'02 BMW 530i, Pennzoil Ultra 5w-40, 5,900 miles

[Quattro Pete]

Time in service: 16 months (November 2010 – March 2012)

Driving conditions: a mix of short trips and longer trips, mostly around town; a lot of time spent just sitting in the garage on weekdays.

Oil filter: Mahle/Knecht (OEM)
Air filter: Mann (OEM)

Make-up oil: 0.5 qt

I was also adding about 3 oz of LC20 every 1k miles or so.

Sampling technique: Blackstone pump via dipstick tube.

Compare these results with the GC sample from 4/4/2009 as the driving conditions and time/miles in service were somewhat similar. Seems like TBN retention of GC was a bit better. Copper seems to be trending up, but I think it's still low enough to not worry much.

Oil has not been changed yet. Judging by these results, would you change it or would you keep going?

Sample data:

Link to PU 5w-40 VOA

Link to my previous UOA

 

[HTSS_TR]

I would change in a thousand miles, because TAN is a little higher than TBN.

 

[ltslimjim]

Looks normal for a weekender to me. I think changing it by 18 months or another 1,000 miles is advisable.

Good job for 16 months of service.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

A3/B4 with that TAN/TBN ratio @ 6k miles? Makes me wonder if ACEA isn't worried about it. On the other hand it has been over 12 months so I'm probably worried about nothing.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Curious where the 75 ppm of magnesium came from. Leftovers from GC that I had in there before?

Virgin PU 5w-40 only showed 14 ppm of magnesium and LC20 has none.

 

[shanneba]

I usually see about 15% of the moly from the BMW 5w-30 in the next UOA with GC in my M54B30. (also on my Red Line OUAs changing from the moly / no moly batches) I believe that the VANOS lines and cylinders retain some oil. There is also a couple of ounces of oil that is retained in the bottom of the oil filter housing unless you use an extractor to suck it out.
I use an extractor.
It still takes 7 quarts to get me to the top of the full notch.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2431085

You had 446ppm mag 15% of that would be about 68ppm

 

[CATERHAM]

Thanks for posting.
Does PU 5W-40 meet the BMW LL spec'?
What does your oil monitor say as to remaining oil life?
Anyway I'd change the oil.

What are you going to run next?
I'd run something lighter but that's just me.

 

[shanneba]

The TDS shows approval for BMW LL-01.
It isn't much thicker than GC or BMW 5w-30, it 13.1 cst

http://www.epc.shell.com/Docs/GPCDOC_X_cbe_24855_key_140007054943_201202271157.pdf

 

[CATERHAM]

It is considerably heavier than the shear prone BMW 5W-30 service fill and even the FF as can be seen below:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2505111#Post2505111

I'd suggest any synthetic 5W-30 will do an equally good if not better job. I also realize that's heresy to a diehard BMW guy that wouldn't use anything that didn't have BMW approval.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Thanks for posting.
Does PU 5W-40 meet the BMW LL spec'?

It does.

Quote:

What does your oil monitor say as to remaining oil life?
Anyway I'd change the oil.

The maintenance indicator in this car is comprised of 5 green dots when the oil is new (that is: right after it was reset), probably similar to your 328i. 3 green dots are remaining right now. 4 green dots were still remaining when I took this sample a few weeks ago.

In reality, OLM in this car is based on the amount of fuel consumed. Total OCI = 2375 liters. If I go into hidden OBC test, I can see that I've consumed 951 liters since last reset, so basically, 60% oil life is still remaining according to the OLM. So, if I were to keep up similar MPG, the OLM would go off at about 15K miles or so. I never really paid any attention to it. It seems too optimistic for my tastes, but maybe I'm just old fashioned...

I'll be doing an oil change this weekend.

Quote:

What are you going to run next?
I'd run something lighter but that's just me.

I've got some more PU 5w-40 left that I bought on sale, so I'll use that for next OCI. After that, I'll buy whatever LL01 oil I can find that's on sale, possibly back to GC. That is, if I don't sell the car before then...

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: shanneba
You had 446ppm mag 15% of that would be about 68ppm

Makes sense. Thanks.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: shanneba
The TDS shows approval for BMW LL-01.
It isn't much thicker than GC or BMW 5w-30, it 13.1 cst

The PU 5w-40 may have gotten reformulated at some point. The one I used here actually started out at 14.5 cSt. Possibly it was still the older API SL formula, even though the labels on the bottle already said API SM.

 

[ltslimjim]

^If you wanted to be really overkill, you could always change it at 1 year if it sees similar service in the future. I'd be interesting to see a TAN/TBN relationship at 1 year prior to this 16 month sample.

 

[vinu_neuro]

What's a normal range for oxidation? I've also read the starting value matters as well?

 

[ltslimjim]

^I'm not sure of the nitration and oxidation relationship yet, one may be more relative to hours of operation(including extensive idling for example) than mileage than the other. There is definitely a co-relationship on some level. Perhaps more skilled posters in this area can contribute?

Oxidation and nitration.

I believe oxidation may be higher in oils that contain ester, as a starting characteristic that is. So higher oxidation perhaps in those oils are a false positive for 'change' based on that number. You could be safe and say after increasing from VOA to UOA at a certain threshold but at what rate does conventional oils starting/ending relative to UOA oxidation define it's usable interval compared to an oil like Red Line with a good amount of ester and it's higher starting point?

Then again, this could be TAN all over again and I'm confusing them somewhat.

ADDED: Found these...

http://www.spectroinc.com/analytical-tests-nitration.htm

http://www.spectroinc.com/analytical-tests-oxidation.htm

Quote:
Oxidation is perhaps the most predominant problem as a lubricant remains in service. It is a form of lubricant degradation responsible for numerous lubricant problems including viscosity increase, varnish, sludge and sediment formation, additive depletion, base oil breakdown, filter plugging, loss of lubricity, loss in foam control, acid number (AN) increase, rust formation and corrosion. Oxidation occurs as lubricant molecules are exposed to oxygen over long time periods and is accelerated by high operating temperature. Therefore, monitoring and controlling oxidation is a priority of any machine condition monitoring program.


^They go on to say nitration is indeed a by-product of operation which seems to be impacted the more oxidation increases.