1994 BMW 530i (M60), Rotella T6 5W-40, 1,475 Miles

[kschachn]

I pulled this sample early because I was concerned about fuel dilution. The level on the dipstick went up a little and I didn't know why. No coolant was being used but I was worried that an injector was stuck open or something. I guess I'm still not sure.

The car was driven most every day in cold weather about a mile or two, allowed to sit all day, and then driven home with some longer trips in between. I ran it pretty good for about a half hour before I took the sample and changed the oil to M1 0W-40.

Any comments are welcome.
****************************
Thanks for the notes. You were mostly concerned about fuel, and we did find a little bit in this sample, but 1.0% isn't enough to normally be considered a problem. The Italian tune-up may have burned off more excess fuel, so keep an eye on your dipstick and make sure the oil level isn't rising; from what we found here though, we don't see a problem. Universal averages show normal wear for this type of engine after ~4,900 miles of oil use; your wear was a little high for 1,475 miles, but nothing is too far out of line. The TBN was 4.6, still good. Check back to monitor.

Code:


OIL Rotella T6

MILES IN USE 1,445

MILES 156,864

SAMPLE TAKEN 03/10/12



SAMPLE AVERAGES

ALUMINUM 6 4

CHROMIUM 2 1

IRON 11 15

COPPER 3 8

LEAD 0 5

TIN 0 1

MOLYBDENUM 53 72

NICKEL 10 6

MANGANESE 0 0

SILVER 0 0

TITANIUM 0 0

POTASSIUM 1 2

BORON 39 62

SILICON 3 7

SODIUM 2 27

CALCIUM 826 2104

MAGNESIUM 1060 244

PHOSPHORUS 1031 825

ZINC 1054 961

BARIUM 0 6

________________________________

SAMPLE SHOULD BE

INSOLUBLES 0.3
ANTIFREEZE 0.0 0.0

WATER 0
FLASHPOINT ºF 355 >375

SUS VIS 210ºF 63.1 65-78

cSt @ 212ºF 11.10 11.6-15.3

TBN 4.6

 

[JAG]

I think the short trips and cold weather did allow a lot of fuel and water dilution raise the oil level. The long drive prior to sampling evaporated some of it but its was still diluted. Viscosity is low as a result. Another indication of that severe service is the low TBN for the mileage. It's best to sample after a trip length representative of a typical trip you'd normally take so it shows a more typical oil condition. With those short trips, it doesn't look like any oil will last very long.

 

[kschachn]

Yeah I agree I should have sampled it after (yet another) short trip. This is the car I let my youngest daughter drive to school and that is pretty close to our house. But when the old man (me) gets to finally drive it, I tend to take longer trips and that is what happened this time.

 

[dnewton3]

The wear and such is not favorable on a "per mile" factor.

I presume, given your experience here and previous OCI, that you're going to continue with 1.5k mile OCIs? I'd use a quality dino oil and at least cut the costs way back. Using M1 at 1.5k miles is going to become painful in the wallet very quickly. I don't know what the engine spec's, but I'd look for a cheaper alternative to such an expensive sump fill/OCI plan.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: dnewton3
I don't know what the engine spec's, but I'd look for a cheaper alternative to such an expensive sump fill/OCI plan.


I could be wrong, but I suspect that a conventional 15w-40 HDEO like Rotella or Delvac Super fits the viscosity requirements for this engine and at a far cheaper price. If one wishes to change the oil every 1500 miles, a five gallon pail is definitely in order.

 

[kschachn]

Yeah, I don't want to change it every 1500 miles, it just happened that I did this time because it had been 5 winter months along with the short trips. And the fact that I think the dipstick level edged up, plus the oil is very black after such a short interval. None of my other cars blacken the oil like that in 1500 miles. It has 0W-40 in it right now because I happened to have a boatload of it.

The thing is that this is an 18-year old car with rust and I'm not super worried about wear metals. But since I was seeing the dipstick level go up a bit I was worried about a stuck injector, that is something that I would want to fix. I realize I’m somewhat schizophrenic about this car in terms of maintenance. On one hand it is old and has rust, and doesn’t deserve much care, but on the other hand I might let my daughter drive it to college (4 hours away) next year so I would like for it to perform properly.

I might just pull the injectors and send them out for testing. That would at least tell me if I have a problem there.

 

[Garak]

The T6 is certainly a good oil. I don't know what your future plans on OCIs are, though. Does the manual have any ACEA or proprietary BMW oil requirements, or does it just go for an API rating? Any mention of synthetic? What's the sump size?

 

[kschachn]

Heh, I don't know what my OCI plans are either. I'll probably get the injectors flow checked and then get the oil retested later this summer. The whole short tripping thing in the cold shouldn't be a factor then.

There is no BMW LL requirement or anything, just an API (I forget which one now though, whatever was appropriate for 1994). The sump size is 8 quarts so it is a lot of oil, my Sienna also has a 3.0 displacement and makes do with 5 quarts. The manual doesn't make any comments on synthetic that I remember but I can look later.

I’ve done a lot to this car to make it reliable. Prior to me buying it from a friend who had 5 BMWs, it had sat for quite a few years and wasn’t driven much. In its earlier days it had the engine replaced under the Nikasil/Alusil campaign, plus a rebuilt transmission was installed at some point due to an issue with shifting. You will probably laugh if I told you all the work I have done to it in the past year that I’ve owned it. More work than the car is worth. The thing was one big dripping mess, practically every gasket on the car was old and dried out and needed replacing.

A lot of mechanicals were worn out and have been replaced, including the water pump, tensioners, A/C condenser, heater core, blower motor, wiper transmission (and motor), two window regulators (and one motor), new tires, new brakes and new struts/shocks all around. The intake manifold had to be rebuilt with new gaskets and a new non-return (PCV) valve. All the heater and radiator hoses were replaced (there’s like nine total) along with every plastic clip and bracket you touch along the way. Let’s see, what else. Fuel filter (it’s a double one), power steering hose, and various interior parts including rebuilding the front seat armrest mechanisms and a new heated seat switch. And of course every fluid, filter, belt and gasket you can think of along with spark plugs etc. Oh and a used alternator as the old one overheated due to an incredible nesting of insects in the cooling duct over the years. This caused the diodes to fail and put a parasitic drain on the battery, that one took a bit to diagnose. Every lock and door mechanism has required disassembly, cleaning and re-lubricating due to 18-year old grease that just refused to work in winter. Same thing for most of the electrical switches, fortunately they can be disassembled, cleaned and re-lubricated. Many had spilled soda or coffee in them.

FWIW I did all the work myself with parts bought from an online BMW/Mercedes dealer or aftermarket from places like RM European or Autohaus AZ.

Anyway that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. So yeah I guess I don’t want a bunch of fuel dilution now if I can avoid it, after all that work it has become a pretty reliable vehicle for my daughter and if I can, I’d like to keep the engine running best I can.


Originally Posted By: Garak
The T6 is certainly a good oil. I don't know what your future plans on OCIs are, though. Does the manual have any ACEA or proprietary BMW oil requirements, or does it just go for an API rating? Any mention of synthetic? What's the sump size?

 

[Garak]

In my old 1991 Audi 200 Turbo, I ended using Delvac 1300 15w-40 most of the time. The sump was certainly smaller than that on your BMW.

 

[kschachn]

FWIW I looked in the owner's manual for the oil spec, it says "Brand name engine oil, rated SG". So that is pretty generic

I also think the dipstick level movement I (thought) I saw may have been a mistake, I tested it on the driveway today (slightly inclined) and in the garage, both 15 minutes after shutdown and several hours later. I found that the very slight incline made quite a difference in the level - in contrast to my other cars which show nearly no change. So despite having 8 quarts in the sump it is surprisingly sensitive to the conditions under which it is checked.

 

[Garak]

Does the manual have the temperature chart with various grades? My Audi had the generic API specification and various grades, with 15w-40 being the preferred grade over the widest span of temperatures.

And definitely, some vehicles are very sensitive to being level when checked. I almost had a stroke when I checked my G37 outside and thought it was down a litre, when it never consumed oil before. In the level garage, it was back where it belonged.

 

[kschachn]

Yeah it has that old multi-arrow chart with all the viscosities and temperatures.

I'll think about the 15W-40 for summer. I just have this aversion to anything 15W or 20W....

Originally Posted By: Garak
Does the manual have the temperature chart with various grades? My Audi had the generic API specification and various grades, with 15w-40 being the preferred grade over the widest span of temperatures.

And definitely, some vehicles are very sensitive to being level when checked. I almost had a stroke when I checked my G37 outside and thought it was down a litre, when it never consumed oil before. In the level garage, it was back where it belonged.

 

[calvin1]

It's best to stick with an A3/B3 rated oil for the M60. These engines are known for loading up the bottom end and lifters with varnish even when the top end looks okay.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
I'll think about the 15W-40 for summer. I just have this aversion to anything 15W or 20W....


I don't blame you. It can save some cash, though.

I certainly wasn't brave (or foolhardy) enough to try the 20w-50 in the Audi, although it was certainly approved.

 

[kschachn]

FWIW, as part of my massive “I hate drips on my garage floor” campaign, I replaced the valve cover and oil pan gaskets, and the bottom of the engine was spotless (no loose oil pickup bolts either). According to my friend whom I bought the car from he generally used M1 5W-30, changed out on an unknown schedule.

So I think I am working from a clean slate as it were.


Originally Posted By: calvin1
It's best to stick with an A3/B3 rated oil for the M60. These engines are known for loading up the bottom end and lifters with varnish even when the top end looks okay.

 

[cp3]

Sounds like your daghter is a lucky girl and you are having a lot of fun!

Are you still going to go ahead with the injectors or hold off? If you don't mind the cost the 0w40 might not be a bad idea when the car is 4 hours away and will get less frequent, I assume, attention from you.

 

[Regamaster]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
..plus the oil is very black after such a short interval. None of my other cars blacken the oil like that in 1500 miles...


Hi, I'm new to BITOG forums but have been an avid reader for the past few weeks. I've been really interested in running Rotella T6 5W-40 Full Synthetic in my 98' M3 for sometime now because of all the great experiences I'm reading.

Many people have a misconception that at the end of an OCI their oil should come out looking clean and that black oil indicates broken down motor oil but IMO if you are doing regular 3000 mile OCIs (which is more than enough) with a quality oil filter, you have nothing to worry about. Based on the age of your 530i, the color of your oil signifies to me that the oil is actually doing it's job of capturing dirt and other contaminants considering on how many cleaning agents Rotella T6 contains.

 

[kschachn]

Yeah, thanks, normally I would not be one to jump on the "my oil looks bad" bandwagon, but still after only less than 1,500 miles you should have seen it. The oil from my other cars at far higher mileage looks a lot better. And I know the inside of this engine is clean as I have had both the valve covers and the oil pan off recently.