BMW 330CI - Red Line 5w-40 - 5100 miles

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Code:
Date 5/5/05 10/5/05 3/6/06 6/6/06 3/7/07 6/7/07 3/8/08 9/8/08 10/8/08 6/4/09

Miles 5011 5000 4300 5958 4514 5347 5017 3839 7250 5100

Total 21130 26100 31407 37365 41879 47226 52245 56084 63334 68400



Make up 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Oil BMW Castrol Castrol BMW Castrol Castrol Castrol Castrol Red line Red Line

Weight 5w-30 0w-30 0w-30 5w-30 0w-30 0w-30 0w-30 0w-30 5w-40 5w-40



Filter BMW Mann BMW BMW Mann Mann Mann Mann Mann Mann



ALUM 4 2 2 2 2 2 4 2 2 4

CHROM 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

IRON 9 7 6 4 8 6 11 9 7 7

COPPER 28 22 15 18 22 8 15 9 5 17

LEAD 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

TIN 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0

MOLY 124 19 4 104 16 4 3 2 3 149

NICKEL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

MANG 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1

SILVER 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TITAN. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

POTA 9 1 6 1 2 0 8 3 2 3

BORON 38 9 3 21 4 2 3 2 1 4

SILICON 5 3 3 3 3 2 4 3 4 6

SODIUM 2 4 3 5 3 3 4 2 3 9

CALCIUM 3446 2125 1704 2463 2702 2985 1864 1891 2452 2142

MAGN 18 311 455 83 129 147 448 551 86 30

PHOSP 853 748 781 662 737 782 872 885 988 1032

ZINC 1050 889 964 847 878 1001 1115 1087 1282 1228

BARIUM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0



SUS 65.6 62.5 63.2 64.1 63.8 65.8 64.2 65.5 73.9 78.2

cSt 11.76 10.91 11.11 11.35 11.27 11.82 11.38 11.75 13.97 15.08

Flash 375 375 325 415 360 395 380 400 440 385

Fuel %
Antif % 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Water % 0 0 tr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Insol % 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3

TBN 1.8 4 4.7 3.2 2.9 2.6 2.9 4.9 4 1.7


Blackstone comments-
SCOTT: Copper, from brass or bronze parts increased in the latest sample from your BMW. Copper has
been high in the past, yet sporadic, so it could just be an engine bushing wearing a bit more than usual. At
17 ppm, it's not reading that much above averages for the 3.0L, so we'll take a wait and see approach
before we call it a problem. All other wear looked great. A trace of gas was found, which isn't a problem.
The viscosity was a bit high, and we're not sure why. The TBN was 1.7, quite low compared to the last
sample. Due to these, try just 5,500-6,000 miles next.

Another Houston Winter UOA, wonder if copper has to do with the winter fuel blend and increased fuel dilution?

I am surprised BlackStone flagged the viscosity at 15.08 since they did my VOA and it was 15.15. I must have had a quart or two of the older formula to have Moly at 149.

Still running the oil, drove 1060 miles Saturday, will add another 1000+ Friday or Saturday. Will send a sample when I change it then.
Should be close to 7500 miles total by then. Will the TBN still be higher, I added about half a quart after this sample to replace what I pulled to bring the level up to full.
 
Awesome trending on your car! Copper is interesting in that it is bouncing around. Copper went up this time but no other "wear" metals followed suit. Wonder why TBN is lower on this sample. Possibly winter condensation/etc.

As a side note I am going to get a virgin "TAN only" test for this oil this week as I forgot to get it when I did my VOA (didn't see it on yours either). Normally one wouldn't get that but I want to see starting TAN on this oil for an experiment. If the TAN is zero, I'll have wasted $10 ha ha.

Re moly, was all oil from same case? It would be interesting to see if Moly has any affect on other properties but impossible to tell I suppose unless side-by side comparison of Moly vs. no Moly.
 
I'm not so sure I'm buying into the Houston "winter" argument.

My engine is very similar (a 1998 M52), I've been using GC for a while and M1 0W40 before that and, except for the most recent, my OCIs are about the same as yours. I don't get a UOA every time, and I've only been to Blackstone for some of them, so my whole history isn't in the link below but I do have more than 2 datapoints.

My latest thread is here. This last OCI was fairly heavily short-tripped through a CANADIAN winter compared to prior use of the car years ago (pre-house, pre-kids, lots of weekend trips).

My copper is maintaining 3ppm with Blackstone, and was low with the other lab as well.

I notice that your flashpoints are all over, but Blackstone lumps it all together as "
Do you idle this car to warm it up?

Perhaps you may want to pass the results up the chain to someone like Terry. Find out what components in an M54 can cause copper wear and get more accurate interpretations of your fuel dilution values.
 
Craig,

I idle it long enough to fasten my seat belt. I normally drive about 6 miles to work, the long way, and the drive home is about a mile. The winter gas would be the biggest difference in Houston. The summer oil changes are normally after a 1000 mile trip back to Houston, the spring OCI is usually done when not fully warmed up.

Saaber1,
The last VOA and UOA were all from the same case. This OCI was the 5 quarts left from the case plus 2 oI bought from Turner Motorsports, so it still had the moly looking at the data here.
 
That TBN is, IMO, too low for redline after only 5000 miles in a not-tough ambient environment, in an N/A engine like this
 
This engine seems to be trending nicely. The Cu spikes seem to correlate to the amount of fuel in the sump over the life of the OCI. Both oils seem to be holding up well for a 5K OCI, but the last TBN indicates you probably had more fuel dilution than usual over the entire OCI. The Mn indicates that the fuel is always present though. Nice wearing engine. The air filter is working very well, but might not be letting enough air through for optimum combustion.
 
Interesting,thanks for the info. Yeah,the .5 quart will help the tbn a bit but I would keep the oci to 5-6k. If you can afford the car;you can afford a shorter oci.
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
It is indicated on this site that with Blackstone TBN method, Redline can be run right to 0.

I can find the link if anyone wants it.

http://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthre...true#Post242361

Wasn't that pertaining to the old TBN testing method that Blackstone was using back then that was overestimating the TBN value compared to the new testing method that they're using now?
 
Eh, I wouldn't run RL down to 0. It's really not a super long drain oil. Starting Tbn is only 8.5.
 
Originally Posted By: FZ1
Interesting,thanks for the info. Yeah,the .5 quart will help the tbn a bit but I would keep the oci to 5-6k. If you can afford the car;you can afford a shorter oci.


He's already down to ~5000 miles.

With a 1 mile commute, IMO he should look at a bus pass, bicycle, or comfortable pair of shoes too.

Even relatively short tripping in a Canadian winter my M52 doesn't throw those dilution and copper numbers so there may still be a mechanical problem. Has the OP ever had this checked?
 
Originally Posted By: sprintman
Knowing the oil temperature in these engines it's a good oil choice imo.


This is a 330, not a 335. I don't believe there's anything extra-ordinary about the oil temps in this engine (especially after only a mile). Oil temps also aren't responsible for the fuel dilution numbers.
 
No problem affording the shorter OCI, I have 2 cases of Red Line 5w-40 in the trunk now, I have the oil filters being delivered today. I'll change the oil when I get home.

The Red Line 5w-40 TBN starts at 10.8 per my Blackstone VOA.

I have an oil temp guage, it normally starts at about 80 F in the morning, I get it upto about 170 going to work. It will still be at about 95 when I leave work and get to about 110 by the time I park at home.
 
Thanks for the interesting engine temp info. Wish I had a numeric temp guage in my Honda V6. Good luck.
 
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