My 2002 E39 never burned any oil. All of a sudden it is starting to use 1 quart every 2 to 3 thousand miles. I dont see any drips so I am surmising it is burning it. A few days ago when I started the car a large cloud of smoke came out of the exhaust. I wiped the exhaust with my finger and it was oily. It only did this once but it seems coincidental. The car has 103,000 miles and is a Salvage Title so I don‘t want to throw a bunch of money in it. Is there an additive or perhaps another suggestion as to what I might check or do?
I will have to agree with the last answer. It will have to do with the Crank case vent system. There is sometimes some tubes that will get plugged up and it will cause the oil to push into places that normally don't. It is still a costly job, but not as bad as you might be thinking. Now please do not add ANY type of additive. This will cause so many problems. BMW's HATE additives. And on a further note the valve seals are and will be fine. Don't worry about replacing them. This is not a GM motor.
one quart every 2 to 3 K miles isn't much, that's within spec on a newer car. That's at most 1 quart between oil changes If the only time you see smoke is when you start it, it's probably getting through the valve seals. you could try one of those additives that help seals, sometimes they work, sometimes not. As long as your not leaving a blue cloud behind wherever you go, I would just check the oil regularly and add when needed.
It is more than possible that you have poor quality Oil in the engine and that by changing it, and filter that the problem will immediately go away. I have had a similar worry in the past and it worked for me. Owner of 3 BMWs
