Oil Analysis Reports

MTROIS wrote

No problem!
First contact Blackstone Labs to request a couple of sample containers. They will send you a little package that contains black plastic bottles with a smaller white one in them that will contain the oil sample itself and a bunch of paper work.
The next time you bring your car for oil change (or you do it yourself), simply request from the service advisor that the mechanic working in your car takes a sample of the oil as it is flowing out.
You will see that this is not an uncommon request.
Then, package the oil sample back in the black bottle and mail it to the laboratory.

Voila!

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback! Gonna get it done next oil change

Radiation Joe wrote

Time to start a flame war.

Has anyone else noticed that almost all of the Castrol TWS 10W-60 UOAs come back showing lead (bearings) in the wear metals? I've had three analyses of Redline and never a detectable level of lead.

A quick look through the thread doesn't bear that out? There are several with 1 or 0 running the TWS. I think we need back to back to back data before you can say for sure there's any causation here, of course there will be correlation as almost everyone uses the TWS, high lead or not. It'd be nice to see a few units that only got RL or another product that's a little lower viscosity from the 1200 mile service on, or even sooner, but we probably won't ever.

I'm definitely not convinced TWS is the right oil for this engine though, especially in regular street use where the oil never gets hotter than 230F or so. The RL 40wt is looking good.

Richbot wrote

A quick look through the thread doesn't bear that out? There are several with 1 or 0 running the TWS. I think we need back to back to back data before you can say for sure there's any causation here, of course there will be correlation as almost everyone uses the TWS, high lead or not. It'd be nice to see a few units that only got RL or another product that's a little lower viscosity from the 1200 mile service on, or even sooner, but we probably won't ever.

I'm definitely not convinced TWS is the right oil for this engine though, especially in regular street use where the oil never gets hotter than 230F or so. The RL 40wt is looking good.

A agree that not all the TWS cars show lead. I'm starting to think the lead may be due to less than regular use of the car. The longer the car sits without being run, more likely to have dry bearings on start-up.

Unofficial poll:
Daily driver - How much lead in your UOA?
Once a weeker - How much lead in your UOA?

My car never sits longer than 12 hours without being run. Zero lead.

I ran Mobil 1 0W40 (a very robust oil) for 3,000 miles, and my Blackstone report came back with 0 lead as well.

Radiation Joe wrote

Time to start a flame war.

Has anyone else noticed that almost all of the Castrol TWS 10W-60 UOAs come back showing lead (bearings) in the wear metals? I've had three analyses of Redline and never a detectable level of lead.

Hey guys,
So one of the most important things I have been told with a s/c M3 is to make sure oil changes are done often. An easy and inexpensive way to be able to see how things are running is to get an oil sample analysis done. This was my first oil test but I plan on getting it done a few times a year if I hold onto the car.

Timeline of my car...

10/2010 2k miles: AA Gen 1 Level 2 installed

09/2012 13k miles: Bought the car (3rd owner)

02/2013 22k miles: AA Gen 2 Level 3 installed

I have always had oil changes done every 5-6k miles. The report says 5k miles for this particular sample, but this was a quick estimate at the time it was being sent out. 5,500 miles is more accurate. After looking through my paperwork my last oil change prior to this was when my upgrade went on at 22,300 miles. This oil sample and oil change was done on 04/26 with 27,800 miles. I now have 29,300 miles on the car 2 weeks later. It gets driven a lot as you can see.

Anyway, here's a copy of the report. For those comparing it with others, 5500 is a more accurate figure as mentioned above.

Thanks to AutoCouture in Fair Lawn, NJ for taking care of the oil change and sample test. Excellent service as usual...we all know that by now

seems like all 08s have excess lead...this kind of worries me.

I just mailed a sample in to Blackstone this morning on my 2008 E92 with about 46K miles. I'm seriously considering an ESS kit and want to see how my bearings are wearing before I pull the trigger. Will post it up as soon as I get results.

Just a quick note to folks noticing elevated iron levels and correlating it to crank journal wear....... The S65 uses an iron coating on the piston skirts due to the ALUSIL block, that is most likely the source of iron in many people's samples!

Great info, thanks.

Back to Joe's post, my 02/2008 build daily driver (~50 miles/day) showed lead of 5 for a ~9,000 mile interval. Doing another change this weekend and will update once I get the results.

I just completed my first Blackstone Labs oil analysis, so I thought I'd hop on here and contribute my piece.

Some background: I have 6 road course track days, 2 autocross events, and about 20 dragstrip 1/4 mile passes on the car. Embarrassingly enough, this is the first time since the break-in maintenance that I've changed my oil. It was incredibly easy to do (especially with the DIY section here on M3Post), and I'll definitely be following a shorter interval in the future.

BMRLVR wrote

Just a quick note to folks noticing elevated iron levels and correlating it to crank journal wear....... The S65 uses an iron coating on the piston skirts due to the ALUSIL block, that is most likely the source of iron in many people's samples!

Just so that it's clear to everyone:
Lead for rod bearing wear
Iron for crank journal wear

Correct?

:thumbsup:Second oil sample.

Looks great!

Its funny to see people changing the Castrol oil earlier than 7500 miles. You are giving up the advantage of this oil by changing it too early. It actually works better as it ages.

Just got my first analysis today. Car is daily driven 20 miles round trip and always in traffic. Couple of redlines but never raced on track or canyon runs since I bought it in October 2011. Car has mostly seen Chevron 91 with a few Shell encounters.

Kinda disappointed with the lead content though...and whats with the moly soooo low! Even the calcium, does not look like the other TWS reports I have seen.

One thing I liked about it was the low silicon and insolubles...looks like the AA green filter is doing its job after a year of never been cleaned and the oil filter can still do its job after a year of service. Really impressed.

Just got my first analysis back yesterday on my 2008 with 47K miles. This car has never been tracked, but I drive it pretty hard. Extremely pleased with this report and the lead count of 0! If this analysis looked good I had planned on ordering a VT2-625 kit from ESS. Unfortunately I sold the car on Friday, which makes seeing this even tougher. I loved the car, just hated the reliability.

In the past 6 months I had both throttle actuators go out, my ICV go out and just in the past 2 weeks I discovered my diff was going out....bad pinion bearing. That was kind of the last straw for me....just felt like I'm pissing my money away on repairs for substandard components. Yeah, it's an 08, but the miles are low, and the differential issue just really left a bad taste in my mouth as the fluid was changed at the appropriate intervals. I can only imagine the future problems I'll be having with this thing if the first year of ownership was any indication. Time to move on to something else, but I'll always have a soft spot for the S65. Such an incredible engine ....at least this M isn't showing any bearing wear!

RBB wrote

Just got my first analysis back yesterday on my 2008 with 47K miles. This car has never been tracked, but I drive it pretty hard. Extremely pleased with this report and the lead count of 0! If this analysis looked good I had planned on ordering a VT2-625 kit from ESS. Unfortunately I sold the car on Friday, which makes seeing this even tougher. I loved the car, just hated the reliability.

In the past 6 months I had both throttle actuators go out, my ICV go out and just in the past 2 weeks I discovered my diff was going out....bad pinion bearing. That was kind of the last straw for me....just felt like I'm pissing my money away on repairs for substandard components. Yeah, it's an 08, but the miles are low, and the differential issue just really left a bad taste in my mouth as the fluid was changed at the appropriate intervals. I can only imagine the future problems I'll be having with this thing if the first year of ownership was any indication. Time to move on to something else, but I'll always have a soft spot for the S65. Such an incredible engine ....at least this M isn't showing any bearing wear!

What signs did you get that the transmission was starting to fail?

MTROIS wrote

What signs did you get that the transmission was starting to fail?

It was the diff. I started hearing a low RPM whine on part throttle in gears 5 & 6. It gradually started to get louder and I could also start hearing it in 3rd. Couple days before I traded it in I really started hearing it in 4th at higher RPMS up to 4K or so. Its an odd sound....kind of like a hollow whistling. I got it checked out at two shops (one dealer, one indy) and both gave me the same diagnosis.

About to send in my first sample......besides the standard test, what else should I test for in addition? Thanks.......

I assume you're sending to Blackstone. Ask for TBN (reserve alkalinity). It will cost a little extra, but be worth it if you're running the oil to 7500 mi or more drain intervals.

m6pwr wrote

I assume you're sending to Blackstone. Ask for TBN (reserve alkalinity). It will cost a little extra, but be worth it if you're running the oil to 7500 mi or more drain intervals.

Yes, Blackstone.............noted, thanks!

just got my results back after a good amount of track time on the oil

Radiation Joe wrote

Its funny to see people changing the Castrol oil earlier than 7500 miles. You are giving up the advantage of this oil by changing it too early. It actually works better as it ages.

explain?