Update response 3/23/06
The oil problem resolved ten thousand miles ago (And the frozen door problem was resolved last month) thanks to Bimmerboard's David Cecil and my dealer (Crown BMW in Charlottesville Va). No thanks to BMW who only paid for half of the frozen door problem (The dealer picked up tab for the other half as well as for all of the oil leak repairs). Here is detail of previous email I sent to David Cecil prior to both problems getting resolved at no cost to me:

To: davidc@bimmerboard.com
Subject: Thanks (Long response follows!)


Just bought it last month (Nov 05)and reported the finding well within the first 30 days after buying it from the local BMW dealer who appears to be sypathetic and impies that he will be fair about it once he with even before we worry about the most important problem:figures out whats wrong. It has one other bad problem with frozen driver's door freezing that it never got the original warranty BMW fix on. (Ref Service bulletin that replaces S.1.515102 dated March 2002 which states: "In case of customer complaints replace the outer door handles with the improved parts" Gotta love that "in case of customer complaints" part which was their same attitude about the early 1993 thru 1995 V8 Engine problem. Don't think they could get away with such a lack of transparency nowdays). If I keep the car I might have to fork out somewhere between $700 and $1300 unless dealer will either foot the bill or get BMW to do so!
It looks like it has burned at least half a quart in 1000 miles and they have agreed to check it for a leak at no charge. The salesman admits that the oil consumption appears high but a representative in the service department states that he has "seen a bulletin that states that a quart in 1500 miles is not unusual"??? I may get them to take it back but generally love it otherwise as its a hard to find stick shift model and I have gotten quite attached to it.

Thanks for your reply..Hope my response hasn't been too wordy but sure am glad I joined Bimmerboard today just to ask the oil question.

The Dealer's listed total charge (If I had paid) for the crank vent valve repair was $639.40 including various hoses,oil filter insert, repair kit and labor. It appears to have solved oil leak entirely . Last month they finally fixed the two frozen front doors for free.

• Oil consumption expectations for 3.0 X5 - wrileywood 2005-12-21 18:08:10 (2371 views)
  • It shouldn't use any oil. What are you seeing? (nt) - davidc 2005-12-21 19:22:54 (1506 views)
    • Re: It shouldn't use any oil. What are you seeing? - wrileywood 2005-12-22 18:48:51 (1328 views)
      • Re: It shouldn't use any oil. What are you seeing? - bestroger 2006-03-23 11:34:35 (1108 views)
        • Re: It shouldn't use any oil. What are you seeing? - wrileywood 2006-03-23 21:06:26 (1152 views)
          • I'm glad that you got the problems resolved. Thanks for - davidc 2006-03-24 04:16:24 (916 views)
          • Re: Frozen door problem - wrileywood 2006-03-23 21:22:00 (957 views)