130,000 Miles of E39 M5 Oil Consumption Observations/Questions - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

Wright · 30th September 2009, 06:48

Hi friends and fellow Beast owners.

I had the pleasure of driving my 130,000th mile in my daily commuter E39 M5 today (my second, a full-fledged 2000 S2 regally outfitted by Dinan). I have added about 38,000 on my 2000 S2's odometer which uses 10-60 oil. I have consistently gotten 4200 to 5200 miles per quart of 10-60 oil.

When driving my 2001 E39 stock M5 (on two different engines), I managed approximately 750 to 1000 miles per quart of 5-30 oil. My 2001 M5 threw a rod at 20,000 miles, but yet my second engine (still going strong at 92,000 miles) still only got 700 to 1200 miles per quart of 5-30.

I'd be very interested to know if folks with a 2000 stock M5 also experience the pleasure of 4000-5000 miles per quart. And whether anybody has changed from 10-60 to 5-30 or vice-versa. OK, the 10-60 while very pricey ($15 + a quart if not self-bought) seems like it might be a good deal. Or what other E39 M5 owners with S2 package find for their oil consumption. I'm particularly confused because I tend to drive my E39 S2 at a higher rpm than my 2001 stock one

Instead of carrying around at least one if not two quarts of oil like I did for my E39 2001 M5, I traded in my box of 10-60 because I just need an oil change whenever my S2's oil light might go "ding" (instead of just adding a new quart).

Any thoughts on my observations would be appreciated, I am not a techie but I marvel every time I waste looking at my precious, so precious dipstick when I change my oil My 2000 with its 10-60 oil, or the Dinan S2 package, or my driving my car less tenderly must have something to do with this? Thanks for your thoughts

Kind regards, Wright

jt2ma71 · 30th September 2009, 07:39

Well right now im averaging about 500-750KM/Liter of TWS. I also have a known problem which i am waiting for parts to come in though. According to the previous owner which i am still in regular contact with he said he would average a liter every 2500-3000KM. He didnt drive much, he said hed only put about 6k-8KM a year on the car so he rarely added oil and changed it every year. He also drove the car pretty slow, or atleast everytime i saw him around.

I guess my driving caused the o-rings to let go behind the vanos adjustment units, and are causing my excessive oil consumption. I will report back after i replace the o-rings.

I know a few 01 guys who are burning a liter of TWS every 750-1000KMS though. I think Wilsodh had a very good explination for the random consumption. Break in on these cars was really dependant of whoever followed the manual. Also with the slippery nature of Synthetic and even more so 10W60 TWS break in was very scattered. Makes me wonder if the 01+ updated rings really made that big of a difference, or did the BMW 5W30 just allow for an easier break in?

KevinM · 30th September 2009, 07:40

My experience (MY 2002, 11/01 build date): BMW 5-30: one quart every 5-6 K miles; TWS 10-60: essentially no consumption between 7500 mile oil changes. To be honest, the main reason I changed to 10-60 was because the M coupe uses TWS and I wanted to consolidate oils in my garage.

Neighbour · 30th September 2009, 08:57

I have a 02` model with 43k miles and it consumes half a liter or nothing in 6000 mile peroid. I`m using TWS.

2strokecoldsmoke · 30th September 2009, 09:18

I was discussing this subject with another board member earlier this summer. We both have second hand M5s, both which had been driven conservatively by previous owners. They both used oil at a rate of a quart/liter every 700-1000 miles when we bought them.

'Conservative' does not describe either of our driving styles

, and after several thousand miles of driving the M5 like it was meant to be driven, both cars showed MARKED decrease in oil consumption.
My '01 is now using less than 1/2 quart/liter per 3000 miles (currently at 82,000 miles), the other board member's '00 (or '99, i forget which) was using even less, (he has taken his to Nurburgring several times).

Our theory was the easy driving by the original owners never allowed the rings to seat, thus the high oil consumption. After we worked the engines, the rings seated and oil consumption went down to normal levels.

khaleejm5 · 30th September 2009, 19:36

I am having the same problem at 116,000 KM it is a 2000 M5 LeMans Blue Canadian car I just recently bought it I am the 2nd owner already a owner of 2006 M3 SMG. Can anyone help me and tell me if this is a common problem please, I did fix an appointment at the dealership.

wilsodh · 30th September 2009, 20:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2strokecoldsmoke

I was discussing this subject with another board member earlier this summer. We both have second hand M5s, both which had been driven conservatively by previous owners. They both used oil at a rate of a quart/liter every 700-1000 miles when we bought them.

'Conservative' does not describe either of our driving styles

, and after several thousand miles of driving the M5 like it was meant to be driven, both cars showed MARKED decrease in oil consumption.
My '01 is now using less than 1/2 quart/liter per 3000 miles (currently at 82,000 miles), the other board member's '00 (or '99, i forget which) was using even less, (he has taken his to Nurburgring several times).

Our theory was the easy driving by the original owners never allowed the rings to seat, thus the high oil consumption. After we worked the engines, the rings seated and oil consumption went down to normal levels.

Very interesting. Your observations add another data point to similar reports by at least two other members, which jt2ma71 referenced above (see also post #15 on this thread: http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39...car-smoke.html) The ring seating theory is one I've espoused as well. I don't know how else we can account for these observations.

Dave

Cemessi · 1st October 2009, 12:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2strokecoldsmoke

I was discussing this subject with another board member earlier this summer. We both have second hand M5s, both which had been driven conservatively by previous owners. They both used oil at a rate of a quart/liter every 700-1000 miles when we bought them.

'Conservative' does not describe either of our driving styles

, and after several thousand miles of driving the M5 like it was meant to be driven, both cars showed MARKED decrease in oil consumption.
My '01 is now using less than 1/2 quart/liter per 3000 miles (currently at 82,000 miles), the other board member's '00 (or '99, i forget which) was using even less, (he has taken his to Nurburgring several times).

Our theory was the easy driving by the original owners never allowed the rings to seat, thus the high oil consumption. After we worked the engines, the rings seated and oil consumption went down to normal levels.

Hi Shaun

Its me that he's referring to and after 5,000 miles in my April 1999 car (now at 125,000 miles), it uses no oil at all. I have put nothing in it in 5,000 miles and its still on maximum. Why? Well, its a BMW fleet car and one of the first E39 M5's. Hence its been used as a demo and probably driven harder than 99% of them ever are. Hence it had a couple of clutches very early in its life but it pulls well and the rings have bedded in.

A friend of mine got a very low mileage M5 and it used a litre every few thousand. His friend got his keys and started doing donuts in it when it was stone cold. My friend was less than impressed but his oil consumption went down (I'm not suggesting anyone does this).

I'm finding oil consumption increases when using 5W30 (even if you have a later car) and that the harder you drive it, the less oil it will use.

wilsodh · 1st October 2009, 14:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cemessi

A friend of mine got a very low mileage M5 and it used a litre every few thousand. His friend got his keys and started doing donuts in it when it was stone cold. My friend was less than impressed but his oil consumption went down (I'm not suggesting anyone does this).

I'm finding oil consumption increases when using 5W30 (even if you have a later car) and that the harder you drive it, the less oil it will use.

Ah... the 'cold donuts' story again. What was your friend's board name? We gotta pull that thread back up....

Dave

Cemessi · 1st October 2009, 14:17

Oh did he post about it on here? LOL

His name is Mike but not sure what his board name is.