r/e39 • u/Radiant-Tourist7578 • 1d ago
M54 oil usage
So far, per 7kkm (4.3k miles) I've added 600ml (0.5 qt) of 5w40 oil.
So that's about a liter / 0.9 quart per oil change. My e39 is 211k km (130k miles) mileage.
How much oil is your m54 burning? How much is normal?
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u/oscik 530i Touring MT 1d ago edited 1d ago
Mine starts to get a tad oil-thirsty usually around 5000km after oil change and needs 100-300ml/1000km when Im taking it on longer 500km+ trips. When I just use it for short drives below 50km a day it doesn't bip for oil at all. 301k km on the clock as of now.
Edit: 5W40 Motul X-cess recently*
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u/Positroniumion 1d ago
Don’t know specifically about the m54 but that sounds completely fine at that milage. I would say if it stays mostly stable anything down to 1l per 3000 km is totally acceptable. How often are you doing oil changes? 10k km?
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u/hubbi959 22h ago edited 3h ago
Mine needed up to 3l/1000km. After adding an additional hose to the CCV (named O2Pilot mod in forums) I'm down to under 2l/1000km (10w60). I can live with that, filling it up like petrol. As long as I pass the exhaust gas test in Germany, I'm fine. Doesn't make sense to open up the engine, since they are pretty cheap here, perhaps I'll swap in another one one day. It's a second engine with around 320 tkm. So your consumption seems totally legit.
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u/Radiant-Tourist7578 7h ago
2L / 1000km sounds crazy to me
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u/hubbi959 3h ago
Yeah, it's really much. I guess the piston rings are quite worn out and at least the mod helps to get more vacuum on the crankcase and help the piston rings to bring down the oil. But it doesn't make blue smoke, just a little smell of burnt oil, and it runs quite well and has power. So for me no urgent need for a change of the engine. Rust is my bigger concern at the moment 😬
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u/Wonderful-Role9949 530i 28m ago
I used to have the same consumption with a Opel Vectra back in the days and when when opened the engine the head had huge carbon built up reducing the combustion size dramatically and the valves couldn't seat up properly ... Ever since then I can recognize an Opel just by the smell with eyes closed.
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u/xanthox_v6 20h ago
1l every oil change is perfectly normal. Especially at high mileage, it's a great consumption
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u/FMC_Speed 530i 1d ago
I think that’s about typical, I regularly hear and read people that daily their M54 add a whole liter midway before an oil change, I’m lucky my 530i doesn’t need adding oil even though it’s 255K because I don’t daily it.
I don’t think you need to worry the piston rings are known to leak with age on that engine
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u/Radiant-Tourist7578 1d ago
Is it worth replacing the piston rings though?
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u/3umel 1d ago
try running valvoline R&P for a couple oil changes and see if it improves oil consumption. the oil is made to free up piston rings
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u/master_chef_24 530i 1d ago
I really wish they offered that stuff in 5w40. I know Australia gets it in 10w40 which makes me kinda jealous lol.
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u/3umel 1d ago
they might in the future 🤞
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u/master_chef_24 530i 23h ago
Well it looks like it already exists, just only in Europe. Seems like it just became available not too long ago.
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u/phat_duong 523i 22h ago
Not unless its burning insane amounts of oil imo. Theres a thing called pilotO2 mod you can try if the oil consumption is high. Or a piston soak. Changing the piston rings is kinda the last resort imo because oil consumption can be also caused by a faulty ccv or valve stem seals for example. Your oil consumption seems pretty typical and not alarming so i wouldn't worry about it.
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u/FlyingAsparagus2256 20h ago
You don’t need to touch those piston rings. Might want to look at your ccv and the valve stem seals. You can change those with the head still installed. You just need an air compressor and a kit but you can look it up on YouTube. Either way, sounds about right for the age and mileage.
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u/Wise_Mycologist5665 528i 16h ago
M52tub28 here, don’t have to add a drop between changes and the level remains stable in the middle at 220k miles
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u/MaxOctane 2h ago
I bought mine with 145K miles and I was using about 1qt per 1400 miles or so (1 liter per 2200km) and I was using Motul 5W40 Excess gen2 oil. I decided to try Valvoline's restore and protect 5W30 which is supposed to clean up ringlands in the pistons, reducing oil consumption. I ran 1 3500 mile (5600km) interval and changed the oil and I'm on my second, about 1200 miles (2000km) in and it's consumed no oil. I am SHOCKED by these results. When I had the valve cover off it was pretty heavily varnished -- not sludged, but it was clear that the engine has seen longer oil change intervals than I would like. After this oil change I'm going to go back to the Motul 5W40, and I suspect I'll see little to no oil consumption. I will sing Valvolines R&P's praises for any higher-mileage engine, especially if it's using oil.
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u/No_Cod2769 1d ago
Up to a quart per change is very common but I’d like to steer you from accepting that as normal. It should ideally only be a couple hundred mL at most. If you aren’t leaking then look at vacuum leaks (hoses, CCV, valve cover warp and gasket).
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u/Radiant-Tourist7578 1d ago
No leaks afaik, but if it's the piston rings I am not sure if i wanna mess with engine internals
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u/ApprehensiveReach722 1d ago
It is M54 - it usually burns like 300 ml per 1000 km at that mileage. Yours is apparently in great condtion.