Blackstone Oil Results

[Blaxwil]

So I stopped using the BMW 0W/30 oil and began using Liquid Moly 5W/40. My interval with the BMW oil was 10k miles and I decided to do more frequent changes. I submitted an oil sample on the 10k mile BMW oil, changed to LM 5W/40 and submitted another sample at 5k miles. Attached are the comparison results of the 2 changes.

Some background on the car and my maintenance. This is a 2014 M5, non CP. I'm the 2nd owner from approximately 15 miles. The dealership (aka stealership) performed all the oil changes roughly every 10-15k miles for me. I'm currently at 80k miles and my goal is to keep it for another year or so then get a F90 or even an M8 if it eventually grows on me. Back to the F10. It's a daily driver to/from the office which is less than 20 miles round trip. 3-4 times a week, it's also driven to and from my golf club which adds another 50 miles round trip. I always allow the engine and oil temps to get up to operating temps before going past 4k RPM. I have had zero mechanical issues with other than the coolant lines and squeaky ass brakes. Both of which have long been rectified. The car received new plugs and coils about 4 months ago then 3 months ago I added a stage 1 tune from BPM. An Eisenmann full exhaust and Fabworx Downpipes are sitting in the garage waiting for Ms. Corona to calm down.

I'm posting this for feedback and comments from those who are much more educated and experienced with oil results. Can you tell anything about the engine health from oil samples let alone just 2? Should the comments about high iron counts not worry me because of long interval? Should spend the time and money to replace the rod bearings or just keep my fingers crossed?

The comments from Blackstone on both samples were as follows:

Sample 1 - BMW 0W/30 (10k miles)
Universal averages show typical wear levels for this engine type after 5,300 miles on the oil. Next to those, these numbers look great. The only metal reading much higher than average is iron and that's expected because this is a longer oil run. Viewed on a per-mile basis, its fine. 0.8% duel showed up but that is below our cautionary level and likely due to operational factors. The viscosity is within specs and oil filtration was effective. The 3.7 TBN shows active addictive remaining up to the 12k mile on the next oil.

Sample 2 - Liquid Moly 5W/40 (5k miles)
This 2nd report from your M5 also looks good. Metals are lower than they were the last time. Obviously some of that is just because this was a shorter oil run. You put fewer miles on the oil and you're bound to end up with less metal in the oil - - that's just a given. Iron tends to track a bit more directly with the number of miles on the oil than other metals do - - see how it dropped by 9 ppm, while aluminum only dropped by 1 ppm? That's fine. The viscosity was a shade thin, perhaps due to residual oil from a previous interval. That's fine. Very nice report here.

[OneExtra]

So basically BMW oil changed every 5-10K is perfect

[calicolorado]

Thank you for posting this-it's interesting and helpful reading for those of us who obsess a bit over maintenance.

I'm perhaps overly cautious and stay within the recommended viscosity and spec given in the manual, though I know Xw-40 oil is commonly used in the S63 without any issue. It's probably better at the track with high temps. Because it's (curiously) not a recommended or alternative viscosity listed in the 2015 owners manual I'm going to stick with 0w-30 or 5w-30.

I have been reading (too much) about oil recently trying to decide which oil to run in my car long term. For our M5, I used Motul 6100 SYN-ergy 5w-30 which meets the A3/B4, SL and BMW LL-01 requirement, but will be switching to Motul Specific LL-01FE 5w-30 at the next change. That's what I plan on using as long as I can get it. For off the shelf brands, Castrol was the recommended supplier in 2015 (in the manual) so I feel comfortable using their 5w-30 A3B4 SL Euro oil.

Ultimately as the you and OneExtra say, BMW oil changed at 5-10k is perfectly fine should you choose to do so.

[Blaxwil]

Appreciate your feedback and comments guys. I agree with the viscosity concern however I was also advised once you switch brands and viscosity that's it's a good idea to stay consistent.

I'm more interested in feedback in the results and does anything standout in the sample.

Although the results appear to be good from
Blackstone, the verbiage seems scripted so what do the numbers really mean relative to your specific vehicle??? IJS