M1 0w40, 14,500 miles, 2010 BMW 328i

[Patman]

Here are the latest results from my wife’s 2010 BMW 328i, analysis done by Wearcheck Canada:


14,504 miles on oil
Aug 9, 2014 to Aug 21, 2015 (12 months)
65,865 miles on engine
Mobil 1 0w40
Mann oil filter
7 quart oil capacity
1 quart of top up oil


Iron 48
Lead 0.6
Aluminum 25
Copper 14
Chromium 1
Nickel 0.5
Titanium 0.1
Tin 2.2
Silver 0

Silicon 10
Potassium 7.1
Sodium 9.5

Moly 93
Boron 75
Barium 0
Calcium 2836
Magnesium 724

Phosphorus 894
Zinc 1036

Oxidation 194%
Nitration 134%
Sulfation 106%

Soot 0
Glycol 0
Water 0
Fuel 0

Viscosity at 40c 131
Viscosity at 100c 17.7
VI 149


We bought this car last summer and I immediately changed the oil over to M1 0w40 and ran it for one full year, so this is the first UOA I've done. I'm not sure what oil was in the car before this.

Based on this UOA I think that BMW's 15k/one year interval might be a bit optimistic. I'm probably going to try a 10 month/10k interval next time around and see how it looks.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Thickened up to a 50-grade even with the 1qt top-up, but other than that, looks OK. Did you get a TBN/TAN reading?

 

[901Memphis]

Yeah I think an even 10k would be a good idea

 

[Noobie]

The oil broke down, even the VI went down to 149 which is extremely low for this oil. Maybe the "Oxidation 194%" is the red flag here?

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Thickened up to a 50-grade


That's because the oil dried out . . . been in there too long.

A nice car like a 2010 BMW . . . I would've changed the oil 3 times already.

 

[simple_gifts]

So I guess all the posters who pose the "What about M1?" in the 14K Amsoil UOA threads have their answer.... j/k.

Kudos to the OP for an aggressive OCI

 

[oldhp]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Thickened up to a 50-grade


That's because the oil dried out . . . been in there too long.

A nice car like a 2010 BMW . . . I would've changed the oil 3 times already.


+1. I guess I'm just old and set in my ways, but a nice car like that and going that loonngg on oil change. Sorry, too old school here, and besides, it is quite relaxing laying under the car watching the last drops of all that "bad" oil dripping out.

 

[Pontual]

M1 isn't it anymore or the car was some short tripped, some rush hour jamm traffic ? 14.5k miles is usually recommended by bimmer drivers or just by the Bayerish Motoren Werk (factory)?

 

[webfors]

Did you have a look under the valve cover before buying?

The oil took a beating. I bet your insols were high.

 

[webfors]

Pictures of the oil filter?

 

[ExMachina]

Originally Posted By: Patman
14,504 miles on oil
Aug 9, 2014 to Aug 21, 2105 (12 months)
65,865 miles on engine
Mobil 1 0w40
Mann oil filter
7 quart oil capacity
1 quart of top up oil


Congrats on the first oil change ever to Extend into the future! 2105 is a while man. Kudos.

Joking aside, Why is iron so high? This is one of the few engines to have a special Alusil (aluminum with silicon chunks) cylinder wall liners applied, not iron.
That leaves the timing chains and cam lobes with the Fe contribution, but all engines have that too. You'd think most Fe is from cylinder walls on engines, and since this N52 doesn't have it, well....

And, yep M1 0w-40 is disappointing here. With 7 quarts on a 3 liter engine, you'd think it would have held its VI better and not thickened up like that.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: Pontual
M1 isn't it anymore or the car was some short tripped, some rush hour jamm traffic ? 14.5k miles is usually recommended by bimmer drivers or just by the Bayerish Motoren Werk (factory)?


This car really isn't short tripped at all, we put more miles on this car than any other in our fleet.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: webfors
Did you have a look under the valve cover before buying?



From what I can see when putting in oil, it looks very clean under there actually.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: webfors
Pictures of the oil filter?


Sorry, I never did take a picture of it and I dropped off a bunch of jugs of oil and old filters at the recycling depot this afternoon unfortunately

The filter looked very good for the distance, it wasn't gummed up at all and the pleats were still in great shape.

 

[Patman]

Quote:


Congrats on the first oil change ever to Extend into the future! 2105 is a while man. Kudos.



Oops! I fixed it!

I'm a bit disappointed by this UOA here, but at the same time there is the possibility that the previous oil in there wasn't all that great (or was run for an even longer interval than this!), so this could possibly make the first interval with any oil look a bit worse than it should. I probably shouldn't have gone straight to a 1 year/15k run right off the bat either, I should have stopped it at about 8k to start and gone higher from there. But what's done is done and I'm not going to panic at this point. The wear numbers are nowhere near dangerous levels by any means. I still think M1 0w40 is a great value, I've bought a few 5 quart jugs of it now for under $24 when driving across the border to Niagara Falls, NY and I'll continue to do so for a while.

 

[ExMachina]

Originally Posted By: Patman
The wear numbers are nowhere near dangerous levels by any means. I still think M1 0w40 is a great value, ....

You've proven those aluminum cylinder walls don't shed much. You have 24 ppm in 14,000 miles, not bad, considering the acreage of it in there. (Most UOA's have around 3 ppm to 10 ppm aluminum, the cars with iron cyl liners anyway.) Yet, still can't understand where all that iron would come from.

 

[ryanm8]

This doesn't look like M1 0w40 to me... Where does all the magnesium come from? Also Calcium and Zinc are low. Is this a really old bottle?

 

[DuckRyder]

Didn't BMW cut the reccomended OCI by about 1/2...

 

[901Memphis]

Originally Posted By: ryanm8
This doesn't look like M1 0w40 to me... Where does all the magnesium come from? Also Calcium and Zinc are low. Is this a really old bottle?


I haven't seen a super recent VOA, so it's likely they are using magnesium now or its leftovers from previous fill.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Didn't BMW cut the reccomended OCI by about 1/2...

They cut it down to 10K miles/1 year, starting with 2013 model year, I believe.