BMW Twin Power 10W-60, 5300mi, '11 BMW M3, 41k mi
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My "beater" is a '07 BMW X3 with 111k miles on her, that oil is too thick for it, especially for winter where it sees the most use...too viscous of an oil messes up the VANOS operation in BMW's. I had a '97 328iS that hated M1 0W-40 (noisy, bad VANOS response), but was fine with GC 5W-30 and they are only a few cSt different in viscosity.
I just changed out the oil in the M3 and I'm trying M1 0W-40 between now and late next spring and will do a UOA then before I fill again with BMW Twin Power 10W-60 for track season and the warmer weather. Since changing to M1 0W-40 for the colder weather, startup and warm up and night and day. My oil temps on the street don't go over 220F and the "normal" range per the manual is 175-250F and the viscosity of 0W-40 at 220F is still thicker than 10W-60 at 250F by a few cSt so I'm comfortable with this oil on the street, but I wouldn't run 0W-40 on the track like some do. My car is a 2011 with the aluminum-tin rod bearings that have higher eccentricity for higher oil flow through the rod bearings, so I'm not worried about rod bearing issues and running 10W-60 for the track.
I did find some very small metal particles in the oil filter, but my wife's '11 X3 has them too, so I'm calling that normal for now. I'm talking about a dozen small particles a little bigger than the size of a needle tip that shine in the light. Goes to show that UOA only detects so much I suppose...metal doesn't dissolve in oil last time I checked, our engines would be eroding from the inside out if so, so that's a good thing.
I just changed out the oil in the M3 and I'm trying M1 0W-40 between now and late next spring and will do a UOA then before I fill again with BMW Twin Power 10W-60 for track season and the warmer weather. Since changing to M1 0W-40 for the colder weather, startup and warm up and night and day. My oil temps on the street don't go over 220F and the "normal" range per the manual is 175-250F and the viscosity of 0W-40 at 220F is still thicker than 10W-60 at 250F by a few cSt so I'm comfortable with this oil on the street, but I wouldn't run 0W-40 on the track like some do. My car is a 2011 with the aluminum-tin rod bearings that have higher eccentricity for higher oil flow through the rod bearings, so I'm not worried about rod bearing issues and running 10W-60 for the track.
I did find some very small metal particles in the oil filter, but my wife's '11 X3 has them too, so I'm calling that normal for now. I'm talking about a dozen small particles a little bigger than the size of a needle tip that shine in the light. Goes to show that UOA only detects so much I suppose...metal doesn't dissolve in oil last time I checked, our engines would be eroding from the inside out if so, so that's a good thing.
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