Pre Warranty Expiration Oil Test/Analysis

[mjposner]

So my warranty ends in two months and I thought getting an oil analysis might be worth while. Do I simply pay a shop to change the oil and save me some? How much do I need and what shops do you guys recommend. What does this cost? Would you bother if you had a bmw extended warranty?

[Someone?]

Go unto Blackstone's website and they send you a Free kit and when you get your oil changed have um put some oil in the container from Blackstone and you send it to them with $25 and they'll send you your oil analysis.

[mjposner]

ibmike, thanks, ordered test kit. i see they have all kinds of "extra tests" Does anyone recommend extra test for the rod bearing issue?

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by mjposner

ibmike, thanks, ordered test kit. i see they have all kinds of "extra tests" Does anyone recommend extra test for the rod bearing issue?

The extra test, as explained on the sheet, tells you how much life your oil had left. Its purpose is to determine whether adjusting your oil change interval is necessary/acceptable. If you're not worried about that, get the regular test; if Blackstone can tell you anything about rod bearing wear, they'll find it in the regular test.

Also ask whoever does the drain to drive it around first to heat up the oil and then capture oil from the middle of the drain if possible. As the card that comes with the kit will say, that's preferable (but not required, and shouldn't influence the readings relevant to rod bearing wear). After that, I found USPS took forever to send it to Blackstone, but once it got there the test was conducted quickly.

[mjposner]

The next question is if the test reveals issues, how will bmw respond. Has anyone tried to make a warranty claim based on the test?

[gatorfast]

The test won't be able to tell you definitively if there is an issue or not. And no, BMW will not do anything about it as there won't be anything to do. What warranty claim could you make? If your car is in fine working order what do you expect bmw to do?

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

The test won't be able to tell you definitively if there is an issue or not. And no, BMW will not do anything about it as there won't be anything to do. What warranty claim could you make? If your car is in fine working order what do you expect bmw to do?

Unfortunately, this is the correct answer. I had an idea of coming to BMW saying, "I want the rod bearings inspected, and replaced even if they're not overly worn because once you've paid for somebody to get in there you may as well. If the bearings turn out to be excessively worn, you cover the work and replacement under warranty. If not, I'll pay for everything." But I was told that even that would be unlikely to work since warranty work can't be done on speculation of a problem, even if the speculation reveals an actual problem. Then again, I don't know if that's true and haven't attempted it myself because I'm only at 28K miles.

But an oil analysis definitely wouldn't be enough to get bearings changed under warranty.

[aus]

Someone here paid for a bearing inspection somewhere, then showed the bad bearings to BMW and eventually got them covedered.

.

[mjposner]

My view is get analysis, if they suspect something bad, notify BMW and have further testing done. I am sure an oil drain then scope could clarify. Also, if you notify them in warranty and they deny, then post warranty they fail (within a reasonable time and without any post claim evidence of abuse) makes for a good legal argument to get coverage.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by mjposner

ibmike, thanks, ordered test kit. i see they have all kinds of "extra tests" Does anyone recommend extra test for the rod bearing issue?

You should be getting TBN and TAN on every analysis regardless. Without them, you have no clue if the change interval is correct for your particular motor and driving habits.

As others have said, an oil analysis can produce false positives. It can also make things look peachy when there are major problems. Even Blackstone will tell you that it is not a highly-accurate indicator of engine health.

[MTM]

Agree with dparm. A single oil analysis has limited value unless there is Gross damage / degradation. The real value is a trend over time of multiple tests to see how fast things may or may not be wearing.