Consumer Reports article on oil burners

[John K]

Article in the August issue titled Oil Crisis lists the worst cars for burning oil as reported in their Annual Surveys. Top of the list, BMW 5, then BMW 7, BMW 6; table covers 2010 thru 2014, and % of cars reported that used a quart or more between oil changes. Subarus also mentioned, along with Audi. Some percentages as high as 61. Too much to summarize but I don't ever remember seeing this much info about oil burning engines.

Recent article in Road & Track (several months back?) told about BMW having trouble with an engine burning oil and also batteries not lasting, and their solution was to replace batteries at 10,000 miles under warranty. Seems that the engines ran hot and the cooling fan would run after engine shutdown and wear down the battery. Changing software would lower fuel economy and subject them to class action lawsuits, so they replace battery!!!!

 

[wemay]

Below is the Link for the article concerning BMW:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/...ons-bmw-n63-v8/

 

[Donald]

Subaru acknowledged the issue. The initial step was a oil consumption test. If over the mark, they first tried replacement rings, but they abandoned that and are now doing short blocks.

 

[John K]

When we had a 2001 PT Cruiser and it burned a quart every 900 - 1100 miles I took it to the dealer and they said that is within normal guidelines! (A common refrain.) I mentioned it to a different service manager and he said oh no, with modern engines that should not happen. Wanted to do an oil consumption test but that never worked out, seemed I was always out of town or something.

 

[John K]

Thanks.

 

[mrsilv04]

What is this, the third post for the same article?

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3775775/1

 

[ExMachina]

Originally Posted By: John K

Recent article in Road & Track (several months back?) told about BMW having trouble with an engine burning oil and also batteries not lasting, and their solution was to replace batteries at 10,000 miles under warranty. Seems that the engines ran hot and the cooling fan would run after engine shutdown and wear down the battery. Changing software would lower fuel economy and subject them to class action lawsuits, so they replace battery!!!!


Article also says they went to 105 amp-hour batteries, up a bit from original. They should just increase it to 120 amp-hour batteries and they could get full life out of the battery, simple, instead of this every oil change thing, and probably stranded motorists who don't quite make it to the next oil change.

This oil burning subject has been jumped on and pounded already. See http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3775775/1/Should_new_cars_burn_oil?_C-R_

 

[Skittles]

Originally Posted By: John K
When we had a 2001 PT Cruiser and it burned a quart every 900 - 1100 miles I took it to the dealer and they said that is within normal guidelines! (A common refrain.) I mentioned it to a different service manager and he said oh no, with modern engines that should not happen. Wanted to do an oil consumption test but that never worked out, seemed I was always out of town or something.


This is due to the pcv system. I put a longer PCV hose in my 2001 PT Cruiser and I went from Adding 1-2 quarts per oil change to nothing.

 

[Blueskies123]

I noticed no Japanese cars on the list and most burners were German. I wonder why the Germans design their cars to burn more oil? There must be some hidden benefit?

 

[deven]

My BIL has a 2010 BMW 7 series and uses Mobil 1 0w40. In 10,000 mile OCI's he regularly adds 3-4 quarts of oil. Once I opened the oil cap after driving it for 45 minutes and I could literally see vapors escaping from the full hole.

 

[ExMachina]

Originally Posted By: deven
My BIL has a 2010 BMW 7 series and uses Mobil 1 0w40. In 10,000 mile OCI's he regularly adds 3-4 quarts of oil. Once I opened the oil cap after driving it for 45 minutes and I could literally see vapors escaping from the full hole.


1 quart every 2,500 miles is not excessive. I'd put the figure at 1,800 miles is excessive.
Also, every car I've seen has "vapors escaping from the full hole" when hot, Fords, Chevys, Buicks, Dodges, BMWs.

 

[deven]

Originally Posted By: ExMachina
Originally Posted By: deven
My BIL has a 2010 BMW 7 series and uses Mobil 1 0w40. In 10,000 mile OCI's he regularly adds 3-4 quarts of oil. Once I opened the oil cap after driving it for 45 minutes and I could literally see vapors escaping from the full hole.


1 quart every 2,500 miles is not excessive. I'd put the figure at 1,800 miles is excessive.
Also, every car I've seen has "vapors escaping from the full hole" when hot, Fords, Chevys, Buicks, Dodges, BMWs.

My current Audi also has vapors coming from the fill hole. But my previous MB E350, Acura TL and Lexus ES330 never had vapors come out of the fill hole after driving for a while.
In my opinion if one has to replenish nearly half the sump capacity during an OCI then it's excessive. I know most Euro cars say that 1qt every 1000 miles is normal but definitely not normal in my book

 

[John K]

Skittles - I had replaced the PVC and checked for pluggage, etc. No effect. What does a longer hose do? Moot point since I got rid of the PT in 06, but curious.

 

[Mitch Alsup]

Originally Posted By: deven
My BIL has a 2010 BMW 7 series and uses Mobil 1 0w40. In 10,000 mile OCI's he regularly adds 3-4 quarts of oil. Once I opened the oil cap after driving it for 45 minutes and I could literally see vapors escaping from the full hole.


My 1995 Ferrari F355 does not burn any oil (less than 0.25 Qt in 5000 miles).

I wonder how a small company like Ferrari can get is right and a medium company like BMW cannot?

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Mitch Alsup
Originally Posted By: deven
My BIL has a 2010 BMW 7 series and uses Mobil 1 0w40. In 10,000 mile OCI's he regularly adds 3-4 quarts of oil. Once I opened the oil cap after driving it for 45 minutes and I could literally see vapors escaping from the full hole.


My 1995 Ferrari F355 does not burn any oil (less than 0.25 Qt in 5000 miles).

I wonder how a small company like Ferrari can get is right and a medium company like BMW cannot?


My M5 burns about 1 quart in 8,000Km, which is quite low, our 328i didn't use anything and neither does my sister's 330i. Some engines just burn oil, some don't. Break-in may be a factor.

It isn't that one manufacturer "gets it wrong" and another "gets it right", there are plenty of BMW's out there that don't use any appreciable oil between changes just as I'm sure there are plenty of Ferrari's that use quite a bit. Anecdotes are just that.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Mitch Alsup
Originally Posted By: deven
My BIL has a 2010 BMW 7 series and uses Mobil 1 0w40. In 10,000 mile OCI's he regularly adds 3-4 quarts of oil. Once I opened the oil cap after driving it for 45 minutes and I could literally see vapors escaping from the full hole.


My 1995 Ferrari F355 does not burn any oil (less than 0.25 Qt in 5000 miles).

I wonder how a small company like Ferrari can get is right and a medium company like BMW cannot?
I doubt Ferrari works to the same price points that BMW does, even on the high end BMWs . Lots of hand work goes into making a Ferrari engine. I would expect them to be tight.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: Mitch Alsup
Originally Posted By: deven
My BIL has a 2010 BMW 7 series and uses Mobil 1 0w40. In 10,000 mile OCI's he regularly adds 3-4 quarts of oil. Once I opened the oil cap after driving it for 45 minutes and I could literally see vapors escaping from the full hole.


My 1995 Ferrari F355 does not burn any oil (less than 0.25 Qt in 5000 miles).

I wonder how a small company like Ferrari can get is right and a medium company like BMW cannot?
I doubt Ferrari works to the same price points that BMW does, even on the high end BMWs . Lots of hand work goes into making a Ferrari engine. I would expect them to be tight.


They can burn oil too:

http://www.ferrarilife.com/forums/ferrari-discussion/5302-f355-oil-consumption.html
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/332994-oil-consumption-2.html

Quote:
Here are the specs for oil consumption as stated in the factory manual. Max consumption of .44 imp gallons per 600 miles = 2.1 quarts. Yes, that would seem like a lot for any other car, but hey -- it's a Ferrari! Over-consumption is synonymous with the brand.


Quote:
Mine story is similar - my engine was rebuilt at 20k miles due to poor craftsmanship at the factory, and while in there it got new valve guides. My car uses about a quart every 500-1200 miles, depending on my driving. Seems the harder I drive, the more frequent I need to add oil.

Because my car's engine was rebuilt, I have it checked for compression and leakdown almost every year and it checks out fine, or so the numbers say. I had the major done last summer and the mechanic said it was running very strong and checked out 100%.

This is a very interesting topic for me, though, because I have heard stories with oil consumption all through the range so I would really like to hear more on the subject from owners.


Lots of other examples. As I said, no brand is immune.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Lots of other examples. As I said, no brand is immune.


Exactly. I own a known oil burner. The 6.1 engine is notorious for using oil, yet I have never seen any visible consumption even including road course track days with oil temps over 300 degrees.

Literally a hit and miss thing, probably has a lot to do with break in and driving habits.

Hey Mitch, super nice car!

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
As I said, no brand is immune.


LOL, Tesla is.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
As I said, no brand is immune.


LOL, Tesla is.


Touche sir! LOL!