I was wondering what the normal oil consumption amount should be on a 560 SEL engine with a 130,000 miles? The car runs well and doesn't really smoke, but it does use a little oil. Is there any particular oil that works better in these motors?

A thicker oil should, in theory, burn a little less because it's less able to slip by tight passages. I've used Mobil 1 synthetic 15W50 in 2 previous BMWs (130,000 and 188,000 miles) and my current 1995 E420 (89,000 miles) and burn absolutely no oil in between changes. I don't know if it's the engine or the oil, but I'll stick with the oil that I've been using.

Hope that helps. Try the synthetic 15W-50 (unless you live in Minnesota - then use a lower viscosity) and let us know what you're results are.

Troy
1995 E420 89k

Can you switch to the synthetic oil at any time? Do you have to do anything special if you do?

I will avoid starting another oil "war", so I'll just mention MB specs. MB considers up to 1 quart of oil per 800-1000 miles to be within spec.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

So if my '89 300E with 205K on it is using 1 quart every 1500 miles that's pretty good!