[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by TheeGovernor

I would like to see how your engine looks on the inside. And you have no turbos to deal with as well as higher temperatures. And the oil change interval were revised by bmw

Already posted a thread about the valves at 305,000 miles with the pic below taken July 5th, 2016, DIY'ing the valve cover gasket and eccentric shaft sensor. And the bottom end pic, taken at 293,000 miles, January 17, 2016 during my oil pan gasket DIY. Didn't say anything about turbos (don't care - but hear that a lot) and the N54/55 engine has several cooling systems to deal with heat. Didn't relate my discussion to the N54/55. Considering the N52 has valvetronic, there's a whole bunch more valvetrain components to lubricate vs. the N54/55, so maybe as far as risk it's a wash perhaps. I also pulled and replaced the VANOS check valves at my 300,000 oil change; the check valves were clean as a whistle. Anyway, you asked.

[r4dr]

Originally Posted by kkasson

Interesting thread. I'm hesitant to accept the response from M1...I find it hard to believe that BMW changed the LL-01 spec. Someone posted a list of BMW oil specs on the next page. LL-01 already superseded LL-98, and there's now a LL-12 and LL-14. If the N20 needed a better spec than LL-01, I think they would just make a new spec for it.

The timing coincides almost exactly with the introduction of using 0W-20 oils in the N20. I assume at this point, they reevaluated their LL01 requirements and at this point the N20 additions to the spec affected the certification of M1 0W-40.

The specs aren't "better" or worse, they're just targeted at engines that were engineered for different specifications. M1 0W-40 is fine to use in any E9X non-M car.

Originally Posted by Bamaben

People have run dealer oil with no problems either. Do you use autozone parts on your Bimmer because it's cheaper ?

The OEM oil is a moderately thin 30 weight from what I can tell (likely due to efficiency goals), and I have no doubt the turbo motors will shear it down in no time. I got it for free earlier this summer thanks to BMW, and it didn't do as well with track usage compared to the Castrol 0W-40 I normally use.

I get that track use is an extreme example, but my point is that the OEM oil is not the best oil or even better than many of the nicer name brand oils, it's just "good enough" that it holds up during the warranty period as told from their testing.

As for the person who ran 15k OCIs in their N52... pedestrian N/A engines are so gentle on the oil compared to turbo motors. The comparison is not even in the same ballpark. Though I appreciate you posting those pics -- should alleviate some of the fickleness regarding oil choices and intervals for the N/A motor.

Edit: Also forgot to mention, the N52 is port injected, versus the N54/55 which are DI and thus fuel dilution is a huge part of determining an OCI as well.