Dropped the oil pan and found some bits- need help identifying (BMW M5 (F10) at 39k miles)

[edyvw]

All German auto engines cheap design, and expensive cost. No thanks, not for me.

And did anyone asked is it for you?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

In my never ending attempt to keep the S63 engine from grenading itself, I did some preventative maintenence to ensure the oil pickup tube was clear and not blocked by debris. A blocked oil pickup has been known to kill a few of these engines, so as it's not that big of a deal to drop the lower oil pan, I did so at the last oil change. The pics below show what I found in the bottom of it.

As things go, there were no horrible surprises, and thankfully the oil pickup was completely clear. However, I'm trying to determine what these black bits are that I had lingering about the pan. I initially thought it was chunks of the form-a-gasket stuff, but as the oil pan gasket is a legit one-piece metal gasket, this didn't make sense. Upon picking up the bits, they felt more like thin shavings of hard plastic, but were very brittle.

My next thought was that they may be bits from the timing chain guide. However, although the guide is plastic, it is a lighter brown color- not black. Perhaps the bits are from this and just have been stained black from sitting in engine oil?

The car has given me zero issues during my two years of ownership, and also was exceptionally well maintained by the previous owner, so I have no reason to suspect anything is wrong. Nonetheless, it's never great to find bits floating around the oil pan, so I'm just wondering if anyone here has any ideas as to what this material may be. I actually kept some of them just in case there is a way to send them somewhere for an analysis, although that may be overkill.

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Maybe it's sealant from the lower timing cover?

 

[Gasbuggy]

Maybe it's sealant from the lower timing cover?

Wondered that too, it's either pliable or hard.

 

[Bozman52]

All German auto engines cheap design, and expensive cost. No thanks, not for me.

There's always that one guy . I'd love to know what super reliable, cheap to run, low maintenance, 600+ HP, non-German car you have sitting in your garage. I'll wait .

 

[Bozman52]

Ah yeah. When I saw your oil analysis I realized you are in UK.
Shell Helix 5W40, Mobil1 0W40. Ravenol is very stout oil. I wouldn’t get discouraged by poor customer service. Ut is PAO based, usually very high HTHS, low Noack.
As for LL04 or LL01, in S63 doesn’t matter. I would go LL01 simply bcs. additive package might be more robust. Ravenol VST 5W40 is IMO excellent product. Very high HTHS, obviously PAO based. There is only so much oil can do to mitigate engineering issues, but I would say VST is good as it gets.

It's nice to hear some support for the VST choice, although you were helpful in the separate thread in which I was trying to reach that decision a couple months back. I'll do another oil analysis next year and see how it compares to the VMP I just drained out.

Timing Chain Guide Material, Ive seen it first hand myself. Thats not much at all. Is youre engine stock? If so, I wouldnt worry about it. If modded, run 40wt oil only, run about 10k and pull the pan again....modded S63s will eat that guide up, Id fix it. Under 700hp, youre good

Yeah, I agree there's not a lot in there, but I'd prefer to see absolutely nothing! The engine is completely stock, other than some Funk Motorsports turbo blankets- otherwise no bolt ons and no tuning/mapping. In the M5 forums, nearly everyone who has significant engine failures seems to have the engine mapped, so my thinking is that the S63 really can't reliably hold more power without some internal mods. The F10 is rear wheel drive anyway, so it already struggles with grip. The extra power just isn't worth the additional potential engine issues for me personally.

Maybe it's sealant from the lower timing cover?

The timing cover uses metal gaskets; there is no sealant that is supposed to be used for it. The engine also has metal gaskets for both the lower and upper oil pans. However, there is a tiny dab of sealant that is required on the upper pan along 4 joints (in addition to the metal gasket), where the front timing cover and rear main seal cover mate to the block. It's such a small amount required, and the metal gasket gets put on top of it, so I doubt it's sealant. Also, the stuff in my pan was hard and brittle, whereby I'd expect sealant to be squishier. Fair call out, though!

 

[Bozman52]

Could it be that special M break-in oil

I never considered that the break in oil would leave debris behind. I've never heard of this, but please do elaborate if there's more to this that you're aware of.

 

[FranklinJL]

It's nice to hear some support for the VST choice, although you were helpful in the separate thread in which I was trying to reach that decision a couple months back. I'll do another oil analysis next year and see how it compares to the VMP I just drained out.


Yeah, I agree there's not a lot in there, but I'd prefer to see absolutely nothing! The engine is completely stock, other than some Funk Motorsports turbo blankets- otherwise no bolt ons and no tuning/mapping. In the M5 forums, nearly everyone who has significant engine failures seems to have the engine mapped, so my thinking is that the S63 really can't reliably hold more power without some internal mods. The F10 is rear wheel drive anyway, so it already struggles with grip. The extra power just isn't worth the additional potential engine issues for me personally.


The timing cover uses metal gaskets; there is no sealant that is supposed to be used for it. The engine also has metal gaskets for both the lower and upper oil pans. However, there is a tiny dab of sealant that is required on the upper pan along 4 joints (in addition to the metal gasket), where the front timing cover and rear main seal cover mate to the block. It's such a small amount required, and the metal gasket gets put on top of it, so I doubt it's sealant. Also, the stuff in my pan was hard and brittle, whereby I'd expect sealant to be squishier. Fair call out, though!

There good for about 700-750hp......but you have to warm it up well, replace the injectors say every 10-20k.......spark plugs about the same.......I gave up on BMW V8s along time ago, there not good at it. Now Inline 6s? The S58 might be the best engine Ive ever seen. Never seen a motor handle that much boost and power and stay together......like 750hp no issues......I mean none