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Needs More Oil - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited December 2014 in Mercedes-Benz

imageNeeds More Oil - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Our long-term 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG has a twin-turbo V12 engine that produces a lot of power, but it also seems to be burning a significant amount of oil.

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Comments

  • ebeaudoinebeaudoin Member Posts: 509
    I shudder at the thought of owning this vehicle. Sure, it's nice to drive. But the "side effects" of owning it seem to far outweigh the driving experience.
  • yellowbalyellowbal Member Posts: 234
    If it's not leaking, even adding oil at 500 miles isn't too bad. Everyone checks oil once a week or at every fuelup right?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Burning" oil drives me nuts. I get irritated if I have to add any between oil changes (and I go 5 to 7.5k intervals).

    And yeah, usually check the oil at every fill. Like today. :)
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    I've said this before, but welcome to life with a V12. It really doesn't matter who the manufacturer is, V12's drink oil like its going out of style.
  • schen72schen72 Member Posts: 433
    I like nice cars like the next guy, but I'm also used to reliability and I think owning this car would drive me nuts. My oldest car is a 99 Acura TL with 265k miles on it and it doesn't burn a drop of oil.
  • gslippygslippy Member Posts: 514
    What a dumb car. My former 2001 Hyundai Elantra with 201k miles on it consumed a quart of oil every 2500 miles, and much of that was leaking. My old Scion xB didn't use any between oil changes every 5000 miles.
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    @schen72,

    Owning an older performance car is definitely not for everyone. Personally, I really enjoy it. My old 911 constantly requires my tinkering in one way or another, but I love it. You really develop a bond with cars that are, shall we say, high maintenance. You get totally in-tune with the car and every little sound or sensation it makes. You know immediately when something is off and how to fix it. That is not ideal for a daily driver, but for a weekend car it's actually kind of fun.

    On an unrelated note, I guarantee you that your TL is burning some oil by that age unless you have meticulously replaced every seal or component at the first sign of wear. The oil change intervals are just short so you aren't noticing it. All engines burn oil as they age.
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    @gslippy,

    You can't compare diminutive, rudimentary 4-cylinders with a massive 6.0-liter, biturbo V12. That AMG engine is 3 times bigger in all regards with more moving parts. V12s burn oil. That's life. It doesn't make a V12 "dumb". The sound, refinement, and thrust from a good V12 more than makeup for their unusual maintenance requirements.
  • duck87duck87 Member Posts: 649
    edited December 2014

    @schen72,

    On an unrelated note, I guarantee you that your TL is burning some oil by that age unless you have meticulously replaced every seal or component at the first sign of wear. The oil change intervals are just short so you aren't noticing it. All engines burn oil as they age.

    Hate to tell you this... but I had a 4-banger Honda that went to over 200K miles without "burning" oil. In actuality, it's not always related to piston ring and valve guide wear... in the Mercedes V12 case, I can almost guarantee you that a significant part of the oil consumption is because of lack of oil separation in the PCV system, amongst other issues with dealing with 12 cylinders. That also explains part of the misfire issues.
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    @duck87,

    I'm in agreement with you on the PCV system. That seems like the only plausible explanation (plus, MB's of this vintage are known for poor PCV design). Furthermore, V12's in general have a much higher instance of cat failure than all other engine types. Why do the cats fail? Oil contamination.

    As to your Honda, I still believe it was burning some oil by that age. That doesn't mean it was guzzling it, but it was certainly burning through oil in a way it did not do when it was brand new. However, Honda's typically have 3,000-5,000 mile oil change intervals so it would be hard to tell. Draw that out to 10,000-15,000 miles like most German cars and you start to clearly notice oil consumption.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I drove my '99 Quest for 200,000 miles over 15 years and it never "burned" oil. I often stretched the 7,500 mile interval out past 10,000 miles, especially after the warranty expired.

    My understanding is that combustion byproducts can keep your oil level "topped off".

    My AC finally died and I lost a timing belt at 185k (non-interference engine) and I had a couple of distributor problems over the years, but the engine never hiccupped and I never had to add oil to the crankcase. And it wasn't even the VQ engine that Nissan was famous for in that era.
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