Burning oil; dealer says it happens, does it?

MountainRyder · May 5, 2021

Hi All:

I did search on this topic, but got six pages of responses that have nothing to do with my search.

Last fall I bought a 2018 R1200RT with 5,400 miles. I put 600 miles on it and took it in for the 6k. I began to notice a puff a blue smoke when I start the bike, and the puff is larger if it has not been ridden in a while. After 1,500 miles since the 6k, the oil is showing about halfway down the oil check window.

I called the BMW Motorrad dealer yesterday and he told me that this is normal and to not worry about it. He said some smoke and use oil, and others do not, just keep oil in the engine and I'll be fine.

I told him this does not sound right, but he was insistent. I mentioned that I did not have this issue with my '15 wethead or my '97 R11RT or my '96 K11RS. He sounded annoyed when he told me again not to worry about it, that it happens with some and not with others and just keep oil in the case.

Does this sound right you to you? Please weigh in.

khafner · May 5, 2021

oil burning

engines vary tremendously in their oil usage. Some use none, some much more than I am comfortable with and both are within manufacturer's specs. Your engine is not even broken in by my standards. I would vary loads and torque on a warm engine while riding and see what happens over the next several thousand miles. By BMW standards your engine is within spec on oil usage.

lkraus · May 5, 2021

MountainRyder said:
...After 1,500 miles since the 6k, the oil is showing about halfway down the oil check window.

What was the level immediately after the last oil change? It should not have been at the very top of the window.
Halfway down is perfectly acceptable. There is also some visible change between hot and cold checks.

Lowering the level to the halfway point was recommended for the earliest Wetheads to improve shifting, though I think the transmission has since been modified a bit.

My '06 used about six ounces/1000 miles until it was finally broken in around 19,000 miles. No drop in level over 6k intervals since then.

Ride more, worry less.

MountainRyder · May 5, 2021

lkraus said:
What was the level immediately after the last oil change?

After the 6k it was at the top of the circle. Now 1,500 approximate miles it's half way down the circle.

The 2018 has an improved transmission, one that does not go "clunk!" when selecting 1st gear. My wife notes that that lack of "clunk" always puts a smile on my face!

gtrider · May 5, 2021

My ‘18GS will throw a “low oil” alert on the TFT when the level drops even a hair below the halfway point on the circle. At oil changes I will normally fill to 1/8” above the center point and ride it to the next change without issue. But, I do pack a 6oz bottle of oil in case the warning shows up. It’s not that I’m concerned about oil level-there is still plenty of oil onboard when the red warning appears. It’s just that the red warning splashed across the TFT is by design annoying as heck.

Best,
DeVern

pglaves · May 5, 2021

BMW "boxer" engines will puff a little smoke when started if parked on the side stand. As the down hill cylinder cools vacuum can pull a little residual oil into the cylinder.

Oil consumption on these models is extremely dependent of the manner in which the break-in was accomplished. Many owners of new motorcycles "baby" the engines in fear that they might damage something. This causes a partial break-in and some lack of sealing of the rings in the grooves between the piston lands.

In addition, as noted in other replies over-filling the crankcase can cause early burn off of oil.

Given that the consumption on the OP bike is within BMW's rather generous limits I would not expect a dealer or BMW to do anything. My advice would be to consciously consider break-in in riding the bike. That means that once warmed up the engine should be occasionally loaded with full throttle acceleration in the upper gears, and occasional runs through the gears with RPM to the red line in lower gears.

Or as some glibly say, "ride it like you stole it."

MountainRyder · May 5, 2021

PGlaves said:
That means that once warmed up the engine should be occasionally loaded with full throttle acceleration in the upper gears, and occasional runs through the gears with RPM to the red line in lower gears.

That my friend is NOT a problem for me!

pglaves · May 5, 2021

MountainRyder said:
That my friend is NOT a problem for me!

Good. Then I suspect that after some more miles the oil consumption should go down. With the 1100 and 1150 engines it was generally observed that oil consumption leveled off at somewhere around 20,000 miles. I don't know what the experience has been with the 1200 motors but I suspect it is similar.

jandhumphreyme · May 5, 2021

I share this for what it is observation only, all engines are unique and different. My '11 R1200r would consume about half a site glass of oil between changes until about 25k miles, from then on she sits right where I filled it, 56k on it now and it pulls like a tractor. My '18 RT consumed less maybe a couple ounces from new to 5k before I traded it. The '21 RT hasn't got to the 600 mile oil change yet and hasn't budged from where it was when I picked it up.

I just had a boat engine, 4.3l V6, rebuilt this last winter, the engine builder put it on his dyno for about 20 minutes after rebuild to seat it in and warm it up, we then proceeded to do 5 dyno runs to redline, I was cringing, he was giggling. He builds hundred of professional race engines each year and insists all his motors are run in this way and are good to go.

I agree with Paul's assessment, you don't need to baby new engines, not saying you did, but probably good chance your going to be fine.

Good luck and keep us informed.

MountainRyder · May 5, 2021

Thank you jandhumphreyme, PGlaves, GTRider, lkraus and khafner

I appreciate your views.

I know that the oilheads would act like this, but for such a finely engineered machine like our waterheads? It confuses me. I don't have similar issues with my BMW cars nor with any other machine I've owned. But, there you go...

PoorUB · May 5, 2021

Once in a while my 2018 RT smokes on start up. Seems like the longer it sits, the more it smokes. I was unable to ride for a few weeks this spring and the other day when I started it, it filled the garage with a thick haze. On the other hand the oil level does not drop much between 6,000 mile changes, I don't add oil.

Realshelby · May 6, 2021

My Oilhead did use some oil. More around locally, less running it hard down the road at high speed. Typical of those Boxers.

That is NOT typical of a Wethead. These don't use oil from day one. This is the first one I have heard of. I have gone over 7000 miles on oil changes more than once and it was only down a couple ounces from when changed......

I would document how much it is using. Yes, run the Hell out of it to see if it will seat the oil rings. Typically manufacturers won't do much unless oil consumption is a quart in 1000 miles. More or less, but I would find out what BMW's standards are on that for the bikes.

strataj · May 6, 2021

My 14 wethead RT has never used any oil, unlike my 02 oilhead RT. It too stopped, I can't remember when but thinking about 30k. That bike needed higher RPM for use, below 4k wasn't good. I learned to do the side-stand dance when parked, let it rest on the side-stand for 10 minutes before putting up on center-stand. It made a different on the oil level and smoke on start up. The wethead doesn't have that issue. My oil level seem to be the same doing the dance or not and no smoke.

lee · May 6, 2021

Realshelby said:
That is NOT typical of a Wethead. These don't use oil from day one. This is the first one I have heard of..

I agree, this is the first wethead I heard of using a noticeable amount of oil.

alegerlotz · May 6, 2021

My 2005 Hexhead used a fair amount of oil and this seems to be pretty normal.

My 2016 wethead does not use a drop of oil. No oil use seems to be normal for wetheads.

I would get the oil use issue for your wethead documented with the service dept. Is the bike still under warranty?

taran1900 · May 6, 2021

My old 2005 RT used about 300 to 400cc of oil every 6 thousand miles which is not a big deal. It did that consistently over the life of the bike. It had a 13k on when I sold it.

My current bike, a 2019 R1250RT has just over 14k and it uses no oil at all. From what I have read, this is the experience for most wethead owners I think.

MountainRyder · May 11, 2021

Realshelby said:
That is NOT typical of a Wethead. These don't use oil from day one. This is the first one I have heard of.

QUOTE=LFarling;1248343]I have to agree and was hesitant to reply so. I have never used a drop of oil on either of my boxer motors the 15 RT and now the 17.5 GS. Never. [/QUOTE]

Thanks Realshelby and LFarling, I am of the same thought. It makes no sense to me. This isn't 1920, it's 2020. Engine design and construction has advanced so much that it is difficult to believe that an engine today had these issues.

I'm kind of pissed, bought a low mile bike only to find this issue... I don't know what could have happened during break-in that would have created this issue...

lgagnon · May 11, 2021

MountainRyder said:
QUOTE=LFarling;1248343]I have to agree and was hesitant to reply so. I have never used a drop of oil on either of my boxer motors the 15 RT and now the 17.5 GS. Never.

Thanks Realshelby and LFarling, I am of the same thought. It makes no sense to me. This isn't 1920, it's 2020. Engine design and construction has advanced so much that it is difficult to believe that an engine today had these issues.

I'm kind of pissed, bought a low mile bike only to find this issue... I don't know what could have happened during break-in that would have created this issue...[/QUOTE]

I’ve read that if you break them in too gently (by strictly adhering to the manufacturer’s instructions) that the rings never seat well, so you end up burning oil. I may have done that with my new Harley.

It burns almost a quart in between EACH oil change (no oil leaks), and I now have over 23,000 miles on it. I change it at 3,000 miles for mineral oil and 5,000 for synthetic. Dealer said Harley considers burning one quart every 1,000 miles as normal. Really? But, of course it’s air cooled, with larger internal tolerances, but it still seems excessive to me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

powwow · May 11, 2021

My 2015 RT has never used a drop of oil between changes. I bought the bike as a demo with 600 miles on it and I'm sure it was "ridden like it was stolen" during it's demo life. I suspect that helped seat the rings quickly.

pglaves · May 11, 2021

The bike is called a Wethead for a reason. The "water" cooling is in fact circulating through the heads only, but not through or around the cylinders. This video by BMW shows the coolant flow through the heads at the 1:40 mark, and then shows the air cooling of the cylinders. (And it is a fun video to see how the parts all fit together too.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-YIC01j1CE

So the closer machining clearances found on modern fully water cooled engines are in fact not present in the piston to cylinder fit. This is what makes cylinder break in critical even on this supposedly water cooled engine.

Despite all of the testimonials from owners with this model bikes that don't burn any oil, I stand by my opinion the the OP bike burns oil because of the manner in which it was broken-in. Whether this can be remedied now remains an open question.

But no, I don't agree with the dealership that this is "normal".

Burning oil; dealer says it happens, does it?

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