[M-technik-3]

I have not seen it on the shelves yet and want to try it in my moderate mileage N52. Hoping to get rid of some sludge and so forth.

[2000cs]

YT channel The Motor Oil Geek recently had a video about top tier gasoline being better for oil life (because of how it differently affects rings); and has several on oil analyses and comparisons. The core advice from many seems to be oil and filter changes every 5k miles or shorter. Doesn’t matter what vehicle, manufacturer or engine.

[2000cs]

[Buug959]

[vreihen16]

This sounds like a question better asked in the "topic" sections of this forum.....

[M-technik-3]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

This sounds like a question better asked in the "topic" sections of this forum.....

I put here because I know at some point it will go off the rails.

[dradernh]

Is sludge at all likely in modern BMW engines?

That is, without extreme neglect, PCV system issues, or something like coolant getting into the oil without it becoming evident.

I've not thought about sludge as a possibility in many decades.

[iminhell1]

Originally Posted by dradernh

I've not thought about sludge as a possibility in many decades.

Because it's a nonissue.
If I can watch hands full of videos about vehicles going 40,000 or more miles with no oil change or top off at all then it should be clearly obvious that if you stick to a reasonable oil change interval that you will have no sludge issues.
Hell the vast majority of people thinking the latest and greatest will save their POS will never keep it long enough to prove anything. Come talk to me when you've put 200,000, 300,000, 500,000 miles on the car.

[2000cs]

Sludge: watch a few of the tear down videos of any engine on YT I Do Cars. Many suffer from sludge and wear that is apparently caused or exacerbated by extensive oil change intervals. Lots of sludge in engines these days, and lots of heat with the turbos in wide use.
Also a lot of valve carbon buildup (stems) because of DI not providing any cleaning on the manifold side of the intake. That same DI can wash down the cylinders, leading to ring and oil failures.

My take away is modern engines with their heat, DI, and tight tolerances need good oil and frequent changes. My personal opinion is most are designed for a service life of 100k miles (with factory recommended oil change intervals of 10k-20k miles), but this can be extended greatly by using good oil, oil filters and frequent changes.

[freakystyly]

N52s are port injected so the carbon buildup on valves aren't an issue.

You could peek inside the oil fill cap to see the top of the valve cover but it likely will be a nice oily brown color. Like you said, sludge is primarily from skipping oil changes.

[M-technik-3]

I'm third owner and have owned for last 60K so it gets maintenance now but prior not sure records were about non existent.

I'm going to try it for one or two oil changes figure it can't hurt and easier to do this then an oill flush followed by doing two more oil changes to remove the flush agent.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

I'm third owner and have owned for last 60K so it gets maintenance now but prior not sure records were about non existent.

I'm going to try it for one or two oil changes figure it can't hurt and easier to do this then an oill flush followed by doing two more oil changes to remove the flush agent.

The first video linked above includes rationale for not doing a flush of oil; your approach is preferred by that presenter.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

I have not seen it on the shelves yet and want to try it in my moderate mileage N52. Hoping to get rid of some sludge and so forth.

If you don't mind running an oil at LL01fe levels of hths. You likely have nothing to remove.

[Maynard]

Originally Posted by Buug959

Thanks for sharing this. It makes me very glad I have tried to keep to TopTier whenever possible. The info in this video was new to me and I'm surprised at how much of a potential difference the gasoline makes.

[toy4two]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

I have not seen it on the shelves yet and want to try it in my moderate mileage N52. Hoping to get rid of some sludge and so forth.

i tried it on my high mileage N52, 150,000 miles. A few months later have rod knock and saw bearing material in my oil. The only reason I tried it was another N52 user raved about it.

BMW bearings are fussy especially 2011+ I wish I would have stayed with my normal BMW approved Castrol Euro 5w-30 A3/A4 which never gave me any issues.

I have yet to drop the oil pan but the drain plug had sludge. My engine never had any sludge and 6 months ago the dealship had my valve cover off to replace VANOS bolts and was raving to me via video what a great job I was doing taking care of my E90, if there was sludge he would have seen it. I never got sludge from Castrol and followed BMW 10k OCI. I think R&P cleans so well all that junk for the last 15 years gets dumped into the oil filter and/or pickup screen and can cause low oil pressure. In my case the engine blew just driving 50 miles down the highway at 70 MPH prolly sub 3,000 RPM not like racing on a track or going around any turns. Oil level perfect. No warning lights. No codes.

[qx]

Originally Posted by toy4two

I think R&P cleans so well all that junk for the last 15 years gets dumped into the oil filter and/or pickup screen and can cause low oil pressure. In my case the engine blew just driving 50 miles down the highway at 70 MPH prolly sub 3,000 RPM not like racing on a track or going around any turns.

I get how disappointed you have to be and I think reminding people to stick with oils recommended is a service, but maybe also link to the post from a few weeks ago explaining exactly why it likely happened.

Full disclosure, I recently posted about my experience running RP for 1000m on my n55 but I am certainly not shilling. I ran a very gentle OCI and changed filter at 500m and knew there was some risk. I think I'll try the ESP mentioned in that post soon (I had an apparently long failing PCV)

If it isn't clear, I am truly sorry that you had this outcome.

Edit to add: I read through your recent posts and saw YT shorts but have been wondering if you think your cooling failure shortly before this was relevant and if you have thoughts on why your filter looked crushed.

[toy4two]

Originally Posted by qx

I get how disappointed you have to be and I think reminding people to stick with oils recommended is a service, but maybe also link to the post from a few weeks ago explaining exactly why it likely happened.

Full disclosure, I recently posted about my experience running RP for 1000m on my n55 but I am certainly not shilling. I ran a very gentle OCI and changed filter at 500m and knew there was some risk. I think I'll try the ESP mentioned in that post soon (I had an apparently long failing PCV)

If it isn't clear, I am truly sorry that you had this outcome.

Edit to add: I read through your recent posts and saw YT shorts but have been wondering if you think your cooling failure shortly before this was relevant and if you have thoughts on why your filter looked crushed.

the cooling failure happened as I puleld into my garage, the plastic hose above the radiator cracked and started spraying steam into my garage. I shut the car off immedietly and had a new METAL hose replacemnt from Amazon 2 days later. I really don't think it played a part I did not drive it like that. I shut down the car slammed the door shut and then it started. The oil filter definetly could be an issue but when asking others they said they have seen much worse. The filter cage was intact, I used the new o rings that came with the Mobil 1 filter and I've done this procedure a dozen times.

I don't even know if I'm going to bother with the oil pan drop. 6.5 hours of book time when I can drive down to the junk yard and for $1000 pickup a 75,000 miles N52 and use those hours to swap it in. I may just part out the car and buy something else. I'm not really upset the car cost me $6000 and lasted 5 years, cars depreciate more than that and I got 75,000 miles out of it in that time with minimal issues, had to replace my rear seat fuel tank pump housing which leaked like they all do eventually, and I put on a new water pump at 80,000 miles when I got the car and did reliability upgrades like the micky mouse flange and drain fill GM trans with filter change.

AI says BMW changed the bearing formula in 2010.5 from trimetal with lead to bimetal aluminum and people claim the lead bearings were superior but green policies forced the change. I cannot confirm this with RealOEM on different years all list the same bearing part number. It is a fact in N55 and S63 (?) and those bearings are trash. As far as I can tell all the N 3.0 engines use the same bearings so why would BMW switch to lead free in 2010.5 on only some models and not others.

I really can't expalin it other than the only deviation I've made in service was Castrol to Valvoline and MANN to Mobil 1 filter.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by toy4two

the cooling failure happened as I puleld into my garage, the plastic hose above the radiator cracked and started spraying steam into my garage. I shut the car off immedietly and had a new METAL hose replacemnt from Amazon 2 days later. I really don't think it played a part I did not drive it like that. I shut down the car slammed the door shut and then it started. The oil filter definetly could be an issue but when asking others they said they have seen much worse. The filter cage was intact, I used the new o rings that came with the Mobil 1 filter and I've done this procedure a dozen times.

I don't even know if I'm going to bother with the oil pan drop. 6.5 hours of book time when I can drive down to the junk yard and for $1000 pickup a 75,000 miles N52 and use those hours to swap it in. I may just part out the car and buy something else. I'm not really upset the car cost me $6000 and lasted 5 years, cars depreciate more than that and I got 75,000 miles out of it in that time with minimal issues, had to replace my rear seat fuel tank pump housing which leaked like they all do eventually, and I put on a new water pump at 80,000 miles when I got the car and did reliability upgrades like the micky mouse flange and drain fill GM trans with filter change.

AI says BMW changed the bearing formula in 2010.5 from trimetal with lead to bimetal aluminum and people claim the lead bearings were superior but green policies forced the change. I cannot confirm this with RealOEM on different years all list the same bearing part number. It is a fact in N55 and S63 (?) and those bearings are trash. As far as I can tell all the N 3.0 engines use the same bearings so why would BMW switch to lead free in 2010.5 on only some models and not others.

I really can't expalin it other than the only deviation I've made in service was Castrol to Valvoline and MANN to Mobil 1 filter.

I guess you haven't read the N55 over 100K miles thread. There's a guy with over 300K on original bearings. You must be confusing the V10 bearing issues with the N55.