Brand new 2012 BMW burns a quart of oil every 3300 miles

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Sorry . . meant to say “car nut who take their car care and maintenance seriously” . . . Rocketman

Mike, you made me laugh. I learned long ago to bite my toung when I hear those types of discussions in department stores. Some folks will accept it in the manner intended, even if they don;t believe it, but others will consider it an invasion of their privacy and get downright belligerant.

I recently heard a salesman in WalMart telling a lady that there was no actual difference between “regular” sparkplugs, platinum tipped plugs, and irridium plugs, and that it was just a marketing gimmick. That one I could not walk away from. I had to step in. The salesman disappeared. He probably headed back to the shoe department where he probably came from.

That 15000 mile oil change really bothers me. We all know why car makers do this but I really feel that this is just leaving the problems for the 2nd owner at 100k. This OP said he takes care of his vehicles and I have no reason to doubt that except this long time oil change interval . . . really a long time, don’t you think? Rocketman

I agree with those that say 15000 is way too long between oil changes. To me it’s like changing your baby’s diaper every 3-4 days. Sorry for the visual, guys.

Anyway, I’m not so certain that the OP is actually that oriented toward taking good care of his vehicles. If he were, he would not be upset about having to add a quart of oil every few months. And that’s okay, it isn’t a judgement of him as a person, it’s just an observation.

If I had a new car burning oil at the rate of 1qt every 3K miles I’d not be happy either. Adding oil isn’t really a big deal to me so I’d add oil and live with it. If the oil burning stayed the same or improved I’d keep the car for 10+ years. IF it deteriorated to 1qt every 2K miles I’d sell it and move on at some point.

It would bother me too…but I buy little 4-banger Toyotas.
If I bought a BMW like the OPs I wouldn’t be so concerend.

If this engine burned a quart every 3300 miles there would be cause for celebration!

All I can say is…wow!

How ironic is it that you have to start the engine to know whether there is any oil in it?

^^^
I hadn’t thought about that reality until now, but that is an excellent point.

I agree. Whitey, nice catch.

+1
Very good point.
That’s like testing a Chinese made parachute by jumping out of a plane.

At least with Porsche, my old '98 Boxster, that is, all I had to do was park it on a level spot, turn the ignition to on, and wait for the 6 second countdown before it gave me a level check. Of course, it also had a dipstick as backup, but I know the new ones don’t have a dipstick anymore.

I’m sure the BMW allows you to turn the ignition to on, wait a couple moments, and get a readout, too.

BC.

It must have been designed by the same BMW guy that designed I-Drive…another bad idea.