Oil was in service summer through fall.
Generous and gentle warmups when cold, frequent WOT and redline when warm, mostly highway and suburban roads with some city, no track driving.
I think this oil is barely thick enough for this engine. On the absolutely hottest days of the summer, my oil light would occasionally flicker at idle after I had been sitting in stop-and-go traffic for a while (holding the engine even 100 RPM higher kept it off). That said, and also considering the crazy fuel dilution, I think it did pretty darn well.
I'm hoping the fuel dilution was at least largely due to the worn coil packs I just replaced. I have a feeling this oil would be a top choice for a clean-running engine outside of a big city.
Two things I noticed on this run vs. my previous run of BMW High Performance Synthetic 5w-30 and GC (thread here, if anyone cares):
- Over the course of the previous run, my average fuel economy dropped about 2 mpg. Over the course of this (longer) run, the drop was less than 1 mpg. It's still in the engine a few thousand miles later (waiting for the next shipment which has been delayed ad nauseum), and average fuel economy is still higher than it was with the GC.
- Oil consumption went down from 1 qt/1200 miles to 1 qt/1600 miles. Again, definitely notable IMO given the the crazy fuel dilution.
Anyway, here are the numbers:
Oil.............BMW/GC..X-Max
Lab.............OAI.....Dyson Analysis
Total Miles.....6551....7885
Iron............14......20
Copper..........3.......4
Tin.............0.......0
Lead............4.......4
Chromium........0.......1
Nickel..........0.......1
Aluminum........6.......8
Titanium........0.......0
Silver..........0.......0
Calcium.........2738....3029
Magnesium.......187.....30
Zinc............1213....1203
Phosphorus......1039....1146
Barium..........0.......0
Molybdenum......104.....60
Antimony........0.......0
Silicon.........13......16
Sodium..........5.......36
Boron...........49......38
Potassium.......0.......0
Vanadium........0.......0
TAN.............N/A.....2.61
TBN.............5.19....4.8
Flash Point (F).N/A.....285
Oxidation.......N/A.....45
Nitration.......N/A.....11
Water (KF)......N/A.....566
Water (% vol)...0.......N/A
Fuel (% vol).... Soot/Solids.....N/A.....0
Glycol..........0.......0
Sulfates........N/A.....50
Vis @ 40 C (cSt)...N/A.....70.4
Vis @ 100 C (cSt)..11.66...11.8
Viscosity Index....N/A.....163
Look at that flash point. Virgin spec per Motul is 450 F.
Here's a question: Why did the X-Max end up slightly thicker than the BMW/GC? The German oils both start slightly thicker (12.2 vs. 12.0 for the X-Max), and Oil Analyzers didn't pick up any fuel in the previous sample.
Other comments also appreciated, as always.
Generous and gentle warmups when cold, frequent WOT and redline when warm, mostly highway and suburban roads with some city, no track driving.
I think this oil is barely thick enough for this engine. On the absolutely hottest days of the summer, my oil light would occasionally flicker at idle after I had been sitting in stop-and-go traffic for a while (holding the engine even 100 RPM higher kept it off). That said, and also considering the crazy fuel dilution, I think it did pretty darn well.
I'm hoping the fuel dilution was at least largely due to the worn coil packs I just replaced. I have a feeling this oil would be a top choice for a clean-running engine outside of a big city.
Two things I noticed on this run vs. my previous run of BMW High Performance Synthetic 5w-30 and GC (thread here, if anyone cares):
- Over the course of the previous run, my average fuel economy dropped about 2 mpg. Over the course of this (longer) run, the drop was less than 1 mpg. It's still in the engine a few thousand miles later (waiting for the next shipment which has been delayed ad nauseum), and average fuel economy is still higher than it was with the GC.
- Oil consumption went down from 1 qt/1200 miles to 1 qt/1600 miles. Again, definitely notable IMO given the the crazy fuel dilution.
Anyway, here are the numbers:
Oil.............BMW/GC..X-Max
Lab.............OAI.....Dyson Analysis
Total Miles.....6551....7885
Iron............14......20
Copper..........3.......4
Tin.............0.......0
Lead............4.......4
Chromium........0.......1
Nickel..........0.......1
Aluminum........6.......8
Titanium........0.......0
Silver..........0.......0
Calcium.........2738....3029
Magnesium.......187.....30
Zinc............1213....1203
Phosphorus......1039....1146
Barium..........0.......0
Molybdenum......104.....60
Antimony........0.......0
Silicon.........13......16
Sodium..........5.......36
Boron...........49......38
Potassium.......0.......0
Vanadium........0.......0
TAN.............N/A.....2.61
TBN.............5.19....4.8
Flash Point (F).N/A.....285
Oxidation.......N/A.....45
Nitration.......N/A.....11
Water (KF)......N/A.....566
Water (% vol)...0.......N/A
Fuel (% vol).... Soot/Solids.....N/A.....0
Glycol..........0.......0
Sulfates........N/A.....50
Vis @ 40 C (cSt)...N/A.....70.4
Vis @ 100 C (cSt)..11.66...11.8
Viscosity Index....N/A.....163
Look at that flash point. Virgin spec per Motul is 450 F.
Here's a question: Why did the X-Max end up slightly thicker than the BMW/GC? The German oils both start slightly thicker (12.2 vs. 12.0 for the X-Max), and Oil Analyzers didn't pick up any fuel in the previous sample.
Other comments also appreciated, as always.
