Oil for beginners

[cycl2day]

Ok I'm new to BMW's - and you guys & gals who've been around this for awhile will be bored - but - although I am impressed by BMW engineering and technology why do they use so much oil ?

[boxermania]

Welcome aboard.....

I, amongst others, have been over the reason many times. Will advise that you do a search on the topic, however, because you are a newbie I will share the short version.

Aluminum cylinder(s) coated with Nikasil which adds tremendous wear to the cylinder surface. Piston rings need to seat against this surface and that takes place via changing the engine load and heat cycles. The longer you baby the engine after the factory recomended break in period the longer the rings will take to seat and consequently the longer the oil consumption will ensue.

Don't be afraid to ride it hard....mine ceased to use oil around 4500 miles....some others have used oil to 20K and beyond.

I'm sure others will chime in.......

[sweatmark]

Guessing that Al meant to say "...adding tremendous wear resistance..."

Yes, these bikes are built tough (at least the motors are!), and riders tend to baby the poor things.

One strategy to resolve the oil consumption problem can be found in the following threads:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14138&start=0
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16245&start=0
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14927&start=0

I have a trackday bike other than my Rockster, but am tempted to cure its R1150R thirst for 20W-50 in this manner.

[riceburner]

Welcome aboard.....

I, amongst others, have been over the reason many times. Will advise that you do a search on the topic, however, because you are a newbie I will share the short version.

Aluminum cylinder(s) coated with Nikasil which adds tremendous wear to the cylinder surface. Piston rings need to seat against this surface and that takes place via changing the engine load and heat cycles. The longer you baby the engine after the factory recomended break in period the longer the rings will take to seat and consequently the longer the oil consumption will ensue.

Don't be afraid to ride it hard....mine ceased to use oil around 4500 miles....some others have used oil to 20K and beyond.

I'm sure others will chime in.......

My Rockster has 57,000+ miles on it now - it STILL drinks oil - about a litre and a half to 2 lt (UK) between changes (every 6K). Yes - I occasionally thrash it.

[boxermania]

sweatmark...thanks for bailing me out of my brain farkle, as ,ake one now and again.

One of the things about the boxer engines is that they are extremely rugged, if the oil level is kept where it is supposed to be.

There should be no fear to enjoy the performance availaible in the engine......our good friend Pat used to say "ride it like you stole it", my version is: "ride in a manner that the engine gets loaded up early on (upper rpm ranges) and the oil consumption will get down to a feww cc's between changes.

riceburner

If your engine consumes oil in that quantity after 57 k miles, there are only two reasons:

The engine is not broken in....which I seriously doubt.
The break in process has been over so long a period that the oil control ring is gummed up and not doing it's job, or it's broken. The upside is the excessive oil consumption, the downside is the excessive carbon deposits being collected in the combustion chamber.

[mnnden]

I have gotten tired of keeping track, but my "02" uses oil at the rate of 1qt to 1k, (maybe a little more) I purchased the bike new and now has about 35k. It has been suggested that I did not break it in correctly, but I discount that, it is true I did not "Flog" it the first few miles, but it sure was not babied either, I fact at about 5k I took a couple of Hard runs (and I mean hard) of about 1K each, I keep hoping for it to tapper off, but I don't think it is going to. In fact I did have the motorcycle for sale. but in good conscience I could not bring myself to sell it to anyone.and unless I give it away, who would buy a motorcycle that uses that much oil? It is for this reason I do not think I would ever buy one again, I know they all do not do that but to me the threat is there and I do not want to go through this again. The "R" is a nice MC, fun to ride, handles great, but boy!! I get tired of this oil thing. This is not my only bike, and I have been ridding it less and less, Good Luck, Den

[rdsmith3]

Oil goes away with mine, too, but it seems to seep out around the oil fill cap. It's not getting burned by the engine. Don't forget to periodically change the two O rings, one on the oil fill cap, and one underneath the plastic filler neck. A snug fit with both will help reduce oil usage.

[MattPie]

The break in process has been over so long a period that the oil control ring is gummed up and not doing it's job, or it's broken. The upside is the excessive oil consumption, the downside is the excessive carbon deposits being collected in the combustion chamber.

I suspect that may be what's wrong with mine. At 24k, it still uses a fair bit of oil, and I am having issues with carbon which seems to be causing pinging.

I was at a track day last September where I got a ton of track time (over 100 miles, if my odo is correct). A classic 'Italian tune-up'. The bike ran great after that (idle was up around 1500k, no more pinging). Riding over the weekend (1500 miles after the track day), the pinging is back if I'm at WOT over 6k, idle is back down around 1200 RPM. I'd be really discouraged (oh wait, I am) if in order to keep the bike running well I need ride at WOT 10% of the time to burn the carbon out.

Any suggestions on some sort of oil additive to de-gum the ring (assuming its not broken)?

[rdsmith3]

Matt

Have you tried switching spark plugs? I got some pinging with NGK but much less with Autolite.

[MattPie]

Matt

Have you tried switching spark plugs? I got some pinging with NGK but much less with Autolite.

I put a set of new OEMs (mine's a two-spark, so I replaced all four) in just before the track which did seem to help as well, but not for long apparently. Wouldn't a change in the pinging with the Autolites suggest the plug 'heat' is different? I think someone mentioned that the autolites didn't fit into the tool-kit plug wrench, is that right?

[boxermania]

MattPie and mnnden

Based on your post I lean towards your bike having a fair amount of carbon deposits which under the right conditions are leading to pre-ignition. However, this is the outcome of the high oil consumption, which is getting past the oil control rings. At this stage I agree that the rings are gummed up and short of removing the varnish or replacfing the rings there is no cdlean way out of the mess.

You might want to put the bike on a heavy diet of Sea Foam for a few tankfulls as well as get the engine into the upper rpm ranges while going through the gears and see if that gets the oil consuption under control, if not, a check of the piston rings and the cylinder surface is inevitable, that is if you want to get a handle on the oil consumption.

Hate to bear bad news, but is best to be aware of the available options.

[Airman]

My `03 used a lot of oil up until 6000 miles. I think what turned off the tap was a 600 mile ride in 90 degree temps. I flogged it a bit then and oil consumption dropped off immediately. I think my mild rides down the freeway weren't enough to seat the rings.

[Ukemi]

I know a few riders out there don't know this about boxer engines. If this is too basic just say so. When you park a motorcycle that has a boxer engine, you have to park it on the center stand (if possible). Otherwise the left head fills up with oil. Then when you start it up, it burns oil.
So if you are parking your bike on the side stand, try putting it on the center stand.

[mnnden]

MattPie and mnnde

You might want to put the bike on a heavy diet of Sea Foam for a few tankfulls as well as get the engine into the upper rpm ranges while going through the gears and see if that gets the oil consuption under control, if not, a check of the piston rings and the cylinder surface is inevitable, that is if you want to get a handle on the oil consumption.

Hate to bear bad news, but is best to be aware of the available options.

boxermania, Thanks! I appreciate the advise, I had not thought of the "High seafoam Diet" and will give it a try, As for pre-ignition I don't seem to have that problem, the MC runs very strong, and is a joy to ride, This is my first BMW and I really do love the MC, and being not the greatest wrench in the world, there are many things I can do on the "R" (did the valves today)
Again, Thanks, I will keep you posted Den