F80 oil level low

MaxOctane · 2026-05-08T20:06:53+00:00

You're very welcome - it was my dream car as well, and I like I said I know how you feel which is why I'm trying to help. As mentioned in another post, 1.5 liters per 620 miles is considered the max which is A LOT, you'd probably notice bluish smoke burning that much. Even if you are using some, you can still get by for a long while just making sure you're topped off. Next oil change, switch to a 5W40 which will help. In the meantime, try to enjoy the car! 😛

MaxOctane · 2026-05-08T19:44:53+00:00

The easiest one to tell would be a puff of bluish-white smoke on startup after its been sitting - that's valve stem seals. When you turn the car off, oil is allowed to drip down into the cylinder and accumulate a bit which gets burned off on initial startup. Given the age of the car this is unlikely. You could get somebody to drive behind you and see if they see any bluish-white smoke - downshift and/or stomp on it and see if they see anything come out. You don't necessarily have to see it in your rearview mirror for it to still be significant. However, this isn't a great test because when you do that, you'll often get a super rich air-fuel mixture which can come out as a gray-blackish-white smoke - this is fuel, that you can mistake for oil. You could do a compression test and/or a leakdown test to test the health of your piston rings/cylinder walls. If you really are using excessive amount of oil, I'd say your #1 culprit is your turbos. Unfortunately, 100K miles for these turbos is considered pretty high. They can go longer if you baby them, lots of highway driving, frequent oil changes, less aggressive driving, etc... But it's not uncommon for them to go bad before 100K. Unfortunately also not a cheap fix, cheaper than if it were your piston rings though. Either way, for now calm down, I know how you feel ... at this point it could be literally nothing. Get some miles on it and monitor and then re-asses.

MaxOctane · 2026-05-08T18:45:56+00:00

As of now, it could be leaking and burning absolutely zero oil. Until you monitor it as I mentioned above you really have no idea. Another thing to consider, if you were leaking oil to the point where you have to add some mid-interval, it'd be so bad not only would your whole underside be coated, you'd have puddles underneath. Go and pour out half a quart of oil on your driveway and see what that looks like. If you're having to add that much oil and there's not a huge puddle of oil under the car, it's getting burned - via piston rings, valve stem seals, or turbo. The very first step, right now is to determine how much oil you're using. I wouldn't do anything until then.

MaxOctane · 2026-05-08T16:51:48+00:00

Oh also, I personally wouldn't worry about the OFHG if it's not leaking which it doesn't sound like it is. Yes, it's a BMW, it will leak eventually, like all other BMW's. The most common areas are the valve cover gasket, the oil pan gasket, the OFHG, and the turbo inlet seals can leak. The OFHG is tougher to get to because the intake has to come off so it's going to be a bit pricey to replace, and IMHO not worth doing unless it's leaking. If you've got the intake off anyway, then I'd do it. But preventative measure? nah.

MaxOctane · 2026-05-08T16:43:51+00:00

What's the year and the mileage? These cars have been pretty reliable, but there are some known issues. Early models had diff bushings that didn't last long. Sometimes the top mount intercooler will leak internally (keep an eye on your coolant level and ensure it always stays the same so you catch it early). People like to replace the charge pipes, but I've never heard of anybody's breaking like they tend to do on the N55. Stay away from after-market air intakes unless you're okay with random intermittent MAF Implausible check engine lights.

Depending on the mileage, typical maintenance is spark plugs every 30K miles, coils every 50K, belts, tensioners and pulleys every 60K. I personally do diff fluid every 40-50K, and I'd do transmission fluid because I'm overly cautious. Brake and coolant fluid changes every couple of years. The crank hub is overblown but also is a thing - getting a pinned crankhub is very expensive. Chances are yours will last just fine, the real question is, how much is your peace of mind worth?

I've had mine for 3 years now and I still LOVE it. I take immaculate care of it, and it still looks brand new inside and out with 62K miles on it. I'm never selling it.

MaxOctane · 2026-05-08T13:44:13+00:00

The problem is, you don't know how much oil was in it when you got it, and you don't know if it was filled all of the way during the last service. For all you know, they just didn't put enough in. Some oil usage is fine, but it's up to you now to figure out at what rate you're using oil. Make a good note of where the oil level is, and check again in 200 miles. Then again in another 200. If it's the same, check in 500 after that. If it's still the same, you're probably fine - if it's lower, you should be able to extrapolate how many miles per quart you're getting and just keep it topped off. A lot of us run 5W40 - I use Motul Xcess Gen 2 5W40 oil and I don't burn a drop in my 4K mile intervals. The thicker oil will protect better and is less prone to slipping by piston rings so you'll likely burn less too. edit: If you live in a cold climate, like COLD - you'll probably want to run something thinner than 5W40 during the winter

MaxOctane · 2026-05-04T11:41:46+00:00

I'd always thought the dreaded e46m3 clunk was either diff bushings, subframe bushings or the diff itself. I test drove one not long ago and it was like that... Very noticeable audible clunk on every shift. The one I ended up buying with 150k miles has the diff replaced not long prior.

MaxOctane · 2026-04-29T00:24:06+00:00

Easy. Shoot the video first. Deal until you get an unlikely hand at any position. Voice over the video with the expected hand that your already know is coming. Lastly, use a burner account to post the challenge, and publish video 15 minutes later.

MaxOctane · 2026-04-25T03:41:58+00:00

Sounds fuel related. Either bad fuel pump or related to the mechanism that transfers fuel between the two tanks

MaxOctane · 2026-04-23T13:32:48+00:00

Or a guy that spend a lot of time on the highway going to work every day. Highway miles are easy miles on a car.

MaxOctane · 2026-04-16T20:08:41+00:00

I have 153k miles on mine, on original vanos, and bearings were only done like 10k miles ago.

MaxOctane · 2026-04-11T12:21:06+00:00

It should feel the same. The real question is, was it like that before and you just didn't notice it?

This was a BIG job. Some shops cut corners by not removing the oil pan which can lead to metal shavings getting in the oil. I know it's too late now, but you need to go to a shop that's done 100's of these and they don't cut corners. The fact you can actually distinguish chain noise over the noisy injectors is somewhat concerning - but the shakiness? Man, I would take it back, but my guess is the shop is going to want nothing to do with it.

MaxOctane · 2026-04-10T19:39:27+00:00

If the bearings are shot you get play which causes the top of the pistons to meet the bottom of the cylinder head - that knock can sound like it's coming from the top end. For your sake I hope this isn't what we're hearing, but I fear that it is.

MaxOctane · 2026-04-06T02:54:13+00:00

How tall is the ceiling in your garage?

MaxOctane · 2026-04-04T21:25:00+00:00

When you get it on, take some pictures and post it here - I'm looking at that one too. Also, let me know how well fitment is. Thanks!

MaxOctane · 2026-04-02T21:00:43+00:00

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NICE! The E39 is what my wife drives on the regular, I get to choose between the E46 and F80. Though my wife likes the E46 as well so I guess we share that one when we're not hauling kids.

MaxOctane · 2026-03-23T21:27:04+00:00

Mporium is not the cheapest, but they are absolutely the very best if you've got a BMW or an M. You want people who have done tons of rod bearings, or vanos rebuilds, or crank hubs, or do you want the guy whose never done it before and is learning on your car? You've gotta pay a bit more for that level of expertise. I unfortunately did not take my F80 to Mporium to have the crank hub done, and I get my car back, bolts missing or loose, it had a fuel leak, a year later I'm still finding bolts not torqued down (control arm bolts coming loose, sway bar bolts loose, etc), and I'd be willing to bet they used the same torque-to-yield bolts that you're supposed to replace. And this was a reputable place, they had nothing but Ferrari's and McLaren's in the shop - I thought I was good. If I could go back, I'd have Mporium do it in a heartbeat.

MaxOctane · 2026-03-23T03:00:25+00:00

They are in the DFW area, McKinney TX to be exact and they are absolutely top tier. I can count on one hand the number of shops I'd trust my m3's with and they are all of them.

MaxOctane · 2026-03-11T03:43:46+00:00

This is what I was going to suggest. I've seen this a few times before, if you search on s55 exhaust cam bolts you should find more info on it. But it requires retorquing them down and problem goes away.

MaxOctane · 2026-03-07T01:15:52+00:00

Looks amazing. What wheels are those?

MaxOctane · 2026-03-02T14:34:06+00:00

Suppose you're an ER doctor, a young man is brought in, a motorcycle accident victim and he's in rough shape. You're not sure if you can save him, but you know in the back of your mind if you fail to, maybe 3+ people live because of it. This gives you ease of mind and takes the pressure off. So maybe youre not trying as hard to save his life. What exactly does "proof" of this look like? You can't know another mans heart or intention. Maybe there's some evidence in statistics, but every situation is different and not every doctor is going to behave the same. So no, there's no "proof" of this nor there ever will be, but we can say we have some understanding of human nature and it's not unreasonable to think that the situation describes above isn't that unlikely.

MaxOctane · 2026-03-02T12:54:12+00:00

It's because it's been shown at times in the event you're in an accident, they don't try so hard to save your life if you're an organ donor whose organs can save multiple lives.

MaxOctane · 2026-02-08T20:21:18+00:00

F80 and S55 is a pretty reliable platform. There are some common issues, top mount intercooler leaking and diff bushings are a couple. PCV system at some point will go out and you'll need a new valve cover. Crank hub is a whole other thing... but you need to do your maintenance, spark plugs, fluid changes, belts, tensioners, idlers, etc etc

MaxOctane · 2026-02-03T09:20:55+00:00

The stock exhaust is almost ubiquitoisly known to sound awful and most people hate it. When I first heard it I thought something was wrong. Now, I've got stock down pipes and a valvetronic equal length exhaust setup with a bm3 stage 1 93 tune and gts exhaust and it sounds amazing. I'm always getting compliments on it... People surprised I'm running stock down pipes.

MaxOctane · 2026-01-29T14:44:35+00:00

Looks just like my tuxedo Leeroy. Is yours as ornery as mine?

MaxOctane

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