# 318i using oil



## rodster13 (Mar 18, 2004)

NewB to this forum.
My wife's 318 uses a quart every 1500 mi.
What's up with that? Is that a BMW thing or is the engine shot?
I love to hear from anyone with the 4cyl eng.

BTW
she's bailing to Mercedes I'm geting an X5.


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## woody underwood (Feb 9, 2004)

*oil*



rodster13 said:


> NewB to this forum.
> My wife's 318 uses a quart every 1500 mi.
> What's up with that? Is that a BMW thing or is the engine shot?
> I love to hear from anyone with the 4cyl eng.
> ...


First of all...all 318s have a 4 banger. You didn't mention year or mileage which would have been most helpful. I'd say any 1.9 or 1.8 BMW engine with 50'000+ miles on it will use that much oil every 1500 miles/a month or so. It's a high performance engine and should....her new Benz might be worse after the same mileage!


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## woody underwood (Feb 9, 2004)

*more oil*



rodster13 said:


> NewB to this forum.
> My wife's 318 uses a quart every 1500 mi.
> What's up with that? Is that a BMW thing or is the engine shot?
> I love to hear from anyone with the 4cyl eng.
> ...


There's also a thread here about 318 oil LEAKS...that could also be the problem.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Tell us what year and mileage, and we can help more. First, though, as is mentioned - find out where the oil is going. Shine a flashlight around from up top and below, and see if you can find any oil residue; if so, clean it off, go for a spin and look for fresh oil in the same spot. If it isn't leaking, you might be burning it, either by blowing past the rings or blowing past the valve seals. If you have an older car and it turns out to be the latter, you might consider getting a head job just to keep all running smoothly...

Just oil consumption alone shouldn't point to imminent engine failure, though.


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## andy_thomas (Oct 7, 2002)

rodster13 said:


> NewB to this forum.
> My wife's 318 uses a quart every 1500 mi.
> What's up with that? Is that a BMW thing or is the engine shot?
> I love to hear from anyone with the 4cyl eng.
> ...


It depends which 318i - that car featured several types of engine.

A quart every 1,500 miles is pretty normal. Yes, it is a "BMW thing" . Lots of cars do it, usually the more highly-strung ones.


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## rodster13 (Mar 18, 2004)

woody underwood said:


> First of all...all 318s have a 4 banger. You didn't mention year or mileage which would have been most helpful. I'd say any 1.9 or 1.8 BMW engine with 50'000+ miles on it will use that much oil every 1500 miles/a month or so. It's a high performance engine and should....her new Benz might be worse after the same mileage!


it's a '95 with 81k miles (only auto-crossed once  Anyone else with first hand experience?


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## SergioK (Aug 14, 2002)

BMW released a SB regarding this... I think that on some models up to 1 quart consumed every 750 miles may be expected.


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## Lance Racing (Jan 28, 2003)

If you are burning it rather than dripping it, consider increasing the weight a notch. Northern or southern region is going to make a difference too.


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## ctbmw (Aug 30, 2003)

Any way of finding out which engine I have in my 95 318I? Oil consumption should be expected?! 
-Mel


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## SergioK (Aug 14, 2002)

MWeaver said:


> Any way of finding out which engine I have in my 95 318I? Oil consumption should be expected?!
> -Mel


What's the last 7 numbers of your VIN?


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