Blackstone Oil Analysis on '08

[Fizik]

Recently had an oil analysis done on my '08 e90. The car has just over 57k miles on it. I'm the third owner and had it around a year and a half now. Car does seem to have a slight tick you can hear underneath but its fairly quiet. It is out of factory warranty, but i have an extended warranty on it until march 2015. The two concerning things are the Sodium and Lead levels. With the bearing issues, what is the best approach? Contact BMW NA? Start with my service adviser? Any suggestions are helpful. Also there didn't appear to be oil in the antifreeze or antifreeze in the oil. At least not a large amount to be visible. Also my antifreeze level seems to remain constant. I have never added any additives to the oil, but the dealer did top off last time it was checked out. No idea what they put in. Any thoughts as to the source?

Oil analysis is attached.

Thanks for any input.

[Petros]

weird. I have no clue where the sodium came from. Perhaps someone else can chime in. Maybe the owner used some oil additive crap that caused it. How many oil changes did you do? As for the lead, maybe the previous owner used octane booster crap in the fuel. Well, one number by itself doesn't mean much. Get the oil changed, and without starting another online argument, use a thinner oil like 0w30 or 0w40. Get it changed every 7000miles. And adhere to proper warmup procedures. Then do another oil analysis. If the lead goes down to normal then that's good. If it keeps staying high or even increasing, especially if copper begins to show up in the oil, then you need new bearings.

[Fizik]

This is the second oil change I've done on the car. The previous owner only had the car 6 months before selling (moved back to Australia) and had the oil changed shortly before. I always keep it under 2.5-3k until warmed up plus the rev limiter has been coded to start at 4.5k to reduce the risk as well. Just changed the oil to the Liqui moly 10w60 since I found a great deal and have seen good reviews on it. It's my daily driver but I don't drive too many miles so I only change the oil once a year. Perhaps I'll change it early before my warranty runs out to have it checked again.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by urnzvay

This is the second oil change I've done on the car. The previous owner only had the car 6 months before selling (moved back to Australia) and had the oil changed shortly before. I always keep it under 2.5-3k until warmed up plus the rev limiter has been coded to start at 4.5k to reduce the risk as well. Just changed the oil to the Liqui moly 10w60 since I found a great deal and have seen good reviews on it. It's my daily driver but I don't drive too many miles so I only change the oil once a year. Perhaps I'll change it early before my warranty runs out to have it checked again.

From what I can recall, the luiqimoly 10/60 is actually a heavier oil than TWS so you probably aren't doing yourself any favors there.

[swanson]

I have a question about Blackstone. I just ordered 3 kits for the first time. I will have the oil in my Raptor checked and I'd like to know if I need to put the kit in a box and re-ship it or just the way they have the black container?

[tinman831]

Do another change in 3-4k miles and have it tested. One test by itself won't be too conclusive. You should look at trends. Hopefully the first set of results was a fluke and the lead drops some.

[Fizik]

Originally Posted by swanson

I have a question about Blackstone. I just ordered 3 kits for the first time. I will have the oil in my Raptor checked and I'd like to know if I need to put the kit in a box and re-ship it or just the way they have the black container?

Just the container works fine.

[Fizik]

Originally Posted by tinman831

Do another change in 3-4k miles and have it tested. One test by itself won't be too conclusive. You should look at trends. Hopefully the first set of results was a fluke and the lead drops some.

Probably what I will end up doing. Guess I'll be taking a road trip to some twisty mountain roads.

[MikeD]

Are there examples of M3 sample analysis that shows high wear metals in the first reading, then low metals afterwards without changing the type of oil used?

They always say, this is the first report, sample again in 5000. But I just don't see reports where these particle streaks or residuals from past changes are indeed what they speculated as. I just don't know how much these events can sway variations in these reports.

[chris719]

I wouldn't run LM 10W-60. Like another poster said, it's heaver than TWS and TWS is possibly already too heavy.

I don't know why another sample would change anything, wear has already occurred. The lead here is higher than average in a shorter than average interval. If you do another 5k and the lead is low then great, but you haven't healed the bearing surface, there is no way to tell what condition they are in. This isn't a new engine, it shouldn't be wearing in.

I would have that ticking checked out by someone who really knows what they are listening for ASAP to make sure it's not bearing related. Maybe post a video of it here.

[coloradoe92m3]

LM is really thick.

[Fizik]

Originally Posted by coloradoe92m3

LM is really thick.

Yes it is, i don't care for it. Its not as rev happy in the lower rpms since the change. I'll be switching to something different here shortly.

[M3PO]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Are there examples of M3 sample analysis that shows high wear metals in the first reading, then low metals afterwards without changing the type of oil used?

They always say, this is the first report, sample again in 5000. But I just don't see reports where these particle streaks or residuals from past changes are indeed what they speculated as. I just don't know how much these events can sway variations in these reports.

My bearing wear metals have been decreasing each time. I've done three so far and I am waiting on the fourth as we speak.

OP, mine had higher lead when I bought it with 43K miles on it. My car also has a slight tick. Some times it's not noticeable, some times it is. I have 75K miles now and even though my analyses are looking better, I still feel like "the damage has been done". I will probably change the bearings soon.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by M3PO

My bearing wear metals have been decreasing each time. I've done three so far and I am waiting on the fourth as we speak.

OP, mine had higher lead when I bought it with 43K miles on it. My car also has a slight tick. Some times it's not noticeable, some times it is. I have 75K miles now and even though my analyses are looking better, I still feel like "the damage has been done". I will probably change the bearings soon.

Interesting, did you continue to run TWS?

[M3PO]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Interesting, did you continue to run TWS?

I just switched. I have about 1500 miles on M1 0W-40. But I will have four analyses spanning about 33,000 miles on TWS as soon as I receive the results of this latest one.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by M3PO

I just switched. I have about 1500 miles on M1 0W-40. But I will have four analyses spanning about 33,000 miles on TWS as soon as I receive the results of this latest one.

Just curious, what did your lead numbers look like in each successive change?

[M3PO]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Just curious, what did your lead numbers look like in each successive change?

37, 34, 22, and still waiting on the 4th analysis.
12, 8, 5 for copper

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by M3PO

37, 34, 22, and still waiting on the 4th analysis.
12, 8, 5 for copper

Thanks for sharing.