How could any oil hold up for 90,000 miles? Even with frequent filter changes. Has there ever been any other account of this before?

tig1, I'm not questioning your statement. It just sounds like the tech person may have misquoted the truth.

On the other hand if a car holds 5 quarts of oil but uses a quart every 3000 miles, then there is no original oil left at 15,000 miles. Throw a new filter on at that point and it's almost like an oil change. It would be a gross misrepresentation if Mobil claimed 90K out of that sort of scenario. Any synthetic could do that I bet.

The oil that used was the M1 15w50 grade.

The pamphlet stated that the engine out lived several gearboxes which had to be replaced during the test.

Art,
As I said I didn't ask for details,But with top off oil and filter change every 15,000 miles I can see 90,000 miles.
A friend had a 76 Chevy V8, 1993 to 1999, and only used my 10,000 mile M1 with a once a year filter change. Never did pull the plug and his engine ran great all that time. He called it Mobil 2.

^^Was it the red cap/silver cap 15W50 or the EP 15W50?

90,000 miles isn't at all unrealistic with a quality synthetic such as Mobil-1, good filtration, and keeping the oil topped up, in an engine that's not susceptible to hot spots.

I'd like to see an idependent recreation of the Mobil million mile test. This time around with with all the major oil brands. Same car, same conditions, same test, same viscosity of oil. This would be a better wear protection anyalysis over a 4 ball test.

Never happen. No telling how much that test cost. It took 4 years to perform. M1 does do some great test. It's up to the other guys to do their 4 year test of their own oil, but they won't. 4 ball test are cheaper.

Have a link to the pamphlet?

The pamphlet was basically a self promotion exercise by Mobil and blowing their own trumpet.

The test vehicle was a BMW 6 cylinder driven for 4 years non stop except for regular oil and filter changes every 10000km or 6months.

The oils used was the M1 15w50 grade. The oil cap was neither silver nor gold, it was just grey like the rest of the Jug.

There was no "extended performance" or "new vehicle formula" gimmicks, just plain PAO 15w50 M1 suitable for both new and old vehicles alike.

I recall the BMW suffered at least 3 auto transmission failures.

When the engine components were disassembled the cross hatching was still visible and all parts were still within factory specs.

Some contended as the vehicle was put through tough varying conditions, but because these were done under "ideal lab" conditions, it was thought not be representative of real world driving conditions.

I no longer have the pamphlet as this was in 1998, otherwise I would scan and post it, and perhaps site sponsor Mobil could post a copy of it.

This test must have been pretty tough if they went three tranny's.
You described this as a "lab test" but the vaulted BMW must have a rugged tranny. Three trannys, One engine. Speaks well for the BMW power plant and the M1 oil they used.

Man I hate trannys! Out of all the cars I`ve owned every one of then has had tranny failure except for the 2 3000GT`s I had. Best cars I`ve ever owned. I wonder who makes that BMW`s tranny?

I prefer manuals. Much more durable/reliable. :)

GM and ZF make the automatics for BMW. I'm pretty sure it was ZF that made the tranny for that model.

Does Getrag make the manuals for BMW?

Thank you for that information.