Unusual Liqui Moly Leichtlauf HT 5W-40 behavior

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That's why I like the good ol' dipstick. Never trust electronic gadgets in exess, sometimes they even can lie to you that your car has burnt 2/3 to 3/4 quart of oil in 128(!) miles. I really think the measurement of the oil level was not correct, an engine really capable of burning this amount of oil in 128 miles (whatever the oil is) must have some serious problem, I'm sure this is not the case.
Regarding Liqui Moly oils - I've always found them quite overprised and indeed nothing special, although I have much respect and very positive results with their oil additives. I'm sure german Castrol 0W-40 or Mobil1 0W-40 wouldn't be wose, maybe even slightly better than LM, which by the other hand absolutely doesn't mean LM oils are so bad to desappear by quarts in 128 miles, I doubt there is such a bad oil available nowadays.
 
Originally Posted By: Thebimmerfan
That's why I like the good ol' dipstick. Never trust electronic gadgets in exess, sometimes they even can lie to you that your car has burnt 2/3 to 3/4 quart of oil in 128(!) miles. I really think the measurement of the oil level was not correct, an engine really capable of burning this amount of oil in 128 miles (whatever the oil is) must have some serious problem, I'm sure this is not the case.
Regarding Liqui Moly oils - I've always found them quite overprised and indeed nothing special, although I have much respect and very positive results with their oil additives. I'm sure german Castrol 0W-40 or Mobil1 0W-40 wouldn't be wose, maybe even slightly better than LM, which by the other hand absolutely doesn't mean LM oils are so bad to desappear by quarts in 128 miles, I doubt there is such a bad oil available nowadays.

This car has good ole oil dipstick.
As for LM, their main selling point is that they are Made in Germany. Bunch of other better oils on the market Made in Germany or not.
 
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Originally Posted By: edyvw

This car has good ole oil dipstick.
As for LM, their main selling point is that they are Made in Germany. Bunch of other better oils on the market Made in Germany or not.


But he said he used the electronic measurement for reference in his E46 330 and his wife's 328 E90 definitely doesn't have a dipstick by nature...
"Bunch of better oils" or not on the market is totally irrelevant, I'm sure no car without any kind of engine problem would burn almost one quart of (Liqui Moly) oil in 128(!) miles, that's ABSOLUTELY impossible.

OP have in mind that immediately after an oil change the new oil is in the sump, but the oil passages and the new oil filter are empty. When you first pour the fresh oil in it can read "max" on the dipstick, but when you start the engine for some seconds the oil galleries and the oil filter take their amount of oil, if measure the oil after the engine's been started its level will drop significantly - this doesn't mean your car has burnt 3/4 quart of oil in 2 minutes, just the oil passages and new oil filter have filled with fresh oil.
 
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Originally Posted By: Thebimmerfan
Originally Posted By: edyvw

This car has good ole oil dipstick.
As for LM, their main selling point is that they are Made in Germany. Bunch of other better oils on the market Made in Germany or not.


But he said he used the electronic measurement for reference in his E46 330 and his wife's 328 E90 definitely doesn't have a dipstick by nature...
"Bunch of better oils" or not on the market is totally irrelevant, I'm sure no car without any kind of engine problem would burn almost one quart of (Liqui Moly) oil in 128(!) miles, that's ABSOLUTELY impossible.

OP have in mind that immediately after an oil change the new oil is in the sump, but the oil passages and the new oil filter are empty. When you first pour the fresh oil in it can read "max" on the dipstick, but when you start the engine for some seconds the oil galleries and the oil filter take their amount of oil, if measure the oil after the engine's been started its level will drop significantly - this doesn't mean your car has burnt 3/4 quart of oil in 2 minutes, just the oil passages and new oil filter have filled with fresh oil.

I did not catch that he mentioned E90.
It is strange what he is saying, but again, since I had exhaustive experience with LM, I can only rate them as average at best. When I used LM due to flooding of fake M1, Castrol etc. in Central Europe, my cars burned LM like crazy.
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw

I did not catch that he mentioned E90.
It is strange what he is saying, but again, since I had exhaustive experience with LM, I can only rate them as average at best. When I used LM due to flooding of fake M1, Castrol etc. in Central Europe, my cars burned LM like crazy.


He posted a picture of it - it's a 2011 E90.
And even having some oil usage with Liqui Moly when you used it in central Europe, I strongly doubt it was something even close to 3/4 quart in 128 miles, that's imposible, except the car has some serious engine ptoblem and in need of overhaul, which doesn't seem to be the case. OP's both cars seem well maintained and in good shape.
I know Liqui Moly oils are not something extraordinary quality-wise, but they absolutly aren't so bad to behave this way. As I said - I don't think that nowadays there is such a bad oil on the market, capable of desappearing in 128 miles by quarts.
 
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Hello all, OP here. I've been off the grid for awhile.

Various follow-on comments:

1) I noticed this rapid oil loss after an oil change on both my E46 and my wife's E90.
2) The NOACK spec ASTM D5800. Evaporation loss is 1 hour at 250 C with air blowing across it.
3) The LM oil was bought from both Pelican Parts and RM European - both legitimate sources.

Aide from a very small initial top off of about 1/8 quart (now using German Castrol 0W-40), neither of the cars use any measurable oil. The E90 has about 3,500 miles on GC, and the oil level is still at 100%. The dipstick on my E46 shows 100% full, though I've only put about 600 miles on it since its GC oil change.

What I've seen......with fresh oil LM has a greater initial evaporation loss than does GC. After this initial evaporation loss, both oils "stabilize" and go the rest of the OCI without any measurable consumption.

Scott
 
At that rate of loss, I'm thinking "Where did the oil go??"
Did you notice blue smoke, dripping around cam covers, emissions lights on, anything? The cars look super tight so I think it is very strange. Could you have had some odd air bubble effect somehow that would trick you into believing the sump was filled 100% when it wasn't? (Had that but in a marine drive, but that is known to happen.)
 
FWIW I've been using Leichlauf HT 5W40 o my 2008 MB E350 4Matic 5Km a year for 2 years without any consumption. Actual Km 53,450
Used mobil 1 before and also tried 0W40 which my car did not like on start up, it prefers 5W40
 
Liqui Moly Synthoil Premium 5w-40 VOA, I was considering either of these Liqui Moly Oils for the summer, after these results I'm staying with my Castrol 0w-40


 
i used the synthoil premium 5-40 in girlfriends thirsty 2.5L 13 malibu + cut consumption in half from mobil I or Pennz Plat both 10-30 + the first change with spec 5-20 val just ran thru it!!
 
Not sure what to make of the OP's plight. I've used LM HT in all 10 (yes) of my GTIs, including 4 MK7s, and none of them have used a drop of oil much less exhibit what the OP reports.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
A lot changes in three years.

Originally Posted by dequardo50
Not sure what to make of the OP's plight. I've used LM HT in all 10 (yes) of my GTIs, including 4 MK7s, and none of them have used a drop of oil much less exhibit what the OP reports.


This thread is 3 yrs old.
 
Originally Posted by benjy
i used the synthoil premium 5-40 in girlfriends thirsty 2.5L 13 malibu + cut consumption in half from mobil I or Pennz Plat both 10-30 + the first change with spec 5-20 val just ran thru it!!


My girlfriend's 2015 Malibu 2.0L LTG drinks Amsoil SS 5W-30 like crazy, I've never had a engine that would go through 2 qt of oil in 5000 miles or less. Each time I drain the oil to change it, it never fills up a 5 qt jug - more like 2-3 qt.
 
Hello:

I am the OP of this thread. I have attached a VOA and UOA for Liqui Moly Leichlauf HT 5W-40. The are my own personal oil analysis reports.

The UOA is when the oil only had 150 miles on it! Look how it thickened! cSt Viscosity @ 100C increased from 13.82 to 15.08. In just 150 miles! Given the amount of evaporative vapors I saw through the oil filler hole, compared to "German" Castrol, it is no surprise.

IMO, this particular version of this oil manufactured around this time is junk. What I have left is part of my "armageddon stash". I would not use it in any of the vehicles I now own.

Scott

Liqui Moly Leichtlauf HT 5W-40 Apr 2016.jpg


LM 5W-40 UOA 150 miles.jpeg
 
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