I have been working on this 323i for the past few days and the last thing on the punch list was an oil change, I had noticed when it was dropped off that it had a lot of oil build up under the cap so i indicated to the owner that it was going to need a flush since it has 155k mi on it. i figured sure it has some build up but synthetic doesnt usually build to bad, I used sea foam for the flush and was astonished to find out that it has penzoil in it per the service records in the glove box. then i found this when i opened the filter housing
This was a frame filter, looks like when it got plugged the bottom expanded and allowed oil to pass unfiltered. Has 10,000mi on this oil (which is per BMW's handy on board oil monitor system )
The car now has Amsoil 5w40 european formula in it and a nice myle filter. before the oil and filter change i thought i was going to be telling the owner it needed a new vanos unit, now smooth as silk
Looking at that filter, I barfed all over my keyboard. Gawd!
Now theres an engine that needs 1 1/2 bottles of Auto-Rx added and given a good flogging!
This is the worst i have ever seen, this poor car
Man...I wonder what it looks like under the valve cover...yikes!
Anyone who doesn't know enough to use synthetic oil, much less a BMW LL-01 approved synthetic oil, for a 10,000+ mile OCI absolutely deserves this.
time for a few engine flushes
flushes, and probably new bearings.
There is a variant of Pennzoil Platinum that is BMW LL-01 approved. But I'm sure that's not what was used here
yikes!
car is running smooth with no noise, i did a filter change after i took it for a test drive and the filter was already somewhat plugged with goop. I think the motor is okay, it is still healthy and pulls hard so i am hoping i can save this one with out having to do new bearings.
Good Lord....I might do the same to my car. Hopefully I won't discover the same thing.
Pennzoil Platinum Euro Formula 5W40 meets LL01 spec and a good choice for ARX cleaning as it contains no ester or PAO.
yikes, i didnt go that deep so this might look the same as that dunno.
Black death is an avoidible plague...smarten up people.
change oil every 5k not 10k. i know that most manufacture state that 15k is okay for oil change, but really that is stupid. add a quart of trans oil before the oil change is do. about 200miles. to clean the engine a little bit.
Trans oil in the crankcase? Are you nuts? Please tell me you're kidding. I can't imagine that wouldn't be really bad for your engine's moving parts. Anyone else ever heard of this? Can any of you experts out there explain the plusses (if any) and minuses of this idea?
What do u guys think about running mobil 1 super syn or royal purple?????
I run royal purple in my 91 cobra and started to run mobil one in the bimmer
Royal Purple just taken to task for false advertising and who won't publish HTHS specs for their oil which is critical for BMW owners. Not a good choice imo.
Amsoil Euro 5W40 yes, anything else no.
Bookmarks