Using a little oil, not leaking, not smoking, About half qt. per 500 mi.

More than likely u have a leaking valve cover gasket unless your seeing smoke than it might have a burnt valve guide or guides if its smoking real bad than it could have bad rings and you don't want that cause then u half to tear the motor down basically rebuilding the motor

It can easily burn that much in a 100 miles without seeing any smoke.
If you check the spark plugs you may find evidence.
It can also leak while the engine is running and not when it is off. Most Northstar engines leak to some degree.

is the car smoking blue or is the oil leeking out ?

if the is consuming oil by buring it while driving the faults are either :

Valve seats / Burnt valves
Piston Rings
or sump compression which can force oil into the combustion chamber causing it to burn it and expel the burnt oil via the exhaust system.

Either way, its going to pretty expensive on a 2002 5 series.

You could ring Volkswagen service but using 1lt per 500 km is extremely excessive!

If your Van is old, you could be having problem with your engine cylinders oil rings being worn or broken (obvious Black smoke and oily exhaust pipe).

Check the followings as your Van could be losing oil from:
- Oil refill cap, dipstick cap
- Head oil seals
- Engine oil sump gasket or emptying plug at the bottom
- Engine gaskets
- Oil engine rubber seals
Look for oil leaks/stains under your van: this would be a good indication of seals leak.

Take your care to a motor mechanic before it gets worst!

Hope the information is of some assistance.

Hm. In my experience if you lose oil at the rate of 1 qt. per 800 mi. it's going somewhere. Actually, if you lose 1 qt. per 1000 mi. and change your oil every 3,000 mi. it's under $10 in oil you have to buy to keep it topped off, and some places say that's there's nothing wrong.

But, your case is a little more serious.

I think that it's probably leaking past the rings and/or valves and the catalytic converter is eating up the oil, so you see no blue smoke, like you would in a car that has no converter (I'm assuming you have a catalytic converter on your car as my 1981 Honda had).

After 100,000 mi. little irregularities in the piston cylinders can develop, and seals can gradually degrade. So, this is normal for that kind of mileage, although there are people who get over 400,000 mi. on their cars with just regular maintenance and driving highway mi.

You might want to try one of those slower burn oils designed for cars with 75,000 mi. and above. That might slow the burn off of oil down to acceptable levels.

Good luck with it.

Hi:
Often the oil is simply getting past the small seals around the valve stems, and being burnt by the engine. You won't see smoke, because your catalytic converter burns it all up. it will eventually ruin your catalytic converter, so it might be worth fixing, rather than adding oil all the time?

You say 2pts of oil per 500 miles well ...
First can you see blue smoke out of the side mirrors if yes ,then you have either Worn or broken piston rings/Valve seals worn and leaking/Breather valve on engine faulty/Dirty air cleaner/or a oil seal or gasket leaking ,,,and if so that also is caused to broken rings
Let me know how you get on Ron

Hard city driving during the hot summer can and will cause a bit of oil usage. 1 qt in 500 miles is not excessive. If you recently changed oil and are using a different brand this also can cause a bit of oil usage, due to the engine getting used to it. Add to full and keep a good ck on it, it should level out. if not check your air filter, pvc valve, and any vaccume hoese. 

1qt per 1000 miles isn't too bad, all things considered. There is probably some leakage through the piston seals, which is to be expected after 115,000 miles. I would give a good quality leak-fix in a can a try, as they can really help with some of the more minor leaks. If it is a piston ring or seal problem, its an expensive fix, but give a canned solution a go to see if it helps.

Another option that a mechanic friend of mine suggested for my old Grand Am was going from synthetic to conventional motor oil. Synthetics don't generate sludge or buildup, which is great, most of the time, but when mine started to leak oil and smoke on startup he suggested going back to conventional, as some of the buildup would actually help stop the minor leaks.

if it 1qt per 1100 miles not normal but not that bad 1st check for leaks 2nd when doing and oil change put and aditif in the oil it will help with the oil consumtion thank you pierre