w211 doesn't need topping up in one whole YEAR of daily use as the family workhorse.

Are they saying that their oil sensor is at fault and a dip-stick would be better? Geez, all these excuses are an insult to our intelligence!

 

[astroboy]

....Are they saying that their oil sensor is at fault and a dip-stick would be better? Geez, all these excuses are an insult to our intelligence!

That's a good one :top: and we don't need to be extraterrestrials..

No dipstick.. :motz:

 

[dannis]

my dear friend, just trying to make myself feel better la... I'm aldy owned the car, seems like can only accept the fate.

 

[infinityKL]

New car tend to consume oil because many hollow cavity in the engine block to coat and fill up. My Toyota faces this problem and I totally accept this explanation but it should end after the first oil change. Toyota first oil change is 1,000km.

No one know what kind of oil is the special grade oil because its specially formulated for BMW AG, filled in Germany before shipping the N52 out from its plant to Malaysia. The dealer cannot simply touch the oil without directives from BMW Malaysia or BMW AG.

Again, we are just speculating its caused by this special grade 1st fill oil..

Now oil level sensor pulak! All I can say is... stupid engine design.. no engine oil dipstick..

thx for the explanation astroboi...:top: damn i still want this dealers to pay for their poor service!!! and how do we go about that??? sigh:motz:

 

[infinityKL]

my dear friend, just trying to make myself feel better la... I'm aldy owned the car, seems like can only accept the fate.

yeah man, i can feel ur frustration. Wish our consumer rights were taken more seriously in Malaysia!!!

ciao..

 

[Schwepps]

my dear friend, just trying to make myself feel better la... I'm aldy owned the car, seems like can only accept the fate.

dannis my bro, dun worry so much. Oil burn is not a major issue (unless you have to top up every few days) There are worse issues...like how my E36 gearbox used to skip gears...like how another car I owned used to burn 19 lit/100km...

It's just irritating in such an advanced car.

 

[David Yong]

Dannis, I was given the same reason too when I was facing excessive engine oil burn. I am not convince with the answer/reason at all. Anyway for your case I believe it could just be the oil sensor faulty.

 

[Traveler]

I've been following this thread out of concern for my own E90 (2007 325 Sports). Here's my experience with the oil levels in my car:

1. First 15k km (including first service) - Oil level remained at max the entire time
2. Around 15-16k km - oil level dropped to about 3/4.
3. Currently 17.7k km - oil level dropped to about 1/2 while on driving on the highway (roadtrip).

 

[wc9922]

u guys got an engine problem cause your block is magnesium alloy with alloy liners and the pistons are aluminium alloy. The rate of expansion for these materials are different and the diff gets greater as the temperature builds up. When this happens your piston rings aren't able to seal as tightly and you get blowby through the rings. There's where your oil has gone....into the combustion chamber and burned off or through the crankcase ventilation system into the intake manifold, which is more likely case.

Seach the internet, there's a warranty issue on the N series 6-cylinder magnesium based engine recalls performed. There is a check procedure they have to go through before they reach the stage where they will issue a new engine under goodwill warranty.

 

[MSport]

I've been following this thread out of concern for my own E90 (2007 325 Sports). Here's my experience with the oil levels in my car:

1. First 15k km (including first service) - Oil level remained at max the entire time
2. Around 15-16k km - oil level dropped to about 3/4.
3. Currently 17.7k km - oil level dropped to about 1/2 while on driving on the highway (roadtrip).

What I know is that the oil level drop is the top 1 liter from the oil cap. It's not 3/4 or 1/2 of the entire oil tank. I would be worried then!

 

[Schwepps]

astroboy, Traveller's post throws your SC's 'special grade foaming, vapourizing first-fill oil' explanation out the window. Not that I believed it in the first place.

wc9922, your explanation is the first one which makes sense. Oil burn is basically caused by blow-by. Many thanks for lighting the bulb on how it happens in such an advanced engine! Any leads on where to find the warranty material you speak of?

 

[bimmerdude]

u guys got an engine problem cause your block is magnesium alloy with alloy liners and the pistons are aluminium alloy. The rate of expansion for these materials are different and the diff gets greater as the temperature builds up. When this happens your piston rings aren't able to seal as tightly and you get blowby through the rings. There's where your oil has gone....into the combustion chamber and burned off or through the crankcase ventilation system into the intake manifold, which is more likely case.

Seach the internet, there's a warranty issue on the N series 6-cylinder magnesium based engine recalls performed. There is a check procedure they have to go through before they reach the stage where they will issue a new engine under goodwill warranty.

thanks for ur important info. can u kindly give us the link to that info? i am sure many owners would be interested. and how come BMW Malaysia is silent on this??

 

[paulpaul2]

because this due to our " BOLEH " culture , haha

 

[wc9922]

I will try and find the documentation, read it before somewhere. BMW's and their engines in particular are among the most advance in the world, always trying to do something radically challenging every time they launch the new series. So with that comes the problems that come with it.

As a company, I think it's in their best interest to not announce but behind the door, they are working to solve the problem. That's why unsolvable, repairable engines they would issue new ones but the request for engines from the warranty department is quite a tedious task. There are many test and documentation and procedures to be done before the approval for new engine is given. That's why it takes time. But the procedure may not be revealed to the customer in detail. That's their job.

Normally there's a techical upgrade engine later on. For N52 the upgraded engine is called N52KP or N52N. Part of their development cycle. New N52KP engines will have the same cc with different power outputs. One new feature of this engine are hydroformed camshafts i.e camshafts formed from tubular pipe blanks with high water pressure passed inside the tube within a mould to form the cam lobes and bearings. That's really advance stuff. These engines should be in cars from 2007 upwards production.

 

[Schwepps]

wc9922, everything you said makes sense. Many thanks for lighting the bulbs! :top:

How do we find out which N52 variant we have in our cars?