1996 BMW 328i - Mobil 1 10W40 HM / 6,077 miles

[Connorb]

This sample is Mobil 1 10W40 HM, run for 6077 miles/about 9 weeks. I've been using this oil at 6k mile change intervals for the past 80k. For the longest time I had to add 1/2 quart every 2500 miles or so, but lately consumption has dropped to almost zero. I'm not really sure why, but maybe my increased highway driving these days has something to do with it?

The fuel found in the sample might be due to conditions right before I drained the oil: ambient temps lower 50s, drove car 8 miles, parked for 5-10 mins, had to move car - started/ran engine for less than 1 minute, drained oil.

 

[Turk]

Nice - thanks for posting!

 

[Quattro Pete]

Nice report! Rarely do you see a BMW engine with so many miles on it, still used as a DD. 6K miles in 9 weeks? Whoa!

 

[chubbs1]

WOW, You can't ask for much better. It takes me a around year to put on that mileage in my Altima! I just kind of almost fell out of my chair when I saw you put that mileage on in 9 WEEKS!!! LOL

 

[Connorb]

Yeah, I'm not afraid to daily drive a well maintained, high mileage older car! Normally it takes me 3-4 months to go 6k miles, so I've obviously driven a bit more in the past couple months than usual. This has been a great car and I have no plans to retire it anytime soon.

 

[Merkava_4]

BMW's always do well on 40 weights -- I've seen it time and time again. The Germans don't specify 5W-20 because they're more concerned with keeping engine wear to an absolute minimum for their customers instead of trying to squeeze 50 miles per gallon out of the car while it's coasting down hill.

 

[cchase]

This UOA looks excellent but it sounds like the engine leads an easy life. Wish you'd done TBN as well.

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
The Germans don't specify 5W-20 because they're more concerned with keeping engine wear to an absolute minimum for their customers instead of trying to squeeze 50 miles per gallon out of the car while it's coasting down hill.


Disagree with this post. Give me a break, "more concerned with keeping engine wear to an absolute minimum". That must be why they spec ridiculously long (and damaging over the long term) OCI's, too.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: cchase
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
The Germans don't specify 5W-20 because they're more concerned with keeping engine wear to an absolute minimum for their customers instead of trying to squeeze 50 miles per gallon out of the car while it's coasting down hill.


Disagree with this post. Give me a break, "more concerned with keeping engine wear to an absolute minimum". That must be why they spec ridiculously long (and damaging over the long term) OCI's, too.

Besides, I have yet to see any proof that using 5w-20 results in more wear. I'm guessing no one has ventured into using such oil for extended periods of time in a BMW to verify. And how would we even determine wear? A $20 UOA is not going to answer the question. We'd need to do a complete teardown...

But as far as long OCI, in most cases this long OCI coincides with a large oil sump and recommendation to use a high quality synthetic oil meeting very stringent specs. Can you provide links to cases where it was damaging?

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
But as far as long OCI, in most cases this long OCI coincides with a large oil sump and recommendation to use a high quality synthetic oil meeting very stringent specs. Can you provide links to cases where it was damaging?



There are a few UOA's on here with owners running the full OCI with TBN's well below 1 and viscosities well ABOVE original spec. To me, even without a TAN to compare with, a TBN under 1 indicates some seriously worn out oil. And there are certainly enough picture threads out on the net (take that for what it's worth) of some very sludged up BMW's. A seemingly high incidence rate for it to be coincidence.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Can you provide links to those below 1 TBN reports?

As for the pictures, well, it's just a typical example of internet-propagated hysteria that's been blown out of proportion and turned into urban legend. If you're talking about the famous 3-series with 60K miles on the clock, we really don't know anything about its service history. For all you know, that car may have still been on its factory fill.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Can you provide links to those below 1 TBN reports?

As for the pictures, well, it's just a typical example of internet-propagated hysteria that's been blown out of proportion and turned into urban legend. If you're talking about the famous 3-series with 60K miles on the clock, we really don't know anything about its service history. For all you know, that car may have still been on its factory fill.


I'm admittedly terrible at searching this site for old UOA, but here is one at about 6k under the BMW OCI with a TBN at 2.0 http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2136379

Here's one at 15k that has thickened considerably: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=218409&page=1

Here's a 15k OCI with a TBN of 0.1 and substantial thickening: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1882963

 

[Quattro Pete]

Thanks for digging these up. I'm still not sure I'm convinced of any wrong doing.

Originally Posted By: cchase

I'm admittedly terrible at searching this site for old UOA, but here is one at about 6k under the BMW OCI with a TBN at 2.0 http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2136379

Modified engine/programming. Too bad he hasn't modified his OLM programming to account for this.

Quote:

Here's one at 15k that has thickened considerably: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=218409&page=1

Wear seems appropriate for the OCI. The oil is spent, but it's hard to judge from the report whether it's past spent and actually hurting the engine.

Quote:

Here's a 15k OCI with a TBN of 0.1 and substantial thickening: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1882963

It thickened up some, but I wouldn't call it substantial. The starting 100C viscosity is around 12 cSt for this oil. So this one thickened up about 13%. From a thick 30-weight, it became a thin 40-weight. Again, the oil appears to be spent, but I don't see elevated wear and the insolubles are low. Isn't the OLM doing what it was supposed to? Tell the owner to change the oil when the oil is done but before damage occurs?

I know we here on BITOG tend to freak out whenever we see a UOA that isn't picture perfect, but I think we're just too anal about these things sometimes. But I may be wrong... I don't follow my OLM either, which makes me just as bad I suppose.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Thanks for digging these up. I'm still not sure I'm convinced of any wrong doing.

Originally Posted By: cchase

I'm admittedly terrible at searching this site for old UOA, but here is one at about 6k under the BMW OCI with a TBN at 2.0 http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2136379

Modified engine/programming. Too bad he hasn't modified his OLM programming to account for this.

Quote:

Here's one at 15k that has thickened considerably: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=218409&page=1

Wear seems appropriate for the OCI. The oil is spent, but it's hard to judge from the report whether it's past spent and actually hurting the engine.

Quote:

Here's a 15k OCI with a TBN of 0.1 and substantial thickening: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1882963

It thickened up some, but I wouldn't call it substantial. The starting 100C viscosity is around 12 cSt for this oil. So this one thickened up about 13%. From a thick 30-weight, it became a thin 40-weight. Again, the oil appears to be spent, but I don't see elevated wear and the insolubles are low. Isn't the OLM doing what it was supposed to? Tell the owner to change the oil when the oil is done but before damage occurs?

I know we here on BITOG tend to freak out whenever we see a UOA that isn't picture perfect, but I think we're just too anal about these things sometimes. But I may be wrong... I don't follow my OLM either, which makes me just as bad I suppose.

I agree with you in principle. I'm not sure I'd want oil with those characteristics in an engine of mine though. I'm not sure how the "wear metals" correspond with sludge in the engine, either.

My original grudge is with the statement that BMW supposedly dislikes xw20 oils because preventing wear is somehow their utmost concern. If that was true, I suspect they wouldn't push 15k OCI's.

 

[FZ1]

Nice report. Nice engine. Nice driving.

 

[CATERHAM]

Nice report.
I wouldn't use anything heavier than M1 0W-40 for the winter.
In fact since your car doesn't see high oil temp's on the street, any light 5W-30 synthetic like M1 is preferable for winter use and quite frankly year round if you're going to stick to short OCIs..

 

[Merkava_4]

Here's a prime example of a 40 weight staying in grade and lubricating the engine like it should.

 

[BobFout]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Here's a prime example of a 40 weight staying in grade and lubricating the engine like it should.


Not seeing any different oils listed on previous samples for this engine and driving conditions. Nothing to compare to. It's like saying "1=1". The response being "Yes, and?".

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Here's a prime example of a 40 weight staying in grade and lubricating the engine like it should.


Here is a prime example of an easy life for a lubricant.

6,000 miles in 9 weeks.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

With that amount of miles/month the OP is racking, he should be able to perform seasonal OCI without issue; the 6K changeout is absolutely not necessary IMO and would provide no benefit or extra "care" for the engine.

 

[Connorb]

I keep telling myself that I'm going to extend the interval a bit, but always chicken out and drain the oil early. I've taken it to 7K miles a couple times, but can't seem to make myself go any further.