2009 BMW 328xi SULEV. HELP! losing oil but no leak or code

[maxcsr]

uHi everyone I hope you're doing well
I have a 2009 bmw 328xi SULEV N51 vehicle. I have 145,000K miles. I also have the extended SULEV warranty to 150k miles.
I had oil leak 3 months ago from VCG and dealer fixed it under warranty. Then when I picked it up it was still leaking I returned it back to them they said this time was the valve cover was cracked and they replaced it.
As soon as I took it back I started noticing my engine oil level was at half mark. I did oil change and then 2 weeks later I got a warning light in yellow about the oil level.
I added 3 qts to reach full mark. I also have the "Service" light on dashboard show in red when I turn vehicle on.
I took it back to dealer it is still at dealer now and he told me when I dropped it off that since I have no check engine light I will not be covered under the SULEV warranty.
How? I'm losing lots of oil ever since they replaced my vcg and valve cover. I think dealer wants to play me because they called and said they was no oil leaks and they recommend I do a fresh oil change so they can put the right amount of oil and I can return back to them after 1k miles to re check.
I have a feeling they want me to drive more to reach my 5k miles so I can be out of warranty.
What should I do? I need your help. My car is running fine no lag or anything. Its just losing oil and only "service" light shows in red every time I turn on vehicle ever since it started losing oil.
Please help me not to be played by the dealer. What should I tell them to check? Why am I losing this much oil without check engine light or code?

Thank you so much for helping me on this I really appreciate your time

[drewusmaximus]

I'm sure the dealer is trying to find ways to make double the money. They get paid for the warranty work. Is it possible to find another dealer to look at the car? Second opinion? Have you checked for any oil leaks? The known oil leaks on our cars are the valve cover gasket, oil pan, oil filter housing gasket and very rarely the main seal. If you're losing that much oil, you should be able to see where the leak is. An oil pan leak is a slow leak. A valve cover gasket leak would drip onto the exhaust and you would smell burning oil in the cabin. An oil filter housing gasket leak would leak at the front of the engine, under the alternator or under the intake manifold. Get a bright flashlight and look under the intake manifold and under the alternator. Check to see if your serpentine belt is greasy. The car doesn't need a check engine light to be covered under the SULEV warranty. As long as the car has a failed part that's covered by the SULEV warranty, the part is covered.
I'm not sure if the oil pan gasket is covered under the SULEV warranty. That's what I'm trying to find out. If you aren't seeing oil leaking on the ground or around the engine, maybe your oil level sensor is going bad? Get under the car and look around and take pictures. Take pictures of the engine, under the engine and under the body, just in case the dealer makes a change without your consent. You'll have pictures to show proof. And post pics of your engine bay and under the car here so we can see. Maybe we can see something you might have overlooked. Keep us updated.

I forgot to mention, you could be burning oil as well. If you changed your CCV, then you should be ok, unless oil is passing through the rings. What color is the exhaust smoke? Have you checked the coolant to see if oil is mixed with the coolant?

[marvinstockman]

First, forget about leaking, as if it was leaking as much as you say, oil would be everywhere, just everywhere. I had a cracked valve cover, which did leak, but I never saw it on the dipstick.

If you have an electronic 'dipstick' like everyone else, the difference between normal and low on the display is one qt. Also the display will not register right away. You can put oil in till the cows come home, and it won't register till it wants to register.

Finally, drain the oil out, and measure how much comes out, as I think you probably have 2 or 3 qts too much.

Finally, finally, the car is designed not to start if you actually had too little oil.

Finally, finally, finally break up your post with line spaces, as yours is hard to read.

- - - Updated - - -

One more thing, if you have documented your problem at the dealer, the warranty continues until they fix it. You can confirm this with BMW central.

[maxcsr]

First, forget about leaking, as if it was leaking as much as you say, oil would be everywhere, just everywhere. I had a cracked valve cover, which did leak, but I never saw it on the dipstick.

If you have an electronic 'dipstick' like everyone else, the difference between normal and low on the display is one qt. Also the display will not register right away. You can put oil in till the cows come home, and it won't register till it wants to register.

Finally, drain the oil out, and measure how much comes out, as I think you probably have 2 or 3 qts too much.

Finally, finally, the car is designed not to start if you actually had too little oil.

Finally, finally, finally break up your post with line spaces, as yours is hard to read.

- - - Updated - - -

One more thing, if you have documented your problem at the dealer, the warranty continues until they fix it. You can confirm this with BMW central.

Hi, and thank you for your reply and helping me in this.

I'm still waiting for dealer to call me advisor haven't contacted me yet. What's funny is my car is equipped with inside front and rear cameras that are working all the time even when vehicle is off I had this system installed for security purposes. So when someone opens or does anything to the car is recorded. I dropped my car off 8 days ago. My vehicle was only checked by mechanic for a total of 35 minutes then they took my car to the parking lot and its been sitting there since then (8 days ago parked and they haven't been looking at it since then).

I received a video from mechanic showing me around the vehicle saying that they don't see any oil leaks and recommending they do a fresh oil change then return back after 1000 miles to check oil levels. Then in video he said he will forward this to my advisor which he said will contact me. but I haven't heard from them.
Are they making me believe they been working on it all this time even though they only did for 35 minutes?

I'm going to wait to see when they call and what they tell me but I don't want to take car back without them fixing the issue. They will make me pay the diagnostic fee and I'm sure something is causing the oil to disappear. Please tell me what should I say or do when they try to tell me nothing is wrong?

Thank you

[maxcsr]

advisor called me yesterday saying they found NOTHING. He said he doesn't see any oil leaking and no check engine light so he said at this point there is nothing found related to SULEV warranty. He said if he wants me to check deeper it'll cost me to check it. I asked could the oil go through the pistons he said pistons not covered under sulev warranty.
I then told him my father noticed smoke from the tail pipe. The advisor then called me saying I contradict what I'm saying because when I dropped car off he asked me if I saw any smoke and I said no but my dad later told me he saw little smoke from tail pipe the other day so the advisor said he's going to have the technician check one more thing and if there is nothing found he will give me car back.

I'm worried now where did this oil go? all of the sudden I lost this much oil it has to be something. It can't be nothing.
Recently I've done most maintainance on the vehicle;
VCG, VC, Transmission service, Oil pan was leaking I fixed it. Oil filter housing was leaking and fixed.
Where else could the oil be going?
Apparently it lost 3 qt's of oil for no reason what could it be?
I only have 5k miles lesft on the SULEV warranty and I'm worried i'll get a bigger issue once it passes those miles.
Please advise me what to do here
Thank you so much

[drewusmaximus]

advisor called me yesterday saying they found NOTHING. He said he doesn't see any oil leaking and no check engine light so he said at this point there is nothing found related to SULEV warranty. He said if he wants me to check deeper it'll cost me to check it. I asked could the oil go through the pistons he said pistons not covered under sulev warranty.
I then told him my father noticed smoke from the tail pipe. The advisor then called me saying I contradict what I'm saying because when I dropped car off he asked me if I saw any smoke and I said no but my dad later told me he saw little smoke from tail pipe the other day so the advisor said he's going to have the technician check one more thing and if there is nothing found he will give me car back.

I'm worried now where did this oil go? all of the sudden I lost this much oil it has to be something. It can't be nothing.
Recently I've done most maintainance on the vehicle;
VCG, VC, Transmission service, Oil pan was leaking I fixed it. Oil filter housing was leaking and fixed.
Where else could the oil be going?
Apparently it lost 3 qt's of oil for no reason what could it be?
I only have 5k miles lesft on the SULEV warranty and I'm worried i'll get a bigger issue once it passes those miles.
Please advise me what to do here
Thank you so much

If it's blue smoke coming from the tail pipe, it's oil burning. If it's white sweet smelling smoke, it's coolant burning. If the car is burning that much oil, then the CCV is bad or the piston rings are allowing oil to pass to the chambers. Pull a spark plug or two out and flash a light down the holes. See if there's any oil in the cylinder and on the plugs. If you're losing that much oil and there are no leaks anywhere, those cylinders should have oil. From experience, when the CCV is bad, you'd lose about a quart every 1000 miles not 3 quarts less than 1000 miles and you would see blue puffs (not constant) of smoke leaving the tail pipe. Did you pull the plastics off from underneath to see if there's any oil on them? Keep us updated.

Quick question. Did the SULEV warranty cover the oil pan gasket?

[maxcsr]

If it's blue smoke coming from the tail pipe, it's oil burning. If it's white sweet smelling smoke, it's coolant burning. If the car is burning that much oil, then the CCV is bad or the piston rings are allowing oil to pass to the chambers. Pull a spark plug or two out and flash a light down the holes. See if there's any oil in the cylinder and on the plugs. If you're losing that much oil and there are no leaks anywhere, those cylinders should have oil. From experience, when the CCV is bad, you'd lose about a quart every 1000 miles not 3 quarts less than 1000 miles and you would see blue puffs (not constant) of smoke leaving the tail pipe. Did you pull the plastics off from underneath to see if there's any oil on them? Keep us updated.

Quick question. Did the SULEV warranty cover the oil pan gasket?

Dealer called me again said he checked further and didn't find any oil leaking (lying because my car hasn't been checked as per my camera in car recording 24/7). He said if I want him to dig deeper I will pay per hour labor charge. I obviously don't want to pay so I said no but he suggested, he said if I want him to "entertain the SULEV warranty" he suggests that the dealer do an oil change and seal it so they can measure how much oil they putting in the engine and he said I can drive and when oil light comes back I should call him immediately when that happens and NOT to add any oil and bring the car to dealer to check further for SULEV related. I agreed and I will be picking up the car today.
Question; If its the CCV then why didn't he check that? I even asked him it could be the CCV and he said he don't think so. Should I take the car today and do what he told me or should I demand CCV be checked?

Oil pan gasket is NOT covered under SULEV. I've done it last year and I'm not leaking oil anywhere under vehicle or around engine.

Again Dealer told me yesterday that "Check Engine" light must be on for the SULEV to work. He said he doesn't see any failed parts or oil leaks to honor the SULEV at this time and if I lose oil when I get car back within 1000 miles he said they will entertain the SULEV warranty.

I have 5000miles left for the SULEV to expire. He said if I lost oil within 1000K then I have a problem. But he also said if I drive 5k miles and lose oil thats normal and there is no problem.

Please advise me if what I'm doing is right and if I should ask him to check something else before taking back vehicle.

Last question, if I return back after I lose more oil. Does the dealer refund me for the diagnostic fee they are charging me today when I pick it up?

Thank you so much and I will keep you updated.

[drewusmaximus]

Dealer called me again said he checked further and didn't find any oil leaking (lying because my car hasn't been checked as per my camera in car recording 24/7). He said if I want him to dig deeper I will pay per hour labor charge. I obviously don't want to pay so I said no but he suggested, he said if I want him to "entertain the SULEV warranty" he suggests that the dealer do an oil change and seal it so they can measure how much oil they putting in the engine and he said I can drive and when oil light comes back I should call him immediately when that happens and NOT to add any oil and bring the car to dealer to check further for SULEV related. I agreed and I will be picking up the car today.
Question; If its the CCV then why didn't he check that? I even asked him it could be the CCV and he said he don't think so. Should I take the car today and do what he told me or should I demand CCV be checked?

Oil pan gasket is NOT covered under SULEV. I've done it last year and I'm not leaking oil anywhere under vehicle or around engine.

Again Dealer told me yesterday that "Check Engine" light must be on for the SULEV to work. He said he doesn't see any failed parts or oil leaks to honor the SULEV at this time and if I lose oil when I get car back within 1000 miles he said they will entertain the SULEV warranty.

I have 5000miles left for the SULEV to expire. He said if I lost oil within 1000K then I have a problem. But he also said if I drive 5k miles and lose oil thats normal and there is no problem.

Please advise me if what I'm doing is right and if I should ask him to check something else before taking back vehicle.

Last question, if I return back after I lose more oil. Does the dealer refund me for the diagnostic fee they are charging me today when I pick it up?

Thank you so much and I will keep you updated.

It sounds like they are trying to find ways to make money off of you. You can always go to another dealer for a second opinion, but from what you are explaining, it sounds as if they are trying to make money off of you. The way you can check if the CCV is going bad is to see if there's a lot of oil in the intake manifold by pulling off the DISA valve. You will be able to see inside the intake manifold and see if there's a bunch of oil, but if that were the case, you would be seeing blue smoke coming out of the tail pipe, since the oil would be reaching the combustion chamber.
Did you pull the spark plugs and look down the holes to see if there's oil on the piston heads? Do that first before going to the dealer and getting ripped off. Since they already lied to you based on your camera footage, it wouldn't be wise to go back to them. And you can make them aware that they're lying to customers. If they're aware, they might approach you in a professional matter, since they would know they're being watched and can't play you. Why do you think you're losing a lot of oil? I know you mentioned it on your first post, but I got a bit confused with all the responses. lol
Keep us posted on every instance. I hate when dealers try to take advantage.

I just had a thought. Maybe the oil level sensor could be going bad? Maybe order a new one, then change the oil and check the level periodically? It wouldn't hurt to change it anyway and it would probably be cheaper than to give your money to the dealer and not have the problem fixed.

[marvinstockman]

Drew,

Do you have a friend or relative with some car knowledge who can help you?

Also, if you feel they are taking advantage of you, ask to meet with the BMW Zone manager, who makes the rounds of BMW dealers and is there to solve technical issues.

Regarding check engine light, my cracked valve cover never set an emissions code, and it was covered by BMW.

Finally, I think you should just do an oil change as was suggested, and ask whoever does it to measure how much oil comes out. You can now start monitoring you oil usage. Remember, on the electronic gauge, it is one qt between high and low, and not three qts. You also have 7 qts in the crankcase, and being 1 qt down is not a medical emergency! Finally, as I told you before, the gauge doesn't react quickly, so don't keep adding oil until it does.

[drewusmaximus]

I agree with Marvin. I have to drive about 5 minutes for the oil to be registered. I had the same problem, but I learned how much oil has to be added to reach the max line. For me it was 7.3Qts. I still don't know if I have enough oil because the bar level is right at the max line, but there's still a 1/4 of the bar after the max line that's empty.

[drewusmaximus]

Dealer called me again said he checked further and didn't find any oil leaking (lying because my car hasn't been checked as per my camera in car recording 24/7). He said if I want him to dig deeper I will pay per hour labor charge. I obviously don't want to pay so I said no but he suggested, he said if I want him to "entertain the SULEV warranty" he suggests that the dealer do an oil change and seal it so they can measure how much oil they putting in the engine and he said I can drive and when oil light comes back I should call him immediately when that happens and NOT to add any oil and bring the car to dealer to check further for SULEV related. I agreed and I will be picking up the car today.
Question; If its the CCV then why didn't he check that? I even asked him it could be the CCV and he said he don't think so. Should I take the car today and do what he told me or should I demand CCV be checked?

Oil pan gasket is NOT covered under SULEV. I've done it last year and I'm not leaking oil anywhere under vehicle or around engine.

Again Dealer told me yesterday that "Check Engine" light must be on for the SULEV to work. He said he doesn't see any failed parts or oil leaks to honor the SULEV at this time and if I lose oil when I get car back within 1000 miles he said they will entertain the SULEV warranty.

I have 5000miles left for the SULEV to expire. He said if I lost oil within 1000K then I have a problem. But he also said if I drive 5k miles and lose oil thats normal and there is no problem.

Please advise me if what I'm doing is right and if I should ask him to check something else before taking back vehicle.

Last question, if I return back after I lose more oil. Does the dealer refund me for the diagnostic fee they are charging me today when I pick it up?

Thank you so much and I will keep you updated.

I just had a thought. Call me crazy, but do you think they're sucking oil out to make it look like you're losing oil, to get you to the point of madness so you end up letting them work on the car beyond what the SULEV warranty covers? Call me paranoid, but if there are no leaks, and the mechanic lied to you about checking the car, it only leads me to believe there's more deceit. It seems as if the oil drops every time you go to that dealer. And as you stated, the mechanic mentioned " if you want him to dig deeper, you will pay per hour labor charge." But.., if they were sucking oil out, you would've caught it on camera. Never mind. LOL If you change your own oil, I recommend draining the oil, add 7.3Qts, drive the car for about 5 minutes and check the level while you're driving. The level should be at the max line. Then drive it for a few days checking the oil religiously while you're driving but remember to wait until you drive at least 5 minutes before checking. Every time you start the car, you have to wait at least 5 minutes for the oil level to register. I'm expecting a status report! lol

[maxcsr]

Hello everyone!
I got my car back a few days ago. I paid them about $328 thats including oil change and disagnotic fee.
They told me they sealed the oil and they said not to add oil. And if I lose oil I should give them a call right away so I can bring it in.
I've been driving about 400 miles and not losing oil. I keep checking my oil level on dashboard and it seemed to be full all the time.
My car is driving good like before no change. But I'm not losing oil.
I'm confused why I lost this much oil before and not anymore.

I'm gonna keep driving the car and check oil hopefully nothing but I'm still confused how come I lose this much oil before without any leak or visible oil leaks. Now I'm fine. I just hope it doesn't come back when my warranty ends very soon

[drewusmaximus]

Hello everyone!
I got my car back a few days ago. I paid them about $328 thats including oil change and disagnotic fee.
They told me they sealed the oil and they said not to add oil. And if I lose oil I should give them a call right away so I can bring it in.
I've been driving about 400 miles and not losing oil. I keep checking my oil level on dashboard and it seemed to be full all the time.
My car is driving good like before no change. But I'm not losing oil.
I'm confused why I lost this much oil before and not anymore.

I'm gonna keep driving the car and check oil hopefully nothing but I'm still confused how come I lose this much oil before without any leak or visible oil leaks. Now I'm fine. I just hope it doesn't come back when my warranty ends very soon

Just remember that you have to drive for a bit for the oil to register. I think if you plan to check the oil while idling, I'd wait 5 to 10 minutes for the oil to register. You mentioned they "sealed the oil". What does that mean?

[maxcsr]

Just remember that you have to drive for a bit for the oil to register. I think if you plan to check the oil while idling, I'd wait 5 to 10 minutes for the oil to register. You mentioned they "sealed the oil". What does that mean?

They marked the cap and oil filter with a marker.
I've been driving about 500 miles now and my I'm not losing oil. My oil indicator is at the full mark.

[drewusmaximus]

They marked the cap and oil filter with a marker.
I've been driving about 500 miles now and my I'm not losing oil. My oil indicator is at the full mark.

That good news! I'm glad it worked out. It would be nice to know why the oil seemed low during those times, but what matter is the car is back to normal.