X5 3.0 oil consumption vs towing
 

Hi,
I have a X5 3.0 2002 and I use to tow my boat with it (4800 lbs total).
Last week-end, I made a trip in Northern Quebec and the road to get there is VERY hilly. Everything goes well. I used the manual mode for the big part of the trip which is, I think the best to reduce pressure on the tranny.
The only thing that I noticed is the oil consumption. The total mileage of the trip was 800 miles and my engine tooks 1 pint of oil. Is this normal ?

I use to stay in 4th speed at 55 mph (2700 rpm) on highways and flat roads. In the hills, I had to downshift often in 3rd (3500 rpm) and sometime in 2nd (up to 4500 rpm) to climb the steep and long hills.
My engine temperature hasn't move an air during the whole trip.

Oil consumption, as reported here, is all over the map
in terms of quantities used...and, all of our personal
usage and driving conditions vary considerably.

You could hit the Search Tab at top of page and find
volumes of opins and anecdotal reports.

Imo, that pint used in 800 miles, on a high mileage '02,
is not something out of the ordinary.

The temp gauge is really like an "on-off" switch:
any range of "reasonable" coolant temp will show
as high noon on the temp gauge; when it climbs
into the higher/1,2, 3 o'clock range, and stays,
then attention is needed asap.

GL,mD

PS: we did an fine M'cycle trip to Q City and then up the Saguenay Fiord
to Lac st Jean, out 113(?), and down to Val'D'Or and back to Q City...
helluva ride and "empty", lol!

1pint of oil for 800miles while towing a 4800lbs boat sounds pretty normal to me.

I just towed a 5000 Lb trailer from Chicago to Minneapolis (roughly 700 miles) When I pulled into the gas station the oil light went on. I did an oil change 2 days before the trip. Granted my X5 has 163000 miles. I added a quart of Mobile 1, dipstick was good. 1 quart of oil is normal