Oil Analysis Reports: Post & Discuss Here

[IamFODI]

Here are all five of mine to date, all on one spreadsheet. Original attached as well.

[IamFODI]

Now at 110107 miles on the engine. 4931 miles on the oil in this sample.

Ignore the "fluid added" quantity. Consumption has jumped to ~1 L / 1500 mi, which is roughly where it was when I bought the car with leaking valve cover gaskets. I fixed those (which cut consumption in half) and haven't noticed other leaks, though I have noticed what look like traces of oil on some of my spark plugs (pic attached). Wouldn't mind some feedback on that.

I replaced the oil separators preventatively when I changed the oil. Was going to do the PCV valve as well but chickened out. Had a BMW crankcase pressure test done recently and was right in the middle of the normal range, though that was only at idle.

EDIT: Fuel dilution was originally reported at 2.1%. Seemed high, so I asked them to re-run that test to verify. New number is 1.6%. Hoping that's the real one!


Wear Metals

Iron - 7
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 3
Copper - 2
Lead - 0
Tin - 1
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 12


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 7
Sodium - 4
Potassium - 1


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 0
Molybdenum - 52
Antimony - 1
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 0
Boron - 53


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 23
Calcium - 2458
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 824
Zinc - 935


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 1.6% (GC)
Soot - <0.1% by vol.
Water - <0.1% by vol. (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 18.3 cSt
TBN - 4.44
Oxidation - 12
Nitration - 11

[TexaZ3]

Looks good. Which company did you use for the oil analysis?
Spike in lead is something to note, but not enough to worry about.

[IamFODI]

Looks good. Which company did you use for the oil analysis?

Polaris Labs. Ordering process is slightly annoying and report format isn't great, but you can get a better test package than Blackstone for less money.

Spike in lead is something to note, but not enough to worry about.

That was just in the first sample after I had my rod bearings changed. Probably residual from the original bearings, all of which had visible wear (two were starting to show copper).

[IamFODI]

Now at 115115 miles on the engine. 5008 miles on the oil in this sample.

Starting to think my oil consumption is inversely related to how much I drive and how much throttle I use. After reading about oil consumption caused by low cylinder pressures, and noticing I spent a fair amount of time at midrange RPMs and low/moderate throttle, I tried using less RPM and more throttle in everyday driving and taking more opportunities to wind the car out. Since then, despite finding at least one new oil weep (oil filter housing gasket), 1 L top-off intervals have improved slightly to 1700+ mi.

Fuel dilution in the previous sample is blanked out because it turned out not to be reliable.


Wear Metals

Iron - 8
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 1
Copper - 2
Lead - 1
Tin - 1
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 12


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 6
Sodium - 4
Potassium - 3


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 0
Molybdenum - 55
Antimony - 0
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 0
Boron - 51


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 26
Calcium - 2716
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 875
Zinc - 972


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 1.8% (GC)
Soot - <0.1% by vol.
Water - <0.1% by vol. (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 18.3 cSt
TBN - 4.33
Oxidation - 13
Nitration - 12

[TexaZ3]

Honestly, seems like a nice report and healthy engine.

[IamFODI]

120167 miles on the engine, 5052 miles on the oil in this sample.

1 track day on this oil (NJMP, novice pace, street tires), near the end of the OCI. I had to top off with 1L shortly after that track day, so these numbers are probably mitigated slightly by that.

Tempted to blame the rise in Al on the track day. However, the number is still really low and no other potential wear indicators have changed. #ShrugLife

Big bump in fuel dilution!

In the pic, fuel dilution in a previous sample is blanked out because it turned out not to be reliable.


Wear Metals

Iron - 8
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 7
Copper - 2
Lead - 1
Tin - 1
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 11


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 5
Sodium - 2
Potassium - 0


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 0
Molybdenum - 52
Antimony - 3
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 0
Boron - 61


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 38
Calcium - 2591
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 857
Zinc - 1038


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 2.4% (GC)
Soot - <0.1% by vol.
Water - <0.1% by vol. (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 17.6 cSt
TBN - 4.72
Oxidation - 12
Nitration - 11

[IamFODI]

125133 miles on the engine, 4966 miles on the oil in this sample.

2x 2-day track events on this oil (NJMP Thunderbolt, intermediate pace, street tires); one event at the beginning of the OCI, and one at the end.

Aluminum is back down to previous levels and all other wear markers remain low, though fuel remains high.

In the pic, fuel dilution in a previous sample is blanked out because it turned out not to be reliable.


Wear Metals

Iron - 8
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 4
Copper - 2
Lead - 0
Tin - 1
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 11


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 5
Sodium - 6
Potassium - 1


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 0
Molybdenum - 70
Antimony - 0
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 1
Boron - 56


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 25
Calcium - 2744
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 937
Zinc - 1006


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 2.4% (GC)
Soot - <0.1% by vol.
Water - <0.1% by vol. (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 18.2 cSt
TBN - 5.24
Oxidation - 13
Nitration - 12

[IamFODI]

129808 miles on the engine at the time of sampling (minor typo in the report). 4672 miles on the oil.

1x 2-day track event on this oil (NJMP Lightning, intermediate pace, street tires). Also, a few exhaust leaks and minor emissions system gremlins found and fixed, hence the marginally earlier change; once I saw the problems, I realized I might have been dumping a bunch of fuel and byproducts in the oil for who-knows-how-long, so I wanted to get the oil out of there and start fresh. If the fuel dilution number in this report is any indication, maybe I was right.

Seems like the formulation has changed. Maybe this is due to BMW's recent switch back to Castrol. Might explain the Ti and higher Mo (Castrol has been using Ti as an additive for a while). Different wear metals profile in this report, too. Starting to wonder if I now have to throw out most of my UOA history. Ugh.

In the pic, ignore the anomalously low fuel dilution reading on the earliest visible sample. It was not reliable.


Wear Metals

Iron - 6
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 1
Copper - 2
Lead - 2
Tin - 0
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 11


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 6
Sodium - 3
Potassium - 1


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 36
Molybdenum - 166
Antimony - 0
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 0
Boron - 33


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 18
Calcium - 2816
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 809
Zinc - 986


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 2.6% (GC)
Soot - <0.1% by vol.
Water - <0.1% by vol. (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 19.4 cSt
TBN - 5.23
Oxidation - 13
Nitration - 10

[IamFODI]

136939 miles on the engine at the time of sampling. 7134 miles on the oil.

Figured the longer OCI wouldn't be horrible given that a lot of these miles were from multiple 7+ hour road trips.

Just after this OCI, I had a crazy misfire issue that seems to have been due to an O2 sensor fault. Assuming that failure didn't happen overnight, I'm sure it affected this sample.

Looks like the formulation change I thought I was seeing is real. Much more moly, titanium making an appearance, ~half as much boron, and a little less phosphorus vs. the Shell version. Also looks like this new formulation has better viscosity retention. Maybe this product is back in the TWS lineage.

In the pic, ignore the flag on titanium. They probably flagged it because it wasn't showing up in previous samples and they didn't know this engine has no titanium in it.

Copying the numbers here because I don't like how Polaris's reports are formatted:



Wear Metals

Iron - 7
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 3
Copper - 2
Lead - 0
Tin - 1
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 12


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 7
Sodium - 3
Potassium - 0


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 44
Molybdenum - 178
Antimony - 0
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 0
Boron - 30


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 18
Calcium - 2772
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 791
Zinc - 950


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 2.0% (GC)
Soot - <0.1% by vol.
Water - <0.1% by vol. (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 19.0 cSt
TBN - 4.45
Oxidation - 13
Nitration - 8

[IamFODI]

142308 miles on the engine at the time of this sample.

As mentioned above, had a significant bank 2 misfire issue right at the beginning of this OCI. After the O2 sensor swap, a bottle of Liqui Moly Fuel System Cleaner (no idea if that helped), and a few hundred miles, all seems well.

Close to the end of the OCI, I had the bank 1 valve cover and oil filter housing gasket replaced. Figured there was significant potential for dirt ingress during those repairs, so I drove mildly and ran another bottle of Liqui Moly Fuel System Cleaner before draining the oil ~550 miles after the repairs.

Given all that, I imagined I'd see record-breaking fuel dilution, elevated silicon levels, and potentially elevated wear metal numbers. Not sure if I should be happy or puzzled that none of those panned out...


Wear Metals

Iron - 8
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 1
Copper - 2
Lead - 1
Tin - 0
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 11


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 8
Sodium - 3
Potassium - 1


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 44
Molybdenum - 187
Antimony - 4
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 1
Boron - 33


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 18
Calcium - 2982
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 859
Zinc - 1006


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 2.0% (GC)
Soot - <0.1% by vol.
Water - <0.1% by vol. (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 19.5 cSt
TBN - 5.04
Oxidation - 14
Nitration - 11

[IamFODI]

148159 miles on the engine at the time of this sample.

For once, I don't think I have anything interesting to say about this OCI. All I did was drive the car. Average fuel economy is better than it has been for most of the time I've owned the car, so maybe I'm going easier on it.

I did have to top off about a week before changing the oil. That's gotta be part of why the numbers look so good.


Wear Metals

Iron - 6
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 2
Copper - 2
Lead - 0
Tin - 0
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 10


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 6
Sodium - 2
Potassium - 1


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 47
Molybdenum - 198
Antimony - 2
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 4
Boron - 33


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 18
Calcium - 3010
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 857
Zinc - 1034


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 1.8% (GC)
Soot - <0.1% by vol.
Water - <0.1% by vol. (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 19.9 cSt
TBN - 6.1
Oxidation - 13
Nitration - 10

[IamFODI]

154112 miles on the engine at the time of this sample.

One HPDE right at the beginning of the OCI. Nothing else worth noting, as far as I remember.


Wear Metals

Iron - 5
Chromium - 0
Nickel - 0
Aluminum - 4
Copper - 2
Lead - 0
Tin - 1
Cadmium - 0
Silver - 0
Vanadium - 0

Particle Quantifier (PQ) Index - 12


Contaminant Metals

Silicon - 5
Sodium - 2
Potassium - 0


Multi-Source Metals

Titanium - 41
Molybdenum - 166
Antimony - 0
Manganese - 0
Lithium - 0
Boron - 27


Additive Metals

Magnesium - 20
Calcium - 2534
Barium - 0
Phosphorus - 743
Zinc - 883


Other Contaminants

Fuel Dilution - 1.9% (GC)
Soot - <0.1% by vol.
Water - <0.1% by vol. (FTIR)


Fluid Properties

Viscosity @ 100º C - 19.6 cSt
TBN - 4.79
Oxidation - 14
Nitration - 11

[lvm3sm46]

This car is a recent purchase for me. Previous owner had it for 10 years. It's a 2008 with original bearings and presently at 111k miles. Even before I saw this report I was nervous about the bearings. I plan to get them done but I'm low on funds for the next few months.

[IamFODI]

This car is a recent purchase for me. Previous owner had it for 10 years. It's a 2008 with original bearings and presently at 111k miles. Even before I saw this report I was nervous about the bearings. I plan to get them done but I'm low on funds for the next few months.

Yep, I'd say it's rod bearing time.

Not as in your engine's gonna blow up next time you drive it, but this is probably a good time.