led016

I have a 2017 BMW M2 and do 3-4 track days per year, no modifications. There are a ton of opinions out there about changing oil after track days, etc. Any recommendations from BMW owners or Porsche owners with similar track day experience?

Thanks, LED

Glyndellis

I've typically changed oil after 4 days or so. Analysis has shown this to be conservative, but I sleep better......

fnel1771

+1

BK77

If your only tracking a few times per year you are fine with sticking to the BMW recommend oil change intervals. You may need to add oil after each event.

Scooby921

I run 2-3 track days a year in my Porsche. I change the oil once a year. In between oil change I usually need to add half a quart.

fatbillybob

no reason to guess and spend more money than you need. do blackstone oil tests and they will tell you what you need to do.

HenryPcar

Oil deteriorates more for a car driven only in short distance constantly in stop and go traffic than those that are driven on the track. Yes, a track car will encounter higher temperature, but that will not necessarily shorten the life of the motor oil if its synthetic. In fact the higher temperature gives you a cleaner oil because less carbon buildup and less oil breakdown.

T&T Racing

+1000, only way to go, just changing oil does not give data on preceptor to engine failure only oil analysis and Blackstone is the best

LuigiVampa

Your race shop or dealership will disagree with these answers!

bml376

I use to be paranoid and changed my oil after every 2 events (sometimes after every event). That was until I discovered used oil analysis. After 4 events and after 7 events, used oil analysis showed that my oil still had plenty of additive left, and the oil could go longer. I now change my oil after every 8 to 10 events.

Quadcammer

additive is not the only concern. With drastic multiweight oils such as 0w-40 or 5w-50, there is a great potential for shear or viscosity breakdown. Especially with M96/M97 engines, this drop in viscosity can be a killer. Oil analysis is great, but I just change oil after ever 2 events (5 to 6 days). I'm also switching to xp9, which is designed for tracking, but does not have a long drain interval

bgiere

Running a car on the race track does not "harm" the oil...In fact it's much easier on oil than stop and go driving and short trips....We can go 15-20 hours on high quality oil in the 996 cup and all my other race cars...UOA's confirm this and we have tested oil for well over a decade...Just keep the level topped off. People feel some kind of weird "guilt" when they take their baby on the track...Makes them feel better if they change their oil afterwards....The car will not know the difference and you are likley wasting a lot of money (and time) dumping costly synthetic oil...Just run it out to your normal oil change interval...Unless of course your car is out of tune, running rich, has fuel dilution, etc...You should be looking at diff lube more closely...We change the transaxle/diff fluid after 4-5 hours...Hot rack and LSD does shear the fluid.

mark kibort

Ive been racing and track running for over 20 years, and have always followed a 3,000-5000mile period for my street cars (or 2 times a year for street car or 1 time a year for a hardly used street/perforance car) regardless of the oil, and 3-4 weekends of racing between oil changes. UOAs done every year show that the oil qualities are intact after these periods . but yes, running the car on the race track does "HARM" the oil, because temperature and repeated heat cycling will change the oils chemical /physical properties. two weekends and the oil is notably darker as going WOT for these hours is MUCH harder on the oil and exposes it to many more byproducts of the engine running at full capacity. stop and go driving is not hard on an oil. thats just the engine, idling at normal operating temp... heat cycling the oil, (2-3 heat cycles per day for short trips ) is a factor . but racing, bringing the oil temps to over 250Fs, and all the chemical process that can occur with the oil at high temps , higher cylinder pressures, exhaust gas blow by and other contaminants etc etc will absolutely "harm " the oil sooner than driving around town. UOAs confirm this. my oil on the same engine used for street driving looks clear and golden after a year or even two of street driving low , stop and go driving, where two weekends at the track shows much more foreign residue. Extreme temperature and oxidation are not friends to any oil. the viscosity break down at the higher temps are the first casualty.. this may not be an issue for a street car that doesnt see high oil temps, but its a concern if the oil breaks down while racing, and this can happen by being exposed to high temp heat cycles. (racing)

this is not actualy true. as i mention above, there is short distances and there is stop and go driving. two diferent cases, and unrelated to the wear or aging of the oil in a racing or DE environment. most street driving is just idling around for the most part. short distances means, more heat cycles and more of a chance of contamination of oil due to cold start bypass of combustion by products into the oil past the rings. take a look at what actually ages oil and breaks down viscosity and you will see that racing is absolutely worse for the oil and would shorten change periods dramatically.

CosmosMpower

If you only run a few events a year I'd just change it every 5k, half of the BMW recommended interval for M cars now. That's what I do with my 17 M2. For this car I would get aftermarket camber plates and upgraded brake pads/fluid also.

PorscheAddict

Agree with 5k unless you're running a lot of events. I used to do 5k/6-8 days on a E92 M3.