Oil Consumption?

[HMR]

Hi
My dealer told me to use 10 w 40 oil.

Your dealer is incompetent.

Read the User's Manual. There you can find that the BMW boxer requires 50-oil when the temperature exceeds 20 centigrades.

5W50, 10W50, 20W50 will all do fine.

Mineral oil is OK but synthetic is better. If you change oil often the cheaper mineral oils are more economical. Best quality for the price you will get if you buy the HD Diesel engine oil that is used in construction machinery. Try the shops where farmers buy equipment.

 

[mitch]

20/50 Oil

Castrol do 10/40 & 20/50 GP BMW do a 20/50 in own 1lt bottles
think this is castrol your local dealer can get it if not already in stock. Wollaston have it in stock.

Mitch

 

[cliff]

that is alot.

synthetic..... i've been on that since the 1st service 'castrol GPS'

mine hardly touches the stuff

run bike in as per book

castrol gp 4t mineral oil upto 6000 miles service and used only 650ml

at 6000 mile service my dealer advised me to use castrol gps semi synthetic

mileage now 7050
6000-7000 miles with semi synthetic oil and used nil oil

bike feels perfect to ride and have had no problems 54 reg sept 04

cliff

 

[birdseye]

Wouldnt worry the slightest about whether the bike uses a bit of oil or not. Every vehicle uses some - seals arent 100% even these days. But normally I would expect my car or other bikes I have had to go from service to service without a top up, maybe just dropping on the dipstcik or sight glass. Thats miles different from a worn engine burning oil, leaving clouds of blue smoke behind it. Anybody got a GS doing that? No - thought not.

The difference with the GS is that the engine is air cooled and operates through a wider temperature range and with local hotspots and cool spots that are minimised with water cooling.. So it takes a while longer for the motor to bed into these different rates of expansion and therefore odd shapes. (eg, the cylinders being hotter at the back than at the front because of air flow will not actually be the round shape in use that they are machined to in the factory and the rings made for.)

Who cares. Oil is cheap, we're not burning much, and it always gets less as the engine runs in. If this worries you, buy a Jap!

 

[GrinningGSer]

FWIW

I read an article on ADVRIDER regarding oil levels and crankcase pressures and crank splashings and for the last 600 miles I have never filled above the central dot.

Oil used to disappear and seems to suddenly have stopped since I have filled no more than the dot. A little early to be sure, but I am of course watching the situation.

 

[Joyseeker]

FWIW

I read an article on ADVRIDER regarding oil levels and crankcase pressures and crank splashings and for the last 600 miles I have never filled above the central dot.

Oil used to disappear and seems to suddenly have stopped since I have filled no more than the dot. A little early to be sure, but I am of course watching the situation.

me thinks you are right..... i'll be back

 

[Jockser]

Following the 10000km ( 6000ml) service & the switch to GPS oil there has been virtually no drop in the sight glass level during the subsequent 1000km+

Hopefully thats it sorted - the way the price of crude is going any saving is appreciated

 

[cbritton]

My twin spark 1150 was new last year and while running in used a lot of oil. After about 1000 miles it reduced considerably. About that time I also stopped starting it while on the side-stand. It hardly uses any oil now and I'm still starting it upright. I think the reduction is probably a combination of both starting procedure and a run-in motor.

Colin.

 

[Engineer]

Less than 400ml in first 4,000 miles - very happy with this - about the same as my Ducati Monster.

 

[OGRY]

Depends on how you break it in......

When you break in your bike as per the book, rings don´t seal, thus leaving
your engine consuming oil forever

Well, screw the book

All engines must be broken in as "Motoman" suggests:

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Since I do it this way, all engines have NO CONSUMPTION of oil whatsoever, even my lawnmower !!

 

[Bertie]

Since 2000 miles, have only used oil when bouncing off the rev limiter.... Wonder why that is? Seriously, oil consumption has been surprisingly light, despite all dire warnings to the contrary.

 

[alimey4u2]

I wonder if Motoman can spell "Nickelsil" ??
I read the information posted & find it to be snake oil with a sprinkling of wing of bat, mixed in with some sound engineering facts.
Ooops I digress......oil useage, I really dont know after my 600 mile service, I can't really be definite if this thing burns oil ? Maybe they will refresh when my 6000 comes along in a few days ?? Where is the filler cap by the way ??......

ps. DON'T believe everything you read on the net !! (excluding my statements........ )

 

[Graham G]

Their recommendation is to work the engine hard at low to medium rpm, without excessive labouring, as the high combustion pressures beds the rings in well and this seems to reduce oil consumption to a minimum.

[Interesting] Thanks for that Jona...I seem to be doing that out of ignorance and my oil consumption is minimal at 2K miles (less than 200ml approx). Still will be doing an oil change at 2.6K.

 

[alimey4u2]

My Technique is as follows:

At all costs keep out of 6th gear until you "feel" the engine is happy in that gear. I found that to be about about 50-60 miles.
Spin the engine through the gears & do not allow it labour,the first 50 miles are the crucial ones.
Do not allow it to drone for a long period of time at the same RPM (keep off motorways,) run it up & down through the box frequently. Apply that to the recommended info in the owners manual.

On reading posts of high oil consumption, I have carried 2 quarts of oil with me to Maggie Vally (NC) & recently a fast run down to Florida & back. They remain sealed ?
OK.....opinions, opinions ?? All I can say is that it worked for me & allowed me to click on the lowest oil useage rating & I run the sh*t outta this thing.........

 

[sjwb]

Ah Maggie Valley.
What a sensational location. I have done it in a car, but would love to travel the area on a bike. One of my favourites was 441 from Cherokee to Pigeon Forge.
Oh, oil consumption, dunno - Porsches don't use oil do they?

 

[HMR]

ps. DON'T believe everything you read on the net !!

Ignorant people believe what they want to believe. They don't understand anything.

Educated people believe what they understand and if they don't understand they are smart enough to take advice from people who understand. As for example from the engine engineers at BMW.

 

[Engineer]

When you break in your bike as per the book, rings don´t seal, thus leaving
your engine consuming oil forever

Well, screw the book

All engines must be broken in as "Motoman" suggests:

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Since I do it this way, all engines have NO CONSUMPTION of oil whatsoever, even my lawnmower !!

I ran mine it buy the book and it uses hardly any oil - so bang goes that theory!

There is an awful lot of nonsense and half truths about running in engines - if they are run in 'by the book' they will perform better for longer than if any other method is used - simple as that!

 

[R1200GSA]

When I had problems with oil consumption on my first Honda SP1, I did a hell of a lot of research into this subject. From the articles I read and the people I spoke to, tuners/race techs etc, it was apparent that modern day twins, and in particular, BMWs, use oil because they have been run in toooo gently.

After all, are bikes not fired up at the end of the production line in the factory, before being crated for shipping ???? I had it direct from Honda UK that thats the way they did it anyway.


Being a glutton for punishment at the time, I picked up my second new one, and with the all the info I had gleaned about "running-in", I proceeded to wring its feckin` neck for all it was worth.

The result of its initial neck wringing......................................................It didnt use a drop between services. Do you think I will be sticking to the book again?

 

[chasr]

Do you think I will be sticking to the book again?

There's a big difference between sticking to the book and running in 'toooo' gently. You imply that those that stick to the recommended rpm limit are also over cautious when opening the throttle. It doesn't follow.

You might wonder how it is that BMW's engineers have got it so wrong. After all, what do they know?

 

[sjwb]

It makes one wonder how BMW engineers have the temerity to suggest how their product should be treated when there are so many experts outside the factory.