Always burning oil

its not normal for the engine to blurt out smoke all the time sounds like you have a problem with the rings or possibly pistons, if it doesn't go away but make sure the engine has not been over filled with oil, on the centre stand engine off run it till it gets warm turn off and let sit for a few minutes half on the site glass is about right.

Do a compression test and see what the results are. May be a problem with 1 cylinder, but may also be a problem on them all. Pistons can be accessed and removed relatively easily, with the engine in place. Worn piston rings is not "normal", so if compression is an issue the air filter needs to be checked as well. Other than that, it could be that the engine was overheated at some stage in its' life, and if severe enough can cause piston rings to lose their tension. As stated, not common, but there must be a reason for all the smoke as it isn't "normal". Cylinders are extremely wear resistant as they are Nicasil lined. Reboring is not possible but a special honong process is available in the event of needing ring replacement.

I have seen a few hat have had fractured ring lands due to detonation. People ran regular and/or cut the brown wire AND removed the air temp sensor connector. The first one was fixed with new pistons, the second one was trash as a ring broke and scored the cylinder wall. Not trying to scare you but and good commpression test will tell alot.

markh said:

Howdy all,

I have a 2001 that no matter what I seem to do burns oil.

- I wait 30 seconds before I get off bike while its straight up
- Leave it on the center stand when parked.

I start it up and it belches blue smoke and that will diminish somewhat after 10 min. But if I stop at a stop light I can still see puffs of smoke coming from the exhaust.

I had a buddy riding behind me after a long ride and he told me that he could smell oil from my exhaust.

I have the oil changed at the local dealership on a regular basis.

Is this indicative of a bigger internal issue??

Thanks for any advice/assistance in advance.

Mark.

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Hi Mark,
Perhaps you can update your profile and tell us a little about yourself and where you are located? Perhaps someone in your locale will step forward to give you a hand in finding the problem. JohnZ is spot on for the main issue that will plague the early K engines. Mine had 209k on it and was using a lot of oil. I had two major overheat problems over the past 10 years and I attribute those situations caused the oil consumption. Your situation may be totally different.

My recently bought 2001 smells of oil burning on startup. I haven't ran it much just on the driveway, going to insure it in spring. It's got 150k kms (93k miles).... I have no idea if it's ever been overheated, or if it's had regular oil changes.

I've got oil filters on order and have some nice synthetic oil ready to go.

I just changed the bosch plugs for ngk iridium's. The cylinder most towards the rear had a very moist (oily) plug. Doh! View inside cylinder looking at top of piston was a bit oily too.

See how it goes after the oil change. I'll have to look into how difficult it is to pull a piston and change the rings. Hopefully cylinder isn't scored, etc. That'd suck.

The other 3 cylinders looked normal. Nice light brown coloured insulators on the plugs.

Very normal for the #4 plug to be oily. Not to worry. Don't just run it in the driveway. Leave it alone until you can start her and go for a ride to warm her up all the way. I know spring is a long way off but it will be here before you know it. By the way she is just really broken in good at that mileage.

So I've ran a lotta miles on the bike since I got it. Just got back from a big trip from Vancouver, BC down to Vegas, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verda, Moab, etc.

It's pretty much always had the oil burn on cold startup for a minute or two. Yesterday I drove up to the hwy from my house (a mile or so) and smoked bad all the way. Way more blue smoke on hard throttle application.

Shut it off and restarted a couple times (which seemed to alleviate the issue before) when this happened.

Smoke didn't go away, as you recall from my earlier post in this thread cyl 4 (closest to trans) was oily.

Parked it and took my SV1000S instead... way more giggle-factor but can't carry sh*t on it and no big stereo.

Gotta browse my chilton manual for piston ring replacement procedure... hoping the cylinder isn't scored.

Could out of spec valve adjustments cause the problem? Smoke on hard acceleration used to mean valve, smoke on decel meant rings.
If you do a compression test, and get anything low, remember to pump some oil into the cylinder and do the test again. Oil will seal the rings, so if it's still low, it's the valves. Then again, not sure how that'd work with the engine sitting on it's side.
Oh, I know, tip the bike over on it's right side and do the test!!! :histerica

On the side stand or on the center stand for amount of time and I also get smoke. I was told its normal for BMW's to smoke a little.. doe to the way the motor and seals are... Once its runs for a min its done. Last time it smoked was when I had it on the stand for about 3 weeks. The dealer also had it and said all was normal...

I'm just looking for pistons/rings online right now... can't seem to find ****. beemberboneyard.com doesn't have anything either.

It's in storage in my car hauler trailer now for the winter. I'll likely drag it out before the spring to get this issue fixed. It's more than embarassing now (the smoke).

I did have one time on my first oil change where I noticed if the oil level was any higher than the lowest portion in that oil inspection window it would blow mosquito-killing smoke 24/7 while riding. So I watch that level religiously.

Anyone pull pistons on one of these? Can you do it with the cylinder head on the motor or no?

Did you do a compression test? I wouldn't change the rings (pistons) until I knew it wasn't the valves. Do the compression check according to instructions by fpmlt above.

Loren

westvandude said:

I'm just looking for pistons/rings online right now... can't seem to find ****. beemberboneyard.com doesn't have anything either.

It's in storage in my car hauler trailer now for the winter. I'll likely drag it out before the spring to get this issue fixed. It's more than embarassing now (the smoke).

I did have one time on my first oil change where I noticed if the oil level was any higher than the lowest portion in that oil inspection window it would blow mosquito-killing smoke 24/7 while riding. So I watch that level religiously.

Anyone pull pistons on one of these? Can you do it with the cylinder head on the motor or no?

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NO! Head has to come off.:bmw:

markh said:

Is this indicative of a bigger internal issue??

Thanks for any advice/assistance in advance.

Mark.

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Do you have a K&N filter by chance? Reason I ask is because my 03 bured oil and it was attributed to that filter.


Greg

westvandude said:

I did have one time on my first oil change where I noticed if the oil level was any higher than the lowest portion in that oil inspection window it would blow mosquito-killing smoke 24/7 while riding.

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That's indicative of problems - sorry. Brick's NEVER do that unless there is some damage or serious wear.

As others have indicated a compression test probably won't tell you a whole lot. I would do a leak down test instead since it may help you isolate the problem before tearing it down. It's a bit more involved and if you've never done one before worth paying $$ to someone that has. Experience really counts here. ANY competent auto mechanic/machine shop can do one. I wouldn't start ordering parts until you are 99% positive what the issue is.

Keep in mind that this engine is one of the best - hands down - that BMW has ever produced - and they are usually trouble free for 200K and beyond if well looked after. If you have big repairs ahead you may find it less hassle and less expensive to hunt up a wrecked bike (that runs, obviously) with low miles for a donor engine.

Pretty sure I did a simple compression test a long time ago, see if I have notes from that.

It's always burned oil on cold startup but for some reason 20% of the time zero oil burn. Till the last ride burning all the time.

I'll try to find a good used motor as I don't have the patience right now to pull the motor apart and make repairs. Too many other projects on the go right now.

Just doing a bunch of TLC on a 87' Suzuki Intruder 1400. Just ordered $300 in misc parts.... did I mention I hate carbs!

westvandude said:

.... did I mention I hate carbs!

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+1 on that. That is one of the main reasons I purchased my 2000 LT (October 1999?) without even test riding the LT, or a BMW. The other reason was to purchase a touring bike.

this happened to me too. i bought a bike that smoked throughout the ride. it steadily got worse and i would continually get fouled plugs on 2 and 3. eventually it left me stranded along I294. I would suggest also a cyl leak down test as well as a compression test. Does it consume oil or just smoke? it will consume oil as it gets worse if it is in fact an engine problem. if you want to rebuild parts can be pricey. I went another route. i bought a used engine/trans out of an 05 (i have a 99) i had to reuse the old intake and injectors but it all works. I did break the gear indicator switch putting the engine in, but that was my fault. good luck to you whatever the case is.

Had a used low mileage motor sitting on a pallet for months now just been too busy. Been lookin at the chilton manual....is it really necessary to pull the freakin trans before pulling the motor??? Seems like a ton of extra work. I have a hoist and all kinds I equipment here. If needed I can raise the whole thin in the air.

Thoughts?

Gonna get started on Tupperware removal.