[TheACN]

I know this is a controversial topic and everyone has an opinion on it. I usually do 5k mile oil changes, however life got in the way and I changed my last oil at 10k miles (when iDrive told me to do so), so I wanted to see the condition of that oil. Attached is the lab result I got.

Ps. I would likely continue 5k mile interval. It just makes me feel better

[eelnoraa]

wow very good. Molybdenum (additive) is slightly low, but close enough to be error in measurement. No copper, which is good. Oil viscosity and flash point are healthy. No fuel dilution and no coolant/water.

What is your driving pattern? do you do a lot of long trip per engine start? Fuel percentage is super good.

[swainbmw]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

wow very good. Molybdenum (additive) is slightly low, but close enough to be error in measurement. No copper, which is good. Oil viscosity and flash point are healthy. No fuel dilution and no coolant/water.

What is your driving pattern? do you do a lot of long trip per engine start? Fuel percentage is super good.

Does this show all the miles from your oil changes on this paper? Or just the ones you have done at the stated miles on oil analysis

[TheACN]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

What is your driving pattern? do you do a lot of long trip per engine start? Fuel percentage is super good.

Yea I commute from Brooklyn to Jersey every day. Like little over an hour each way with occasional traffic jam, idling for over 30 minutes at times. I do drive like i stole it when roads permit but i would imagine I'm not too hard on the engine.

[TheACN]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

Does this show all the miles from your oil changes on this paper? Or just the ones you have done at the stated miles on oil analysis

Just the ones I sent in for testing. Somewhere there it notes the mileage of the X5 at at the time of oil change and the mileage on the oil itself.

[TheACN]

The first oil change/test at 1300 miles is the factory fill. Different formulation and from my research on oil test reports that one is the LL17. I use LL14.

[jad03060]

CBS works. Synthetic oils that meet the BMW spec are not like oils of old. Change yours before the computer says to won't hurt anything except your pocketbook, your free time, and the environment.

[Chuck W.]

Very cool. Thanks for posting.

[swainbmw]

I used to follow the light system and also send the oil for oil analysis, but several people I follow strongly suggest six months or 5000 miles, and mostly because the testing will not tell you how much dirt and sludge is building up around the piston rings and narrowing the journals and creating an oil starvation on long intervals, so I started ordering from FCP and they’re pretty much free you buy one oil kit you send the other one back with the old oil and they credit your account so it cost me nothing and that point, I know I never have to do an oil analysis again. And then I just change the filter every other time. I prefer the liqui Molly.Top tec 6600 0w 20 over the bmw oil just think it’s a better product

[superkrups20056]

I have a question: I just towed a large U-Haul box 2400 miles across the country with my X5. I was filling up gas every 150-200 miles. Should I change my oil sooner because of this? I last changed it in March. About 6k miles in the 10k mile mark.

[jad03060]

Towing causes things to run a bit hotter than normal, but a BMW has an oil cooler and uses full synthetic oil. A conventional oil can start to break down at higher temperatures whereas a good synthetic can survive those temperatures unscathed. The CBS system takes your use into account. I'd still follow the CBS recommendation, whatever it says...it's not a fixed distance but defaults to 10K (in the USA) after an oil change, but adjusts from there as you drive the vehicle up or down based on conditions.

What does the CBS calculation show?

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

I used to follow the light system and also send the oil for oil analysis, but several people I follow strongly suggest six months or 5000 miles, and mostly because the testing will not tell you how much dirt and sludge is building up around the piston rings and narrowing the journals and creating an oil starvation on long intervals, so I started ordering from FCP and they’re pretty much free you buy one oil kit you send the other one back with the old oil and they credit your account so it cost me nothing and that point, I know I never have to do an oil analysis again. And then I just change the filter every other time. I prefer the liqui Molly.Top tec 6600 0w 20 over the bmw oil just think it’s a better product

This is also true. What we don't know is at what reading the thing start to go bad. There are other thing in oil that report doesn't indicate. It is oil to oil dependent, and engine to engine dependent. The best example is E90 M3/E60 M5. Oil analysis can look normal on one oil change, then 2K mile later, rod bearing spun. Oil analysis tell you about the oil, not necessary about your engine.

In case of OP's report, it is very good. OP's usage pattern also match the oil report reading. If you do a lot of short trip, maybe 5 miles, if report look similar, I will not trust the report. Definitely get a more frequency oil change.

[swainbmw]

Originally Posted by superkrups20056

I have a question: I just towed a large U-Haul box 2400 miles across the country with my X5. I was filling up gas every 150-200 miles. Should I change my oil sooner because of this? I last changed it in March. About 6k miles in the 10k mile mark.

Absolutely won’t hurt

[streborx]

[QUOTE=swainbmw;30455984 And then I just change the filter every other time. [/QUOTE]

I've always done oil changes every 5K miles on every vehicle I've owned, but always change the filter too. Not changing the filter for me would be like taking a shower and putting my dirty underwear back on.

If your engine has a bottom mount filter, there can as much as a quart of oil that resides in the canister that doesn't drain from the sump plug. If your filter is top mount, it's only the extra 5 minutes and $20. In either case, it's well worth the extra time and money, IMO.

[swainbmw]

[QUOTE=swainbmw;30455984 And then I just change the filter every other time.

I've always done oil changes every 5K miles on every vehicle I've owned, but always change the filter too. Not changing the filter for me would be like taking a shower and putting my dirty underwear back on.

If your engine has a bottom mount filter, there can as much as a quart of oil that resides in the canister that doesn't drain from the sump plug. If your filter is top mount, it's only the extra 5 minutes and $20. In either case, it's well worth the extra time and money, IMO.[/QUOT
]
Total understand but a top mount as you stated retains no oil there design for 20,000 miles and oil filter that has some particles or buildup actually can filter better on smaller microns. But doing a oil change every 5000 miles really shouldn’t have much dirt on the filter due to frequency of oil changes

[Clk Group]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

I used to follow the light system and also send the oil for oil analysis, but several people I follow strongly suggest six months or 5000 miles, and mostly because the testing will not tell you how much dirt and sludge is building up around the piston rings and narrowing the journals and creating an oil starvation on long intervals, so I started ordering from FCP and they’re pretty much free you buy one oil kit you send the other one back with the old oil and they credit your account so it cost me nothing and that point, I know I never have to do an oil analysis again. And then I just change the filter every other time. I prefer the liqui Molly.Top tec 6600 0w 20 over the bmw oil just think it’s a better product

Excellent oil choice - it's what I run in mine and yes, 5,000 mile interval changes.

[jad03060]

It is very common for an oil filter assembly to have a check valve in it, so IF that's the case on the BMW, there could very well be oil 'trapped' in the filter (it can be designed in the filter or the housing). That is usually done so that upon a cold start, there is oil throughout the system and it doesn't need time (and revolutions!) before it can refill all of the lines and get lubrication where it needs to be.

[swainbmw]

Originally Posted by jad03060

It is very common for an oil filter assembly to have a check valve in it, so IF that's the case on the BMW, there could very well be oil 'trapped' in the filter (it can be designed in the filter or the housing). That is usually done so that upon a cold start, there is oil throughout the system and it doesn't need time (and revolutions!) before it can refill all of the lines and get lubrication where it needs to be.

Upon changing the filter at 5000 miles being a top loaded filter there was zero oil in the housing so if someone was doing extended oil changes and wanted to change their filter, on shorter intervals, it would be very easily done.

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

Upon changing the filter at 5000 miles being a top loaded filter there was zero oil in the housing so if someone was doing extended oil changes and wanted to change their filter, on shorter intervals, it would be very easily done.

Yes. Been doing oil change for mine for 20 years now. No, no significant amount of oil get trapped in the oil filter housing. Oil definitely 100% won’t spilled out from housing. I would say maybe 1-2 tea spoon at the bottom at most. There is a cavity there where a sip of oil will get stuck. I typical use a mityvac to such those old oil out as well.