Oil Analysis Reports

[Leonardo629]

Dan, in order for mills84 to achieve a cst of 14.58, it'd take about 4~5qts of TWS mixed in with M1 0W40...something is not right.

[Doc Oc]

Originally Posted by dparm

Unless you've used the same oil for multiple changes, there will always be some of the old stuff left behind. That means when you switch from TWS to M1, you've probably still got 1/2 quart of the TWS mixed in, which will thicken up the M1. On the next change to M1, it will be largely gone.

I understand that but that still seems high. My pu ultra euro 5/40 was put in after tws and also mixed with a almost a quart of Lucas and was still in the mid 13's. That'd take a lot of tws left in the pan IMO.

[mills84]

This is my 2nd oil change since I've switched to the M1 0W40, no additives used.

[Doc Oc]

Wow. Wonder if its a manufacturing variable or the lab?

[rantarM3]

Here's my updated report. I've owned this car since new and have done an analysis with every oil change. During the last change I noticed what looked like metallic particles in the oil that I vacuumed from the filter housing, but could not determine whether they were actually metal. The valve covers are flaking above the heads so that material could be the source of the particulate.

Blackstone M3.pdf

[Leonardo629]

Very nice report indeed, 1 iron per 1000/mi is excellent for a engine that puts out more than 100hp/liter

[Doc Oc]

Here's my most recent blackstone with 4200 miles on the oil and 5200 since bearing swap. This was pennzoil plat euro 5w/40 with a can of MoS2 added.

[Leonardo629]

you did great Doc, I'd consider zero tin and zero nickel good news since you have the newer bearings.

I say keep running the 5W40 and you'll have many many more enjoyable miles to come.

[Doc Oc]

Originally Posted by Leonardo629

you did great Doc, I'd consider zero tin and zero nickel good news since you have the newer bearings.

I say keep running the 5W40 and you'll have many many more enjoyable miles to come.

Thanks. I was pretty happy, but with coated bearings I'm not sure there is any point doing UOA's much longer? The car seems really happy (engine noise and temps both seem down a bit) on the Redline so I think I'll do one more report for comparison then settle on an oil permanently.

[Leonardo629]

Doc, it's hard to tell if you have the coated bearings, since I don't think no one has ran those long enough for a long term update. But 1 fe/1000mi is definitely healthy for your engine running a 40wt oil, and I don't know how you keep the aluminum so low.

[DLSJ5]

Originally Posted by Leonardo629

Doc, it's hard to tell if you have the coated bearings, since I don't think no one has ran those long enough for a long term update. But 1 fe/1000mi is definitely healthy for your engine running a 40wt oil, and I don't know how you keep the aluminum so low.

I've been running coated bearings for ~30K in my VT3, 700whp built motor. Most of those miles have been with M1 0W40 5QT - 15W50 4QT Mix, oil reports have all been good, and metals went slightly down after the switch to M1.

[byroncheung]

Just ran my first report on my 2011. Got the car as CPO at 26+k miles, the oil was new when I got the car and ran about 6.2k miles (engine is now at 32k miles).

Looks like the car is on the non-lead bearing (0 lead), metal levels seem reasonable. Changed to liqui moly (that's the only thing the shop uses) in the last change, will do another UOA in the next change (probably 7k or 8k from now). But looks like for now I don't have to worry too much.

[crunchy_frog]

here's my report
note that i use KM and not MI

[byroncheung]

I just posted my latest UOA yesterday and been going backward to read the old postings.

One thing I noticed is the report seems to have different "universal averages"?

E.g. my report "universal averages" has 1 lead. While most of the older report I seen has 7 lead. Maybe they're calculating different averages for different years of car? (mine is 2011+ with non lead bearing, maybe they have different averages for pre v.s. post 2011 etc?)

Also the averages seems to vary on top of that, e.g. I think I have seen some report with 8 lead (majority was 7 on the reports I've seen thus far), this is coming from they update / revise their averages as they get more sample?

I wish they'd also give us the standard deviations as well not just the averages, would give me a sense of how out of line my engine is compared to others...

[Leonardo629]

crunchy_frog, judging by the report, I assume you are running TWS...and they are getting thicker, which usually means oxidation. Does your M3 run hot?

Thick oil is bad news for your bearings.

[crunchy_frog]

yes, i was running castrol TWS.

just moved to shell 10w60

any recommendation? liquimoly 10w60 is just as thick right?

Originally Posted by Leonardo629

crunchy_frog, judging by the report, I assume you are running TWS...and they are getting thicker, which usually means oxidation. Does your M3 run hot?

Thick oil is bad news for your bearings.

[Leonardo629]

Maybe you should e-mail Blackstone and ask them what's up, TWS should fall in the 17~18 range, 20 is thick for the said oil. Ask them if they switched to a new way of measuring viscosity.

I don't think you'll gain anything by switching to LM, it's actually a tad thicker.

I use M1 0W40 myself, and I'm for certain your bearing wear will come down if you use it too.

[byroncheung]

Originally Posted by byroncheung

I just posted my latest UOA yesterday and been going backward to read the old postings.

One thing I noticed is the report seems to have different "universal averages"?

E.g. my report "universal averages" has 1 lead. While most of the older report I seen has 7 lead. Maybe they're calculating different averages for different years of car? (mine is 2011+ with non lead bearing, maybe they have different averages for pre v.s. post 2011 etc?)

Also the averages seems to vary on top of that, e.g. I think I have seen some report with 8 lead (majority was 7 on the reports I've seen thus far), this is coming from they update / revise their averages as they get more sample?

I wish they'd also give us the standard deviations as well not just the averages, would give me a sense of how out of line my engine is compared to others...

I emailed blackstone they replied and told me they do have separate "universal averages" for the pre v.s. post 2011 vehicles.

They also shared with me the standard deviations of different metals for the post 2011 engines:

metal sd
Al 1.9
Cr 0.2
Fe 3.6
Cu 3.1
Pb 3.2
Sn 1.5
Mo 108.1
Ni 1.2
Mn 2.5
Ag 0.3
Ti 15.1
K 2.1
B 33
Si 1.8
Na 11.6
Ca 413.2
Mg 176.8
P 179.1
Zn 202.7
Ba 0.3

Rather interesting... so my aluminum and chromium are above 1 and 2 standard deviation respectively. From what I read chromium are from piston ring and aluminum are from the piston (although 2011+ rod bearing are aluminum as well), but if it's high on both of them sounds like there are some above average wear between the piston and piston ring? Should I be concerned about?

[ivad32]

4750 miles on the TWS 10W-60 sample. Titanium and Molybdenum are high compared to universal averages. What do these metals represent?

[steveff4]

Originally Posted by ivad32

4750 miles on the TWS 10W-60 sample. Titanium and Molybdenum are high compared to universal averages. What do these metals represent?

These are present in the antiwear additives purposefully formulated into the oil. The high numbers are nothing to worry about. Not all antiwear additives used by various companies use these same additives.

[e92m3_jesse]

2008 E92 M3 and I just did my very first report. I am very pleased and perform regular oil changes every 3000k miles. All the talk of rod bearing issues on S65 engine got me thinking recently whether to replace or not. It's my daily driven but never tracked M. Any thoughts is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by MadeInTaiwan

2008 E92 M3 and I just did my very first report. I am very pleased and perform regular oil changes every 3000k miles. All the talk of rod bearing issues on S65 engine got me thinking recently whether to replace or not. It's my daily driven but never tracked M. Any thoughts is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

No lead at all is impressive for 2008 car, very low copper too. Do you have other history on this?