All of liquimoly’s products are excellent in my opinion follow their recommendations and enjoy!


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I use it every oil change (5-7k OCI) as I’m fairly certain my car had or was developing a sludge issue when I bought it. Can’t tell you if it makes any difference. When I had the valve cover off it wasn’t perfect by any means but not near as bad as I was fearing. Whether I was just too pessimistic to begin with or whether the LM helped, I do not know, but figure continued use can’t hurt.

 

I use it every oil change (5-7k OCI) as I'm fairly certain my car had or was developing a sludge issue when I bought it. Can't tell you if it makes any difference. When I had the valve cover off it wasn't perfect by any means but not near as bad as I was fearing. Whether I was just too pessimistic to begin with or whether the LM helped, I do not know, but figure continued use can't hurt.

I had the cam cover off when I did the VANOS seals and it looked very clean, just some yellowing of the aluminum and a bit of sludgy material on the intake cam cover where the oil fill is and the underside if the cam cover near the oil fill.

 

Did it once at around 80k miles using the Lubromoly product, and shortly thereafter I developed a rear main seal oil leak. Got it fixed and never touched the stuff again. Could have been coincidence, but with my regular oil/filter changes using LL-01 oil at 7500 mile intervals since new, see no reason to try again. I'm at 312,000 miles now, original engine, never rebuilt

When valve covers are resealed or back at 263,000 miles when timing chain guides were done, the engine looks clean, no sludge, just that golden color you get on the metal internal parts.

Unless you have a specific reason to do so, I would not mess with engine flushes.

 

I use it every year. I used their hydraulic lifter additive and it got rid of my lifter noise.

 

I need to try that lifter stuffs .

I used the LM oil flush at my last oil change.
All good .
I use the oil flush stuff to help with the common M54 oil ring problems .

 

236k miles...regular oil changes. I have never seen any build up of sludge...in fact when I change the oil between 5k and 8k, it still looks great. I wouldn't use something if not necessary. Are you noticing build up in the oil filter canister? I've owned my '03 540i/6 since 30k miles btw.

 

Same here, 165k did the guides and aside from light crusting on the inside of the covers, core components were looking clean from similar intervals.

I did throw some ceratec and some oil saver. Can't complain.

 

BTW, there have been multiple threads of BMWs with several sludging, and the engine flush products were of minimal value. After running an engine flush, once or even twice, then pulling the valve covers, there was not much change...sludge still everywhere. I wouldn't expect any miracles...

 

I would agree. I've thrown the kitchen sink at mine just assuming it probably had sludge when I acquired it at 145k miles. MMO, LM Proline, gas additives, etc. I, of course, did all the other requisite stuff you do when dealing with oil consumption: CCV, piston soak, etc. 40k miles later when I did VCG, it didn't look too bad in there..but definitely wasn't anything looking miraculous. Could have been that way with or without the additive, I'd reckon.

 

Snake oil

All that additive crap is just snake oil to separate you from your money.
Never put anything in your tank but good fuel.
Never put anything in your engine but good oil. Change oil and filter every 5K.

I have close to 300K and I have never used any of that stuff.
Just replaced valve cover gaskets and it was clean.

To me you would have to prove that stuff works. Don't believe the marketing hype either.

One 8 ounce can in 30 gallons of fuel is not going to make any difference what so ever.
30 gallons = 3,840 ounces. 8 ounces in 3840 = 0.002%

Just my opinion.

 

DON'T DO IT!

I grew up in a engineering mining home. I'm a physicist by education, so I know about chemistry. MoS2, what they call Moly, is under certain circumstances an extremely effective lubricant. On really heavy equipment, like shovels, trucks, graders, and such, the compound is used in places like "open" differentials, manual gear boxes, and transfer cases. MoS2 chemically binds with steel, on the surface, to form a nearly frictionless surface like the old kitchen snake oil compound for frying pans; teflon. So, in those specific cases (literally), it is an excellent additive. In fact, differentials, redirecting gear twisting by 90 degrees, with hypoid gears, benefit particularly from this chemically bonded film.

Now, where everything can go seriously wrong is using MoS2 in places where you don't want some kind of frictionless or other goo, to cling to metal surfaces, you will destroy that component with MoS2.
1) Automatic transmission. You don't want a frictionless clutch plate or band in an automatic transmission, because it obviously will never lock in gear or transmit forces to the tail shaft.
2) A limited slip differential, for much of the same reason as (1); because, an LSD requires small clutch plates in the center, to grab, to keep both wheels turning.
3) Absolutely never inside an internal combustion engine. Rings are meant to seal gases in the combustion chamber. If you open that seal, with a frictionless coating on the cylinder wall, much of your combustion blows by the rings, down into your crankcase, instead of pushing on the piston. Then to make things even worse, it bypasses those rings, gets up into the combustion chamber, and covers the spark plug, with insulating material.
As it runs along the crankshaft, it forms a nice clean opening past your front and rear main seals, so all your engine oil pumps out both ends of the engine, all over the floor of your garage and the freeway, you are winding the heck out of an engine on, that is about to run out of oil.

 

DON'T DO IT!

I grew up in a engineering mining home. I'm a physicist by education, so I know about chemistry. MoS2, what they call Moly, is under certain circumstances an extremely effective lubricant. On really heavy equipment, like shovels, trucks, graders, and such, the compound is used in places like "open" differentials, manual gear boxes, and transfer cases. MoS2 chemically binds with steel, on the surface, to form a nearly frictionless surface like the old kitchen snake oil compound for frying pans; teflon. So, in those specific cases (literally), it is an excellent additive. In fact, differentials, redirecting gear twisting by 90 degrees, with hypoid gears, benefit particularly from this chemically bonded film.

Now, where everything can go seriously wrong is using MoS2 in places where you don't want some kind of frictionless or other goo, to cling to metal surfaces, you will destroy that component with MoS2.
1) Automatic transmission. You don't want a frictionless clutch plate or band in an automatic transmission, because it obviously will never lock in gear or transmit forces to the tail shaft.
2) A limited slip differential, for much of the same reason as (1); because, an LSD requires small clutch plates in the center, to grab, to keep both wheels turning.
3) Absolutely never inside an internal combustion engine. Rings are meant to seal gases in the combustion chamber. If you open that seal, with a frictionless coating on the cylinder wall, much of your combustion blows by the rings, down into your crankcase, instead of pushing on the piston. Then to make things even worse, it bypasses those rings, gets up into the combustion chamber, and covers the spark plug, with insulating material.
As it runs along the crankshaft, it forms a nice clean opening past your front and rear main seals, so all your engine oil pumps out both ends of the engine, all over the floor of your garage and the freeway, you are winding the heck out of an engine on, that is about to run out of oil.

My store sells the stuff you are talking about but what I was asking about is not a oil additive and I haven't used those since I was a kid and the days of Slick50. I was asking about a product that is used just prior to a oil change to break down sludge so it can drain out during the change. It is only in the engine for about 15 min.

I am real conservative when I comes to what I put in my cars so if there is to much dissenting votes about a product I wont use it.

 

Some of the products on the market do work. Maybe not as well as claimed, but they can be beneficial.

My M54 started to burn oil. Use of a couple of Lucas Oil products helped, and still continues to help.

https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=972780

 

Lot's of anecdotal stories that the flush helps with engine ticking especially after startup. My neighbor and daughter both used the LM flush followed by LM MoS2. Both had their ticking eliminated. Both trucks with over 150k miles.

 

This is the stuff I used :
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/pro-line-engine-flush-500ml-can-liqui-moly-lm2037

 

The reviews are amusing to read. The first one says "the oil came out thick and black..." the very next one said "the oil was thin like water..." They were all over the place and mostly unrelated to the capabilities of a detergent/solvent in the oil.
The bottom line with any product is how it makes you feel when you use it.

 

The oil in my car has come out good during the two oil changes I have done in the nine months I've had it. Being an M5, I doubt the previous owners of my car went past or even reached 7,000 miles between oil changes. So the odds of me having sludge are pretty much next to non existent, meaning it wouldn't be worth it to use any engine flush.

Of course I'd have no problem trying the stuff on a cheap under $1k beater car. But not in a high performance motor that's already known for it's own quirks and "sell a body part" expensive when it goes boom lol.

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Gasoline is an effective engine flush...just drain the oil put back the plug and fill 'er up! Wait a day or two and drain it. All sorts of stuff comes out. Well it works with small engines...proceed at your own risk. Mind you I am not going to do it on MY car but if you are really freaked out about sludge...

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I've seen where it helped and also where I didn't see the difference. On the '01 M5, it had developed a ticking sound at the bottom of the engine on the passenger side. Now this really sounds like a rod-bearing issue on the S62. I had it towed to my mechanic expecting a new rod-bearing job. After he diagnosed the issue, he pour the LM engine flush and ran it for a while, I don't know how long, but he said a while. He drained and put in LM oil. The ticking sound went away, if you can believe it. I had expected to fork over large sum for rod bearing job, but got a way with an oil flush and change. This was on a 100,000 mile S62.

My other E39, 540/6, have about 260,xxx when I did the LM flush since it wonder on my M5. I pour the stuff in and ran it, drained it, and filled with new oil. I didn't really see much change on the 540 with its ticking sound, but it does have more than double the mileage than the M5 and different engine.

My understanding is LM don't use the usual engine flush detergents, like kerosene or other solvent. LM uses the additives that they put in their oil for the engine flush product.

 

Question: If I were to drain and replace the oil & filter with a quality oil product, drive on the highway for 500-600 miles and replace oil & filter again, would this not be the same as using LM and idling for 15-20 min?

Vehicle: 2003 525i w/ 188K+ miles. At this time, no leaks and gets 22+ mpg on autobahn (I live in southwest Germany). I don't want to risk any major maintenance after an engine flush and using quality oil seems to be a safe way to clean an engine. I'm a conservative oil changer, 5 months or 5K miles, whichever occurs first; using 5W-30. Last two winters haven't been cold enough to go 0W.

Background: Been researching whether to use an engine flush product or not. Seen posts where owners tried Liqui Moly engine flush (or another brand) and developed a leak on the rear main seal or somewhere else. Also have read where the product seemed to work, but with limited mention of before & after comments. Lots of pros & cons to using LM, ATF and diesel fuel. I don't mind spending money for high quality engine oils that meet LL-01 specs....mainly interested in keeping my vehicle healthy.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thank you for your time,
GroundRat

 

Question: If I were to drain and replace the oil & filter with a quality oil product, drive on the highway for 500-600 miles and replace oil & filter again, would this not be the same as using LM and idling for 15-20 min?

Vehicle: 2003 525i w/ 188K+ miles. At this time, no leaks and gets 22+ mpg on autobahn (I live in southwest Germany). I don't want to risk any major maintenance after an engine flush and using quality oil seems to be a safe way to clean an engine. I'm a conservative oil changer, 5 months or 5K miles, whichever occurs first; using 5W-30. Last two winters haven't been cold enough to go 0W.

Background: Been researching whether to use an engine flush product or not. Seen posts where owners tried Liqui Moly engine flush (or another brand) and developed a leak on the rear main seal or somewhere else. Also have read where the product seemed to work, but with limited mention of before & after comments. Lots of pros & cons to using LM, ATF and diesel fuel. I don't mind spending money for high quality engine oils that meet LL-01 specs....mainly interested in keeping my vehicle healthy.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thank you for your time,
GroundRat

I wouldn't bother, continue with what you are doing. I posted my results above, it could have been a coincidence, but I won't use it again. If you are not having any issues, then skip it. Your oil change interval is overkill as it is. I have been doing 7,500 miles since new (LL-01 oils only) and now at 312,800 miles. Engine has never been rebuilt...just timing chain guides replaced at 263,600 miles

 

BTW with respect to LL-01 spec oil: isn't LL04 even better? Somewhere I saw a note about LL04 being not just a newer but a higher spec.

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I forget the specifics, but for North America, no. Assuming you care about BMW approvals, the LL-01 would be preferred over LL-04

 

My 1998 Volvo V70 (2.5T engine) has a slight valve ticking.
I used Liqui Moly Flush (added then run ? 5 min before oil change).
Drain oil and performed oil change.

NOT sure it made any difference.

For engine flush, your best bet is to use good synthetic and overkill it, like change oil every 2K-3K. Repeat this a few cycles to get rid of junk.

Bad gunk inside engine: only a tear down and rebuild is the solution.

For mild sludge, I may use LM flush once, then follow with a series of frequent oil change.

Search matthews volvo forum for more info...

 

LL04 was not approved in US due to higher gasoline sulfur content (diesel is ok) but I also heard that was back in the days of older fuel standards. Now US fuel allegedly has low sulfur content and therefore LL04 is ok. You have to do your own research on this because everyone will tell you a different story.

 

Buy a good quality oil in the recommended viscosity for your climate. Change it frequently and you will not have any oil related issues. Your cooling system will fail long before you have an oil related issue if you follow the above advice.

 

Yep. "Kuhlung uber alles!"

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This is long but to sum it up about oil sludge, its really overall a total crapshoot for non original owners of these cars. Say there was a low mileage 1-owner 2002 530i with 45k miles for sale. There's no guarantee it won't be free of sludge. The owner could've built those miles up on really short trips. Or maybe took BMW's long life oil change intervals too literally and only changed the oil after 15k miles or worse 20k miles. So at 45k the car has basically had only 2 or 3 oil changes in it's entire 18 year life. Would you buy a car like that? I sure as hell know I wouldn't without ripping off the valve covers and oil pan to see inside.

Granted the odds of that happening are extremely low. But regardless, there are a LOT of stupid/negelctful car owners out there. Can't trust the previous owners for their word unless they have the service records to back it up. Even all mighty Toyota has it's massive share of bonehead owners who never change the oil because they just assume "It's a Toyota, I thought they don't need maintenance"?

540i M-Sport is right that we'll never know the full designation of BMW's LL-01 oil recommendation. And what little we do is all on the countless threads of this subject from all BMW forum sites that'll continue this subject until the end of time.

If you are not the original owner of your car and worried about sludge and don't have much of a service history to go off of? Best way to check for sludge is to remove the valve cover. Then pull the oil pan just to be sure. If it's very minor then maybe a oil flush like Liqui Moly possibly wouldn't hurt. They are a very respected brand. It might take a few attempts for a full flush though I wouldn't do it back to back. Be aware there is still a risk nonetheless it could damage some gaskets. But if the sludge is more pronounced/severe, then your only option is to tear the engine down and clean it. Imagine how much fun that would be?

I'm obviously not the original owner of my M5 saying I was 17 years old when it was new. Would've long since wrecked it anyways if I was lol. I don't have much of a service history for it either. Since I already have a leaking valve cover, and lower oil pan gaskets, thought of trying Liqui Moly oil flush probably wouldn't hurt. But most M5 owners are more keen on keeping up on oil changes and taking care of these engines. In fact I really doubt the previous owners of my car even reached 8k miles between oil changes. So I don't think it would be necessary for me.

And as for oil. The best oil for anyones car depends on so many factors. Is it a daily driver? You drive it hard like on the track or easy with an occasional spirited run through the gears? You live in a cool/cold or warm/hot climate? So on and so on...Nothing wrong with going by BMW's LL-01. But that's if you go by their really long mileage between oil changes. Plus again with our cars long out of warranty I really doubt BMW cares about what oil you use even if they say they do. I honestly believe that 7.5k maybe 8k miles is the absolute most you should do between oil changes. 4.5-5.5k miles is a good range. 2-3k is a bit overkill unless you track your car, but no doubt it'll help you avoid sludge.

I live in Portland, OR which is a oceanic temperate climate. So while we are mostly considered a mild (and wet) climate year round. We do every now an then see winter temps in the lower 20's. Sometimes lower, but rare unless you live in the cascades or eastern Oregon. Summertime temps can hit as high as almost 110. Fahrenheit of course not celcius. My car is a daily driver and I don't track it and never plan to. But I do like to do the occasional spirited drives with some full throttle runs (it's an M5, how could I not?).

While BMW's LL-01 recommendation is now nothing but 10W-60 for all year M5's disregarding the old 5W-30 sticker when it was new. For where I live and my driving conditions, I feel like the best oil for me and my use would be Mobil 1 5W-50. It'll be easier on cold start wear for winter but still offer very good protection for summer use. Basically sort of a in between 0W-40 and 10W-60.

Like I said this works for ME. Not all of our cars were driven and maintaned the same. Some lived easy lives, others abusive and many in between. So do what you feel is best for you depending on your driving style, service history, climate is like where you live. You want to do a flush? Then by all means go for it if you feel like it's needed or will help. Want to use only BMW LL-01 oils? Nothing wrong with that at all whether you change the oil at 15k miles or 4k miles.

Ok I typed enough, time for bed.

-Mark

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A new oil for older BMW models:
LIQUI MOLY Special Tec B FE carries an official BMW approval for Longlife-01 FE

 

just want to point out that i lost cylinder 2 on that m54 that was in the x3 a few months back... 190,000 miles

that engine had problems with oil consumption early on in life,
it had ccv problems.
it had build up problems
it had ring problems,

i had used a few cleaners in its time,

ON the other hand.. my m62 has 251,000 miles on it... gets 10k oil changes.. and is clean as a whistle inside



I honestly dont recommend any mechanic in a can

 

"Do you have Burning2nd in a can? ...Well let him out, or he'll suffocate!"