Experiment: how long does an engine last without oil?

Driving without engine oil

A cheap luxury car, there is no such thing. That’s what is usually said by experts. The purchase price of a new “premium car” is high and the maintenance of an old model is simply too expensive. Especially if a car has had a hard life. For example, if the owner did not regularly check the oil level.

BMW vs. Lexus

The English YouTube channel Carwow figured out how long an engine can run without a single drop of oil at all. For the experiment, they chose two models: a BMW 735i and a Lexus LS43. Both cars had such damage to the sheet metal that they were written off. There was nothing wrong with the engines. Until the experiment began, of course. First, the cars were both held at standard speed for half a minute. This they both survived. Then both engines were brought up to 3,000 rpm for 30 seconds. That, too, still went well. Then both cars were kicked up against the rev limiter for half a minute. The Lexus did not last long and died after twenty seconds. With that, the Lexus LS430 lasted a total of one minute and twenty seconds.

BMW proves to be iron strong

With the BWM, the team had to put more effort into breaking it down. So the jolly presenter Mat Watson climbed behind the wheel to make a set of donuts around the broken Lexus LS. After driving a bit more on an off-road terrain, the curtain also fell on the BMW V8. The 7 Series lasted a whopping five times as long as the Lexus, with a total time of seven minutes and 34 seconds. Of course, this says little about the quality of either engine, because we don’t know the past history or mileage.