Oil Low at 4600 miles in a 2011 50i?

[deutsch100]

Yes, 100% normal...and actually pretty good mileage for just getting the Add oil warning. My 2010 750i (also with BMW's twin turbo V8 engine) requires a qt. of oil EVERY 2000 miles. Yes, every 2000 miles. Both my dealer and the factory area Rep have inspected my car, and says this is "normal". According to them, the 7 Series, X5 50i and the X6 should require oil every 5000 or so miles, but it is Normal if it requires every 1000 miles! Just the turbo engines. The Porsche Cayenne and Turbo 911 usually need a quart every 500-1000 miles. Just what we have to deal with, having high powered engines. A very high quality problem!!

[EZDozzit]

Same here with my 50i. My BMW service advisor says that's normal and that the new 750 owners are complaining about it. He says that with the 35i's, expect to add a qt of oil every 5-6 months, instead of every 3-4 months as in the 50i.

[lion2000]

My 2011 X5 5.0i initially was burning 1 quart every 4K miles. Now at 55K miles, it is burning 1 quart every 2K miles. At 40K miles, I had all 8 fuel injectors replaced, under warranty. I asked the service if that was caused by carbon deposit due to burning oil. I did not get any answer.

Now at 55K miles, the engine light turns on frequently when running rough. Feels as if one cylinder is off. I wonder if the fuel injector is clogged again! TROUBLE!! 5K miles out of warranty.

[8ball]

Thanks for the info; I noticed mine was between max and low today and wanted to see if this was normal, guess it is.

[EZDozzit]

Originally Posted by 8ball

Thanks for the info; I noticed mine was between max and low today and wanted to see if this was normal, guess it is.

My service advisor gave me a couple of qt's of BMW/Castrol oil so I don't have to bring the X5 in just to have them top it off. If you don't mind adding some oil as needed, you may want to talk to your service advisor about hooking you up.

[ShantF1]

For everyone who has xdrive50i… how do like it… If you have the sport pack... How does it handle?

[EZDozzit]

Originally Posted by ShantF1

For everyone who has xdrive50i… how do like it… If you have the sport pack... How does it handle?

The 50i drives and handles great, specially with the sport pckg. The ttv8 sounds incredible.

[Vincenzo Veyron]

Originally Posted by ShantF1

For everyone who has xdrive50i… how do like it… If you have the sport pack... How does it handle?

i agree with EZ. heres a peak at the capabilities of a tuned 50i.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUnHnPt9sQI

i use 1.5 quarts of oil every 2k miles. no leaks.

[sburke91]

My 2011 50i also drinks a fair bit of oil, about 1/2 a quart every 2000 or so.

[Wienaren]

My 50i required about a liter every 5000-6000km, last winter this increased significantly. In Feb I began noticing that the engine wasn't running completely smooth immediately after a cold start, but that didn't alarm me because it was running fine otherwise (ie after a few seconds).

Fast forward to May 2014: Just got the car back with a new engine because BMW admitted some sort of production fault leading to engine damage. The guy just looked at my exhaust pipes, went "sigh... you were lucky to make it here" and knew what was going on. Oil everywhere. Turbos dead. Cost: $30,000 - BMW paid most of that although the warranty had expired long ago. Old engine had 40.000km on the meter. The guy didn't give me any details but mumbled something about leaking oil slowly destroying some piston coating.

I guess my message is: If oil consumption increases, have your car checked.