Is this considered high oil consumption for a 4.4i?

[sshu]

I have been tracking oil consumption for the past 6 months and I noticed a considerable amount of oil lost over the past 2 months when the car was driven more on a daily basis. It's a 05 4.4i with 76.5k miles. The crankcase valve was changed back in 11/16/11. This is my unscientific recordings,

11/16/11 73.5k miles oil lvl was just above the 'MAX' mark on the dip stick
12/12/11 74.2k miles oil lvl at 'MA' mark on the dip stick
02/16/12 75.1k miles oil lvl at 2mm below 'MAX' mark
04/23/12 76.5k miles oil lvl at 2mm below 'MIN' mark

Between Feb an April the car was driven a lot around the city. I normally check the oil 5 minutes after shutting off warm engine. I added 2 quarts and it's 2mm below 'MAX' mark now. The oil consumption lvl seems higher than usual. Is this something to be alarmed by?

[TwinTurboGTR]

That seems a bit heavy on consumpton. Try to get under the X and see if there is any heavy leaking. You may be leaking oil from the OSV or from the 2 hoses that go to the oil cooler line. Oil leaks are tricky because it could be a number of things. Best case, its the OSV or maybe oven the oil pan gasket. Worse case, the rings are shot. But you didnt have a mention of blue smoke, the the motor isnt consuming the oil, you are just losing it somewhere.

[sshu]

Originally Posted by TwinTurboGTR

But you didnt have a mention of blue smoke, the the motor isnt consuming the oil, you are just losing it somewhere.

When the engine was semi-warmed up, I let it idle for 5 minutes. When I accelerated off, I saw blue smoke coming from the tail pipes...

[hambone1983]

valve seals my friend - had the same issue, huge job.
Luckily was covered under CPO, 4 day job as per BMW in Boston area.

[sshu]

Originally Posted by hambone1983

valve seals my friend - had the same issue, huge job.
Luckily was covered under CPO, 4 day job as per BMW in Boston area.

Maybe I'm in denial but wouldn't the valve seal issue be something that progressively goes bad? After the CCV was repaired the oil consumption was very little then suddenly in the past 2 months the consumption has been very high. Whatever the issue is, this car has been a money pit for the past 8 months...

[X5Boise]

If you have a warranty for the CCV repair work (most shops give you up to 1 year), I'd take it back and have them re-examine their work.

[sshu]

The mechanic looked over the car and it's not the CCV. He did notice an oil leak caused from the oil pressure switch but he said that it wouldn't have caused the car to lose so much oil.

He did confirm that there was blue smoke coming from the exhaust pipes when the car idles. He says that it's the valve seals. Maybe I'm in denial but could it be the oil pressure switch?

[JCL]

Originally Posted by sshu

The mechanic looked over the car and it's not the CCV. He did notice an oil leak caused from the oil pressure switch but he said that it wouldn't have caused the car to lose so much oil.

He did confirm that there was blue smoke coming from the exhaust pipes when the car idles. He says that it's the valve seals. Maybe I'm in denial but could it be the oil pressure switch?

No, the oil pressure switch leaks to atmosphere, and shows up externally.

If the valve seals are leaking oil enters the combustion chamber, is burned, and shows up as blue smoke out the tailpipe.