Quadcammer

Then it comes down to a matter of what is deemed acceptable.

I believe MB corporate deems anything less than 1 quart per 1000 miles as acceptable.

If my new $60k Mercedes burned a quart of oil every 1001 miles, I would be VERY displeased.

CPD SLK

So should I take the car to dealer and see what's going on? Or should I just add my some oil. Im with Oliver on this....my 98 Trans Am had over 500 hp and never burned any oil...not one drop...I buy a 2009 mercedes and it's burning oil with 4K miles on it...wtf?

bazi 007

i have a 2009 also; my dealer told me when the warning comes on to drop by without a appt to fill it up for free and make sure there are no leaks; it did and they took care of it; he told me by the 10 k service it should stop

regor60

Don't you mean a quart ever 999 miles

Quadcammer

nah. If it burned 1qt per 999, I could at least get them to try to fix it. 1qt per 1001, and you are stuck with an oil burner that is "in spec".

either way, I'd try filling it up, and see what happens. If it happens again, swing by the dealer and let them know.

hcy

yea m156 engines are like that. my engine oil light was on for 2 times went bak to dealer and get it top n it will be fine.

CPD SLK

So I took my car to the dealer in Pleasanton...they were nice enough to top it off for free...I'm driving my car down the road and BOOM...lots of smoke and the distinct smell of burning oil. I automatically think either they spilled some oil or even worse, forgot to put the cap back on. Well...of course, it's the latter of the two and I limp over to the dealer again, and discover oil everywhere under the engine bay and all over the hood pad.

So they tell me they're sorry and will take care of me (ok, cool, accidents happen...Im still pissed). But they give me an E-class to drive, tell me it will be ready tomorrow, all cleaned up and detailed inside and outside outside with a steam cleaned engine bay....and say my next oil change is free. Even though they screwed up, they took care of me, so I'm pretty happy.

I will now tomorrow if they did a good job cleaning up the huge mess. Wish me good luck. Anything I need to pay special attention to to make sure they dried everything out properly and all that?

BerBer63

^^^ wow RETARDED, how hard is it to twist on a cap


I wouldn't let them detail my car except for maybe the engine bay.

1st amg

Oh my, that is awful. So rookiesh, I would be more concerned if there is any damage done to the engine, how far were you from the dealer when it went up in smoke, I cant believe they did something like that. Hope it all works out well, let us know. Try to sleep tonite.

black-clk500

WOW that is unbelievable!!!!
Everybody is in such a hurry these days--I'd want more than a free oil change!
Don't let them clean the car inside the cabin or the body--they may forget to do something else
What a bunch of clowns!

CPD SLK

What should I ask for? All weather mats? A second oil change? I m still fuming right now and miss by baby...

clktoc63

I spoke to a high performance engine builder about the oil consumption. If I understood his argument correctly (?) race motors are often built with loose clearnances to decrease friction. According to him, those more generous clearnances increase horsepower and increase fuel mileage with a side-effect of burning more oil. Seems logical that AMG would want to achieve these objectives.

More specifically, I think he was referring to the piston to wall clearance, noting that compression isn't effected with properly seated rings.

Quadcammer

piston to wall clearance shouldn't have to do with friction, because there should always be SOME clearance from piston to wall. Ideally the rings are all that should touch the walls.

That said, with forged pistons (especially 2618 alloy), the expansion of the piston is greater than the expansion of the wall material, so the p/w clearance needs to be bigger to allow for that expansion. That can result in some oil burning until the engine is warm. That said, In a naturally aspirated, not overly high compression motor, it wouldn't make sense to use 2618, or even really 4032 forged pistons because they are heavier than hypereutectic cast pistons (which costs hp).

fwiw, I bet he was talking about bearing clearance (larger bearing clearance results in less oil pressure, meaning less drag and less power loss to the oil pump), and ring clearance (if they are too tight, and cylinder pressure is too high, they can actually butt up against each other and cause the crown of the piston to blow off.

bushburninc63

So it will always burn this much oil? or when the rings are seated properly (@10k that the dealer claims) then there should be a lot less oil consumption?

clktoc63

Great question. For my own sake, I am assuming it will always burn this much. I can't imagine any scenario where it takes the rings 10,000 miles to seat.

Thinking about it more, if that were true, MB should never let us loose at 1000 miles (break-in) if the rings aren't seated.

hutch300

Its normal, dealer says just drop in another quart until your scheduled service, they all do this

bushburninc63

First I'm learning about the premature wear on the rear tires, and now I find out that these things eat up oil, what's next on my to learn list today :o

BTW I just made my deposit on my C63, hopefully I get it by next week.

DaGS1800

I changed my oil at 2000 miles just cause I wanted too, but this error message got me too at about 5000 miles... I went to the dealer and they said it was a minor issue with one of the sensors...

CPD SLK

What is up with dealers not being able to get their stories straight. Some say they burn oil, and some say sensors...

Such BS

BerBer63

There's an sent in letter in the May R&T about a Honda S2000 with 100k+ miles on it that burns oil at a similar rate with an inadequate explanation from the magazine editor based on the response....


And my 01 Camaro SS burned oil, but it was about 3-4k/quart for the first 30-40k

gravedgr

For those of you who are burning oil, how did you break it in?

clktoc63

Completely by the book! Painful as it was... I even kept the little sticker on the windshield as a constant reminder against the temptation!

gravedgr

That may be part of the problem. Anecdotally, most people who report oil burning on forums have broken their car in by the book. Most people who experience zero oil burning have broken their car in by what I consider to be the proper way:

1. Make sure the oil is at operating temps
2. Drive at various RPM levels, up to and including redline. Varying revs is more important that staying below a set limit.
3. Use all gears, varying as much as reasonable. Include engine braking in all gears.

I've done this with all my BMW's, Porsches, and the MB - none have ever burned oil. 911's are notorious for burning oil, but mine never burned a drop. I had mine at redline on the way home from the dealership; I ran it hard as often as possible, but never above 4k RPM until oil was at full operating temps.

This is just my opinion and of course forum feedback is hardly reliable, but I browse e46fanatics, bimmerworld, rennlist, rennsouth, 6speedonline, and here among others and overall this has been the most common correlation.

RNSL65

I have had different cars over the years from different manufactures (BMW, Audi, Ford) and no one has ever used any oil. I have always used some of the best quality oil available and changed it on a regularly basis long before the Dealer or Car tells you to do it. This includes my SL65-AMG.

Some engines will stop using oil if one go from an average quality oil to a 100% synthetic quality oil like the Mobil 0W40, Mobil 5W50 or Castrol 10W60.
Modern engine technology/materials don’t need many km/miles before it’s ready to go for full, it only needs the best oil and have it changed on a regular basis.

I’ve also had a heavily tuned road engine with more than 170 BHP/liter, compared to the 105BHP/liter from the SL65-AMG engine, no problems or oil consuming here!

veedman

i got that msg, just take it to MB to get a top up and you will be sweet again, only the lazy salesmen will say Oh its fine, just leave it!!! but then you get that msg like 2-3 times a day, and its just annoying!!!