my 330ci 2001 is burning a lot of oil..

I drive an e46 330ci 2001 coupe, it has 142,000 my lately my car is consuming a lot of oil, i will say a quart every seven days, does anybody know what could be the problem of massive oil consuming ...........?

Failed Crankcase Vent Valve would be my first suspect if there's no milkshake in the coolant...

You're assuming consuming as opposed to just leaking. So first, have you removed the underskirt and looked for leaks.

You prolly will see oil on underskirt and the engine will be so covered that you should spray well with cleaner and then monitor. On clean engine, finding the source of leak is easier.

Also, the most massive oil leaks I've read of here are incidental to an oil change...especially if the loss seems to have happened suddenly. You change or have oil changed recently?

If so, doublecheck the oil filter cap...there may be no 0-ring or it may have been pushed up against the top of the lid (wrong) rather than seated in the groove for it on the cap...below flange.

CCV as mentioned is a decent guess...lots of other possibilities. Check oil drain plug first...maybe there's not crush washer on it.

Oil filter housing...vanos oil line (hmmm, I like that for massive oil loss)...then, below you've got the oil pan gasket and oil level sensor (that has an o-ring I believe (haven't done that).

You recently happen to have issues with overheating or coolant system. Is your temp gauge reading dead center. You see any smoke on startup...or notice a short period of rough idling that seems new? That's a sign of cylinder head gasket or cracked head...incidental, usually, to overheating.

Someone else drive car without you? How long have you had car? But, on these expensive things (gasket and/or head), if you weren't original owner, might've overheated and damaged these things...and knew it...sold car...these issues can or will slowly get worse...hope it's not this though.

Start with easier, less expensive fixes first.

If burning oil that much, you'd notice a smoke on start up and then beyond...and prolly would've mentioned...so not terribly likely...just a possibility like all the others.

BTW, ofh and ccv are easy enough to do together in less than a day for first timers. Having done it, I'd guess somewhere between 3-4 hrs. together if you have decent diy skills and have been around that neighborhood before diying.

HTH

Doug

sorry for your plight

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS, I Will definetely take a look of the stuff that you have mentioned.... what kind of oil should i put when my car has already 142000 miles, i've been getting Genuine BMW High Performance Synthetic Motor Oil, 5W-30... i believe i need a thicker oil because of the mileage...

Originally Posted by Alexc1010

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS, I Will definetely take a look of the stuff that you have mentioned.... what kind of oil should i put when my car has already 142000 miles, i've been getting Genuine BMW High Performance Synthetic Motor Oil, 5W-30... i believe i need a thicker oil because of the mileage...

My recommendation has always been Castrol 0w30 European formula ( it MUST say "made in Germany" on the back )

XW40 outside the U.S, you have CAFE the rest of the world does not.

Originally Posted by Alexc1010

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS, I Will definetely take a look of the stuff that you have mentioned.... what kind of oil should i put when my car has already 142000 miles, i've been getting Genuine BMW High Performance Synthetic Motor Oil, 5W-30... i believe i need a thicker oil because of the mileage...

Mobil 1 0W-40

It is BMW LL-01 approved.

Hello Guys, I'm having a similar problem but is not as serious as the problem here described, at least I hope so.
I have a 2003 318i N42 engine and my problem is that sometimes when i start or some random time, the exhaust spits some blue smoke, sometimes a lot, sometimes it's unnoticeable and sometimes it doesn't even smoke. I just made an oil service like 3 weeks ago, and it was the same before and after the change.

I ask a technician on the maintenance center where I take the car to and he says it's the valve seals, that it is a common problem on the N42s I'm guessing he's basing his thoughts on the fact that the engine has valvetronic.

So i wanted to ask for a second opinion. What do you guys say?

Originally Posted by Tangent_

Failed Crankcase Vent Valve would be my first suspect if there's no milkshake in the coolant...

When my CCV failed, I burned 6 liters of oil in 10 kilometers (10-minute drive). The exhaust was so thick and white, cars behind me had to stay far away to be able to drive safely.

I have witnessed Castrol GTX High Mileage soften up and seal several engines - especially rear main seal and valve stem seals.
It's good stuff with special gentle rubber softening chemical agents. You may want to try it for a couple thousand and see how it treats you.

Originally Posted by dmax

You're assuming consuming as opposed to just leaking. So first, have you removed the underskirt and looked for leaks.

You prolly will see oil on underskirt and the engine will be so covered that you should spray well with cleaner and then monitor. On clean engine, finding the source of leak is easier.

Also, the most massive oil leaks I've read of here are incidental to an oil change...especially if the loss seems to have happened suddenly. You change or have oil changed recently?

If so, doublecheck the oil filter cap...there may be no 0-ring or it may have been pushed up against the top of the lid (wrong) rather than seated in the groove for it on the cap...below flange.

CCV as mentioned is a decent guess...lots of other possibilities. Check oil drain plug first...maybe there's not crush washer on it.

Oil filter housing...vanos oil line (hmmm, I like that for massive oil loss)...then, below you've got the oil pan gasket and oil level sensor (that has an o-ring I believe (haven't done that).

You recently happen to have issues with overheating or coolant system. Is your temp gauge reading dead center. You see any smoke on startup...or notice a short period of rough idling that seems new? That's a sign of cylinder head gasket or cracked head...incidental, usually, to overheating.

Someone else drive car without you? How long have you had car? But, on these expensive things (gasket and/or head), if you weren't original owner, might've overheated and damaged these things...and knew it...sold car...these issues can or will slowly get worse...hope it's not this though.

Start with easier, less expensive fixes first.

If burning oil that much, you'd notice a smoke on start up and then beyond...and prolly would've mentioned...so not terribly likely...just a possibility like all the others.

BTW, ofh and ccv are easy enough to do together in less than a day for first timers. Having done it, I'd guess somewhere between 3-4 hrs. together if you have decent diy skills and have been around that neighborhood before diying.

HTH

Doug

are you saying that at failed CCV can cause the engine to burn oil or that it could simply be leaking?

Originally Posted by coxm1

are you saying that at failed CCV can cause the engine to burn oil or that it could simply be leaking?

From what I understand, a failed ccv can just leak or can also cause engine to burn oil, as if the air/oil mixture in the valve cover isn't separated, then the oil part of the air/oil mixture will enter engine through valve seals and burn...

So, the poster above that thought his issue wasn't as bad as the OP's--the guy with blue smoke--probably has an issue with ccv...hopefully. The only other way I know of that 'we' have blue exhaust smoke is from a failed head or head gasket.

Any issues with oil loss though, make sure you monitor oil carefully before you fix issue.

Doug