Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: nleksan
Granted, I will admit that I am rather obsessive over my cars and have performed far more preventative maintenance than repairs, but after seeing the sludge and varnish that built up so quickly while under the previous owner's care using GC/BMWsyn/M1, I have held a negative bias towards those oils.
Again, I can see how using the incorrect M1 variant could cause this. But the BMW oil (at shorter OCIs) and certainly GC should resist sludging well. I think we have enough proof of that, to indicate to me that perhaps there is something else wrong with the engine causing this besides oil selection.
Fair enough, I respect your opinion, I simply have had the opposite experience in my own vehicles. The prior owner did run longer OCI's than I do, though never the full 15k (he did about 8-11k OCI's).
I can assure you that the car is in optimal condition (I am referring to my 328Ci), as I have had it apart, upgraded a ton of stuff internally, and it is running the stock Compression Ratio with 12psi of boost from a twin-screw Lysholm unit (on street; up to 16psi on track). 10k miles after the install, my mechanic and I took it apart to inspect for wear, and everything was mirror-clean. I did the proper break-in procedure for new rods/valvetrain/cams/etc, using Red Line Break-In oil mixed with "regular" Red Line oil (I forget the ratio... was recommended to me by manufacturer of the parts). The thing puts down a ton of power, but does not consume so much as a single ounce of oil over 5k miles.
So, I highly doubt there is anything wrong with the car. Also, my 740i and 325i consume NO oil either, and both have had rather extensive "tune ups" done recently (last 4 months).
Just did the VCG's on the 325i, and the valvetrain looked beautiful, while the 740 is due for a new headgasket when I replace the entire cooling system this spring (radiator/water pump/all hoses/under-drive pulleys/everything else). When the time comes, I will take pictures to show how well it has worked. I just don't have "before" pictures for comparison
Perhaps it's a fluke, perhaps something else caused it, who know? I don't BLAME the oils, necessarily, but now after using different oil, the problem not only stopped, it cleaned up, so I will continue doing what I'm doing... I have seen BMW's run exclusively on Red Line oil get to 300k miles and the engine is still in great shape (E36/E46 3-Series cars), so I trust it.
I apologize if it seemed like I was "bashing" any other oil, that was not my intent. I was simply trying to share my experience.
