'08 BMW 328xi, Castrol EDGE 5W30, 10.4k mi OCI

[1JZ_E46]

Wow. Your wear metals are a third of what they were with M1 0W-40. Very impressive. I wold stick with the 5W-30 EDGE. Those are fantastic results. I would also stick with the 10k OCI. Edit: just saw you switched to the LL-01 variant. I'm sure it will work just as good. I use it in my V8 X5.

 

[grumpyoldman]

Originally Posted By: 1JZ_E46
Wow. Your wear metals are a third of what they were with M1 0W-40. Very impressive. I wold stick with the 5W-30 EDGE. Those are fantastic results. I would also stick with the 10k OCI. Edit: just saw you switched to the LL-01 variant. I'm sure it will work just as good. I use it in my V8 X5.


Agreed, this UOA has convinced me to stick to 5W-30 EDGE & 10k OCI. I'll go back to it for my next change. By the way, the 2014 report was for the BMW/Castrol 5W30 that was originally in the car, not the M1 0W40. I never did a UOA on the M1.

And just to prove I drive like a granny, and my car knows it, here's a pic of the OLM I took just now (a month & 2k miles--70% highway, one long trip--since my last change):

 

[KenO]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
It's a chain; the last BMW engine sold in the US with a timing belt was the M20 "small" six. VANOS simply retards or advances the camshafts relative to the crankshaft.



'90's motors only, aka 'single vanos'. Once the 2000's hit, they went on to dual vanos, variably controlling both cams p to 60* in some cars with the PCM. The N52 in OP's car is technically a dual vanos motor, but it's also valvetronic. Vanos adjusters on these engines are nothing like the older engines, and to date they're rarely a problem. You'll replace multiple vanos solenoids on an n52 before you have to replace a vanos adjuster.