Request for Blackstone (or others) oil reports (S54)

[fpa1974]

It looks like my engine is not living a very happy life after all. According to the last Blackstone oil report my lead is very high.

I already had some preliminary discussions with BMWNA about it.
Not very encouraging. So I am trying to gather as many oil reports as I can in order to prove them that they are wrong. Samples from engines that failed would be the most interesting but healthy engine samples are fine too.

So could you please help me with your samples if possible?

Thanks,
Florian

P.S. You can enjoy viewing my report HERE (http://members.roadfly.com/fpa1974/oil-analysis.gif)

[phrider]

This is a recent test on my 2001 S54 M Roadster, built in 8/01. It is still healthy, or at least seems so.

What is the build date on your S54?

[fpa1974]

Mine is a Jan 02 build. Not as healthy as yours it seems...

Thanks,
Florian

[phrider]

Originally posted by fpa1974
Mine is a Jan 02 build. Not as healthy as yours it seems...

Thanks,
Florian Best of luck on getting their attention. It seems like a preventative fix now by BMW will save BMW a lot of repair cost and potential liability later. This <i>shouldn't</i> be a tough sell.

[fpa1974]

Unfortunately 'corporate' common sense is not the same as 'regular' common sense. Or so it seems for the moment.

Florian

[EYT]

Florian:

I also have a Jan '02 built engine, with 17,200 miles. my report from Blackstone is similar to ph's. I use Castrol TWS 10-60. The tested oil had 3,000 miles of usage, but within that time, I topped up with a full liter of oil. I change oil every 3k miles or less. The car is also used every W/E for autocross. ( I don't baby it )
Your engine needs that TSB for the M3 S54.
What's been the response from BMW regarding an exception?

Good luck,

Eric

[fpa1974]

Originally posted by EYT
Florian:

I also have a Jan '02 built engine, with 17,200 miles. my report from Blackstone is similar to ph's. I use Castrol TWS 10-60. The tested oil had 3,000 miles of usage, but within that time, I topped up with a full liter of oil. I change oil every 3k miles or less. The car is also used every W/E for autocross. ( I don't baby it )
Your engine needs that TSB for the M3 S54.
What's been the response from BMW regarding an exception?

Good luck,

Eric

The response I got from them is very disappointing. I will not go into details because I might hurt myself disclosing too much information right now. Basically they told me that they will not do anything. I am working on different channels to get this fixed. And yes I would be more than ok to get the M3 TSB performed if there is no damage to the engine already.
If you have a Blackstone report could you please post it so I can have more proof to my arguments?

Thanks,
Florian

[EYT]

Florian:

I would be more than happy to post it. Just tell me how.

Eric

[fpa1974]

I hope you are running Windows because I am not a Mac dude. So Blackstone sent you a PDF file, open it up in Adobe Reader. Make sure the report fits on your screen. On your keyboard press Alt-PrintScreen key combination. Open up an image editor (like Paint that comes with Windows). Create a new empty image if your editor does not do it for you automatically. Press Shift-Insert (this is a Paste operation from the Windows clipboard where the image was stored initially). Now you should have the image capture in your editor. Erase and/or cut (your personal info is a good idea to erase) parts you do not need. Now save the image as a GIF (JPEG works but GIF is better taken into account the type of image). You should have a GIF file with the desired image. Upload it to a server and please post the URL to it or you can attach it to an email. My email is: fpa1974@roadfly.org

Thanks,
Florian

[EYT]

Florian:

Thanks for the directions. I still can't do it. However, I can fax a hard copy to you right now if it's convenient.

Otherwise, I have the PDF file, my daughter can help me send it when I get home in the evening. Yes, I am an old geezer. :>)

Just let me know.

Thanks,

Eric

[purplehays]

Pinecone over on the 3-series DIY board on bimmerfest is assembling a TBN database based on blackstone oil tests submitted by board subscribers. He's not tracking anything but TBN, but there are other S54 engine owners over there who have done blackstone tests, and you might be able to contact them, or get contact info from pinecone. The thread name is

"Extended Oil Drain Interval Info"

Good luck

Larry (S52 driver, or I'd submit mine)

[fpa1974]

Originally posted by EYT
Florian:

Thanks for the directions. I still can't do it. However, I can fax a hard copy to you right now if it's convenient.

Otherwise, I have the PDF file, my daughter can help me send it when I get home in the evening. Yes, I am an old geezer. :>)

Just let me know.

Thanks,

Eric

You can definitely send the PDF file or if you prefer faxing you can do it on Tuesday when I get back to work. My email is the previous post. Let me know if you need the fax number.

Thanks,
Florian

[EYT]

Hi Florian:

I just e-mailed you the file.

Good luck,

Eric

[Pinecone]

The bottom line is, if the lead is significantly higher than 1/3 of the iron reading, you have some form of bearing problems.

Will the bearings fail? Maybe, maybe not, but it is more likely to happen than in a low lead engine.

Mine is personaly very high on a test. The oil was changed and now ab out 3000 miles later it is time to change (service indicator to 0) and test again. But so far, no problems.

Not a big deal, as long as it blows up by 100,000 miles or 6 years. :)

The problem I see is once you get high lead, there is not much you can do other than swap the engine. The preventive fix that BMW is doing to the high failure range engines is designed to stop the problem BEFORE the bearing wear gets out of hand. And in those cars they are sawpping engines if they observe significant bearing wear. So the best tehy could do is to drop the pan and bearings and take a look. If they are bad swap the engine.

No real upside for BMW to do this work.