Pennzoil UOA Program - BMW 5w-30 in 2011 N55 135i

[JHZR2]

Got my Pennzoil UOA program analysis back. They sent me a kit when they sent me a pack of Platinum Euro 5w-40. Maybe I did it wrong, but I sent in the sample going out, to use as a baseline.

Here is what Blackstone sent back:

I think Ill get TBN and/or TAN soon too... They called me asking for $5 to do the test. Not sure if it was this sample or another I recently sent in to another lab though...

Overall Im pleased. The reality is that this oil has been in there since 2013. Just not a lot of mileage... Ill probably do 1-2 year OCIs going forward depending upon use, all the same.

Factory fill UOA is here:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1992964

 

[Quattro Pete]

I think they wanted you to have the Pennzoil analyzed.

 

[JHZR2]

Well, it came with the fresh oil, and I got a PM asking if I needed another kit since Id be coming up on my OCI...

I havent replied yet to that... Ill buy another blackstone kit and do it one way or another...

Im quite appreciative of Pennzoil!

 

[SatinSilver]

Yes, it's very nice of Pennzoil! The new shipment of oil comes with another prepaid Blackstone kit.

 

[Gene K]

It believe hey wanted you to send a sample of the virgin Pennzoil for a VOA. If it had 2 ppm aluminum for example and your UOA showed 6 ppm you would know only 4 ppm was from the engine.

At first glance the iron looks a little high but after looking at the universal average that appears to be a characteristic of that engine. It was also likely run over the winter which tends to increase iron.

 

[bbhero]

This does look good no doubt. Just finding Pennzoil Ultra Platinum in a store is impossible for most of this country. Seems like they have given up attempting to sell it in any stores. Yes, I know it can be bought online through Wally world or Amazon. I just don't like buying anything that way. But like you said, this was very nice for the people at Pennzoil to do. Hopefully they can get PUP back into some stores at a better price point. I believe that the most a vast of majority of people in this country will spend on a 5 quart container of synthetic oil is $25. Any product above this tends to sit for a lot longer time period. What are you running in your other vehicles??

 

[1BadManVan]

You did it right, Pennzoil wanted you to do a uoa of the current oil in it to compare to the next UOA of their oil

I am also apart of this program and those were my instructions from Gena

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: _MAXIMUS_
You did it right, Pennzoil wanted you to do a uoa of the current oil in it to compare to the next UOA of their oil

For what purpose? A $30 UOA is not a good tool to compare one oil to another.

 

[zeng]

How does one explain away the relatively higher iron wear rate on a 135i N55 engine ?Just wondering..

It surely can't be inferior piston ring/liner materials , right?

 

[ryanm8]

Originally Posted By: zeng
How does one explain away the relatively higher iron wear rate on a 135i N55 engine ?Just wondering..

It surely can't be inferior piston ring/liner materials , right?


The N54 supposedly has more forged internals than the N55. BMW went cheap with the N55. It's a fine engine if you're stock though. But, there is a reason they kept the N54 in the 335is.

Whether this has anything to do with higher iron, I'm not sure.

 

[camrydriver111]

Originally Posted By: ryanm8
Originally Posted By: zeng
How does one explain away the relatively higher iron wear rate on a 135i N55 engine ?Just wondering..

It surely can't be inferior piston ring/liner materials , right?


The N54 supposedly has more forged internals than the N55. BMW went cheap with the N55. It's a fine engine if you're stock though. But, there is a reason they kept the N54 in the 335is.

Whether this has anything to do with higher iron, I'm not sure.


I think they only put it in the Z4 now.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: zeng
How does one explain away the relatively higher iron wear rate on a 135i N55 engine ?Just wondering..

It surely can't be inferior piston ring/liner materials , right?


Higher relative to what? Each engine design has its own metals "signature" which is a range that constitutes "normal". Deviations from that normal range are what should cause concern, not whether your Civic has different levels of a particular metal than your Expedition.

 

[1BadManVan]

It's not exactly an official scientific study, it's a promotional study to have the customer try the oil and see if there is any notable differences.

I'm not complaining, two free cases of Pennzoil ultra and two free uoa's. Definitely made me a fan of them so I think it's working lol


Edit: was supposed to be quoting the guy who asked why did they want a uoa of the other oil. Won't let me delete and redo now

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: _MAXIMUS_
You did it right, Pennzoil wanted you to do a uoa of the current oil in it to compare to the next UOA of their oil

For what purpose? A $30 UOA is not a good tool to compare one oil to another.

I don't know, probably to show that their oil is as good or better(less wear metals ?) than any other synthetic oil on the shelves.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: ryanm8
Originally Posted By: zeng
How does one explain away the relatively higher iron wear rate on a 135i N55 engine ?Just wondering..

It surely can't be inferior piston ring/liner materials , right?


The N54 supposedly has more forged internals than the N55. BMW went cheap with the N55. It's a fine engine if you're stock though. But, there is a reason they kept the N54 in the 335is.

Whether this has anything to do with higher iron, I'm not sure.


Supposedly is a key word. Both the N54 and N55 use hypereutectic pistons, only some early N54 engines had a forged crank. The forged N54 piston claim was overcome by some BMWNA personnel identifying that the claims are false, and why.

In an intrinsically balanced I6, the crank (with seven mains so no practical chance of flexing) is the last thing to break from higher power, and the Pistons and rods are of greater concern... But are not relevant here. Also, the N54 forged crank is heavier than the N55 cast crank... So other than some chest thumping that something is forged, I'm not seeing the benefit.

I suspect that the N54 twin turbo setup was/is more tunable, thus why it has remained.

 

[ryanm8]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: ryanm8
Originally Posted By: zeng
How does one explain away the relatively higher iron wear rate on a 135i N55 engine ?Just wondering..

It surely can't be inferior piston ring/liner materials , right?


The N54 supposedly has more forged internals than the N55. BMW went cheap with the N55. It's a fine engine if you're stock though. But, there is a reason they kept the N54 in the 335is.

Whether this has anything to do with higher iron, I'm not sure.


Supposedly is a key word. Both the N54 and N55 use hypereutectic pistons, only some early N54 engines had a forged crank. The forged N54 piston claim was overcome by some BMWNA personnel identifying that the claims are false, and why.

In an intrinsically balanced I6, the crank (with seven mains so no practical chance of flexing) is the last thing to break from higher power, and the Pistons and rods are of greater concern... But are not relevant here. Also, the N54 forged crank is heavier than the N55 cast crank... So other than some chest thumping that something is forged, I'm not seeing the benefit.

I suspect that the N54 twin turbo setup was/is more tunable, thus why it has remained.


The current record for the N54 is ~850whp on the stock engine. I'm not sure what it is for the N55, but I know it's not anywhere close to that.

 

[JHZR2]

As I said, I suspect that the turbo setup in the N54 is more tunable. The presence of a forged crank on an inherently balanced 7 main bearing crank is just not a factor.

And beyond a point something else will give anyway. I have a friend with an >1000whp GT-R who has the ability to shear axle shafts.

 

[RooflessVW]

The N55 top end does not flow as well, the stock turbo runs out of breath sooner, the internals are built more to cost, and it has valvetronic which is more difficult to tune for.

Some time ago RB tore into one and had some issue designing a new turbo setup for it... I don't remember the exact details.

Stock for stock, the N55 is more responsive and more reliable by far; when it comes to modifications, the N54 is king.

 

[JHZR2]

Again, the "N54 has more forged internals" thing is a wife's tale.

If it's built more for cost, honestly I'll take variable timing on intake and exhaust all day long for routine day to day use.

I don't disagree that the two single turbo setup makes for more tuning options, but the rest isn't necessarily true. I'm sure the turbo design and variable timing makes tuning tougher, especially the turbo design. No doubt. But ultimately I think advanced turbos with more internal capabilities (motor/generator especially)!will come into existence so I'm glad they're moving tech forward.

 

[ryanm8]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Again, the "N54 has more forged internals" thing is a wife's tale.

If it's built more for cost, honestly I'll take variable timing on intake and exhaust all day long for routine day to day use.

I don't disagree that the two single turbo setup makes for more tuning options, but the rest isn't necessarily true. I'm sure the turbo design and variable timing makes tuning tougher, especially the turbo design. No doubt. But ultimately I think advanced turbos with more internal capabilities (motor/generator especially)!will come into existence so I'm glad they're moving tech forward.


The turbos have nothing to do with it. Sure, the N54 is more tunable stock for stock compared to the N55, but for ~850whp people are running a big single turbo. Stock turbos are out the window at anything over 500whp. The fact is you can run the same exact turbo on an N54 as on an N55, and the N54 will make 200-300 more whp. And the limits of the N54 have still not been found. Fueling is what the issue is at > 800whp on the N54, not the internals (yet). Maybe the N54 doesn't have more forged internals, but it can hold much more whp so something is going on there.