Blackstone Labs Oil and Transmission Fluid Analysis

[b1aze]

So i just had my oil, tranny and diff fluids changed at the dealer. My tech is awesome and took the samples for me, labeled them and packaged them up just as they should be. Its hard to find good help these days!

I took my personal info out of it, but all the necessary data is there. The aluminum and iron in the oil is a bit concerning, but not crazy high. Ill keep an eye on it, but i may not have a true apples-to-apples comparison this next time around as i went with a 0W-40 German Mobil 1 synthetic. It runs a bit hotter than the 5W-30 did and i am at ~240F on oil temps just cruising on the highway. It peaked at like 250-255 after some hard auto-x runs this weekend.

I opted not to do a diff fluid analysis since its pretty harmless. If there was a problem in it, i would know already, but i did replace it with Red Line Fluids suggested differential oil.

I replaced the Transmission fluid with Red Line Fluids ATF D-6 fluid and it feels better. Getting into 2nd gear is a bit smoother and i see no significant increase in shifting effort when cold. No funny noises or whines. Ill probably keep it in for 30-40k miles, depending on how hard i use the car this season in autocross.

Hope this helps!

[Zombie1]

Nice, car looks to be in good health

[1911A145]

FYI, Blackstone also reported to me that my Iron content was a "little" higher than normal, as well, and said that most BMW's with this motor all show the same signs. They believe it to be caused possibly by the turbo shaft/seal area. That whole area is iron i believe and it could be the reason and not to worry. The only other thing that could be iron is the crankshaft, but then you would more than likely show signs of bearing faliure and increased bearing material in the report if the crank was wearing... usually.

Dont stess too much about it. But i would change the oil back to BMW Castrol. Blackstone told me that 0w-40 in MANY test in our cars was SHOT at the 3k mile interval and just SUCKS. They LOVE Mobil 1 oil, just they cant figure out why this car cant seem to make it hold up as long. The have shown increased wear with the mobil 1 product. just giving you a heads up from what they told me...

[Adam135]

How much does this cost and what's the point? If one value is higher than it should be what do you do? Sell the car?

[b1aze]

Originally Posted by Adam135

How much does this cost and what's the point? If one value is higher than it should be what do you do? Sell the car?

Total of $30 if you get the TBN/TAN also. Its, in my eyes, a way to be able to predict failures in the future as well as get the most out of every oil change. If viscosity stays in the right range and there is plenty of additive in the oil left, you can stretch out an oil change from, say 7k to 10 or even 15k as the dealership recommends. Its a great way to get an idea of how the motor is wearing, ie. if you have some extra copper in the sample, bearings are starting to wear.

[Adam135]

Originally Posted by b1aze

Total of $30 if you get the TBN/TAN also. Its, in my eyes, a way to be able to predict failures in the future as well as get the most out of every oil change. If viscosity stays in the right range and there is plenty of additive in the oil left, you can stretch out an oil change from, say 7k to 10 or even 15k as the dealership recommends. Its a great way to get an idea of how the motor is wearing, ie. if you have some extra copper in the sample, bearings are starting to wear.

Thanks for the info!