Thx for the update.

It's not completely unheard of to have the metals drop. On my '04 BMW 325i I had watched (through analysis) my copper number (into the 20s) and then iron start to climb. I switched oils, from the BMW (Castrol) 5W-30 to Rotella T6 5W-40, stopped using Chevron gas and more Shell gas, and reduced the oil change intervals. I had heard Chevron gasoline can cause copper wear in some instances (that's before I'd read post 53 in this thread) - I have no idea how much truth there is to that.

Oil change intervals went from 7500 miles to 5000 and now have been doing 6500 miles for a while now. I drive about 25,000 miles year on the 325i so I could watch the changes over a quick time span.

Copper and iron are in the single digits now. I can't say if it was one or a combination of the above changes that did the trick. I think oil was the biggest contributor.
Currently have 191,000 miles in the BMW and numbers are still good.

One reason the levels dropped is because the AOS failed and the engine consumed more oil... Fresh oil was added.

I see lots more from that UOA trail than wear metals, but next time pay for the TBN & TAN values, or send the sample to someone other than Blackstone.

Jake, which other oil analysis companies would you recommend? Would be good if you could elaborate on what you saw more if you don't mnd sharing your knowledge. Thanks!

My engine builder only recommends sending oil in if a problem is suspected or if you're really interested in keeping track of what's going on. Also, this isn't really a one shot and done deal. The best way to do samples is keep doing them over the course of the vehicle, then you can tell more about what things are going on.

For those of us not running racing engines (we aren't, unless we race), or have suspesions of an issue, sending in an oil sample may be just another way to lose sleep over nothing.

Without established trend data its very difficult to identify an issue within an engine using UOA. I have some engines that have been tracked since 1999 and the trends that they set with various oils tell us so much about the oil, and the engine, including when that particular engine should be serviced.

Every engine we build is watched closely for it's first year, while under warranty. Every oil service has a sample sent in, and we watch the trends starting with the break in service, through two stages of intermediate oil, and then the changeover to synthetic service oil.

I don't lose sleep over having information. I lose sleep over the things I don't know, and without trend data, you don't know much.

If you aren't going to establish a trend, don't bother sending in UOA when you think there's a problem, because by then the particles may be too large to be detected in a standard, non- particulate UOA.

Ahsai-I had a very similar experience. When I first bought the car, it had 115k miles. I wasn't sure how many miles were on the oil but the PO seemed to follow a 10k OCI.

Well, after the 1st oil change, the oil report came back with iron at 34. I didn't panic (too much) and did a series of 3 short OCIs, at around 1k miles each. The iron went down to below 10 at 3k oci and now I'm doing 5k ocis and the iron stays around 10.

Thanks. My currnt plan is to keep monitoring. If it gets worse or any symptoms show up, I plan to rebuild the engine.

Exactly!
Thats what UOA is for! To gather trend data and help determine the exact service interval that is best for YOUR engine, in YOUR environment, using a particular oil.

Its how you keep your engine alive, and its what you do when you finally figure out the guys at the factory had a different agenda for dictating service life than keeping your do.

Gathering hundreds of UPA is how I came up with my 6 month/ 5K mile service plan.

Jake, I've added TBN and particle count results here. Your feedback will be appreciated. Also, any recommendation on other UOA labs? TIA

Attachment 946067

You guys make me smile. The best way to protect the engine is to drive the thing. Not short trips as you are doing. Blow some **** out of it every couple of days or daily. Put more miles on it and then have your oil tested again. You will see a notable difference.

I DD mine and do ~7.5 k miles per yr. Not sure where you got the idea of short trips.

I DD mine and going to put around 12k miles on in 7 months.

No short trips here either, and no intentions of pulling oil samples.

Trust me, I'd love to put that much if I could. Maybe after I retire :)

UOA is not for everyone, no intention whatsoever to convert anyone.

Hopefully the city fixes a few roads by the river so I can motorcycle into work, but I can't complain about driving the car. :thumbup:

Clutch is going to get shot sooner rather than later due to 80% of those miles being in the city.