M62 oil staining

[qcdstick]

I took the valve cover off a used 540i I bought last year. Which do you say is the higher mile more abused engine? No funky lighting going on, both were taken in my garage last night.

637912

Not that there is anyone on here who doesn't think regular oil changes and quality oil are important...

But the left engine is from the car I've had 12 years and had 250,000 miles when the bottom end went. I drove it hard, doing all the things you aren't supposed to do... Towing my race car behind it, doing track days, sometimes track days with extended 45-60min sessions (which I really should have had an oil cooler for), etc etc. Cam chain timing tensioners are original and have almost no visible marks from the timing chain.

The Right engine has 100,000 less miles and one could only assume based on sheer statistics, was not driven as hard. Significant discoloration and staining, and DEEP grooves in the cam chain tensioners.

I've seen many pictures online of yellowed engines. I thought it was a lot to do with the camera and lighting. Apparently not.

[JimLev]

The yellow is most likely from using dyno oil.
I've been using synthetic oil since my car was new, no yellow on my internal parts.

[BimmerBreaker]

Different oils, different additives. But sheesh thats a big difference especially given the mileage

There are some out there who say timing chain guide failure is exacerbated by irregular oil changes. Dirt in the oil acts as sandpaper when the chain scrapes it against the guide. I find it hard to argue with that, especially in light of the condition of your engines

[1999 540i m]

Different oils, different additives. But sheesh thats a big difference especially given the mileage

There are some out there who say timing chain guide failure is exacerbated by irregular oil changes. Dirt in the oil acts as sandpaper when the chain scrapes it against the guide. I find it hard to argue with that, especially in light of the condition of your engines

+1, and the great design of the timing guides, receiving unfiltered oil from the oil pump