Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Originally Posted By: Rendezvous
Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Just surfed through a 50 page BMW M3 blog post on Mobil 1 0w-40 vs. the BMW recommended 10w-60 TWS. That was quite a read. Some neat stuff in there.
BMW M3
Note the consistently decreased lead numbers in the UOAs when people switched to Mobil 1. This is supporting my conclusion that:
M1 0W-40 SN = calcium detergent package = better detergent = detergent doing its job = TBN being depleted normally as it should = less acid buildup in the engine (TAN rising slower) = less bearing corrosion
Castrol = magnesium detergent package = worse detergent = detergent not doing its job = TBN not being depleted normally as it should = more acid buildup in the engine (TAN rising faster) = more bearing corrosion
Slightly higher iron with M1 0W-40 is normal because it's a lot thinner than the Castrol 10W-60 TWS, meaning less oil-film strength in the boundary and mixed lubrication regimes (valvetrain and parts of pistons and rings). Few people need an xW-60 oil though; so, this is not really a concern.
Maybe I am missing your point which is why I am asking but the decreasing lead numbers are from switching to a thinner oil with the tight tolerances of the S65 engine. Using the thinner M1 0w40 in these engines is creating less lead because there isn't as much bearing wear. I have used both 10w60 Castrol and M1/ Motul 0w40 in my S65 M3 and had low lead numbers with both. So are you saying the reason the lead numbers are less with M1 is because of the additive package causing less corrosion?
Actually lead corrosion due to acid buildup/TBN fall/TAN rise is the leading cause of bearing wear. See this classic article by Chevron Oronite (
PDF link). Detergent package is crucial in determining lead-based-bearing wear. If the detergent package is not doing its job in stopping the acid buildup, you will see increased lead and increased bearing wear.
My 85 Corolla 4A-LC engine specifies 10W-30 to 20W-50 and has the following standard bearing clearances for new bearings:
Main bearing: 12 - 49 micron
Connecting bearing: 20 - 51 micron
Main journal diameter: 48.0 mm
For BMW S65:
Main bearing: 31 - 51 micron
Connecting bearing: 15 - 53, 29 - 51, 20 - 36, 38 - 55, 41 - 56 micron (depending on the bearing type)
Main journal diameter: 60.0 mm
So, the bearing clearance for S65 is not small at all. I believe the flow rate goes as the square of the area of the clearance. So, S65 should be able to tolerate a lot thicker oil than my 4A-LC, which specifies and can run fine with 20W-50.
S65 bearing clearances are simply not tight at all.
Therefore, I doubt the bearing clearance and oil viscosity is the issue here. Besides, thicker oil normally results in less bearing wear because of thicker oil film. Saying that thicker oil is resulting in more bearing wear goes against basic lubrication principles. I am not saying that there couldn't be a strange viscosity effect here but I really doubt it.
The thread only compares M1 0W-40 to Castrol 10W-60. There are no other xW-40, xW-50, or xW-60 oils with UOAs. Therefore, we can't really reach a definite conclusion. However, I saw one German Castrol 0W-30 on a BMW 5-series with dismal lead values. It's funny that they attributed the bearing wear in that case to German Castrol 0W-30 being too thin, which is actually almost as thick as M1 0W-40 as it's an ACEA A3/B4 oil as well (therefore a "0W-35" [nonofficial term by me]).
My main suspect here is still the magnesium-detergent package of Castrol 10W-60 that seems to be causing lead corrosion because it's unable to prevent acid buildup.
There are plenty of people including myself who actually own these cars and know about the engine that would disagree with you. The clearance to journal ratio best practice rule that factory and racing engine builders have followed for a long time would say different also. Clevite who made the oem bearing for some of these engines recommends the same clearance ratio. The S65 clearance ratio is smaller than this minimum recommended best practice value. The many failed S65 engines that people have had that were inspected by machine shops and engine builders have said most were from too little bearing oil clearance. Most of these engines also had very tight rod side clearance causing damage to the rod's and crankshaft. There are plenty of documented bearing failures out there that you can research and find yourself. Also the bearing clearances you are talking about for the S65 and toyota engine don't prove any point without mention journal diameters. Without that information their clearance specifications don't mean very much.