Just received an oil report from Blackstone Labs. I had the standard analysis + TBN.

This was after about 5,200 miles on the current oil with 6,856 miles on the car. The first change was at about 1,500 miles. I used MINI branded 5W-30 synthetic purchased from a MINI dealer for $5.40 qt. The filter is an OEM filter.

The comments suggested no more than 6,000 miles should be put on this oil. So, projected life would be around 10,000 miles, not the 17,000 the OBC is currently suggesting.

I've already changed it. Difficult to sample without changing. Since the silicon was high, I don't feel bad about it, but will probably go longer before the next change.

TBN was 2.7. That means there was some additive remaining. 1.0 is low.

I'll leave out metals that measured zero.

Aluminum: 6
Iron: 28
Copper: 11
Molybdenum: 159
Nickel: 2
Manganese: 5
Potassium: 3 (the MINI probably needs to eat more tomatoes)
Boron: 56
Silicon: 9 (from sand casting engine parts -- means engine still breaking in)
Sodum: 11
Calcium: 2240
Magnesium: 54
Phosphorus: 1060

"Should be" values in ()

SUS Viscosity @ 210F: 63.7 (56-64)
cSt Viscosity @ 100C: 11.26 (9.1-11.6)
Flashpoint: 400 (>365)
Fuel dilution: <0.5% (<2.0%)
Antifreeze: 0%
Water: 0% (<1.0)
Insolubles: 0.3% (<0.6%)

Not as much fuel dilution as reported by others. I use mostly Shell 91 Octane (California blend).

 

Thanks for posting this, Robin. I am still educating myself on used oil analysis. Is your iron level a bit high or did they mention about that in the report?

 

They just mentioned "excess wear metals" and silicon being typical of a new engine breaking in. They also said both should improve with subsequent oil changes.

 

Thanks for the doing the analysis...I live in Cali too...and use Shell and Chevron 91 all the way. And I will be changing the oil prior to 6K.

So are you saying that you will be changing the oil every 6K then?

 

Robin, how are your driving habits? Do you rev in the higher rpm range a lot? I think driving habits would also affect the life of the oil. I tend to drive my car pretty hard. I plan to get a used oil analysis on my current oil after running it for about 3K miles and see how the oil is holding up.

 

I'll probably put 8,000 miles on this oil, unless the dealer insists on changing it at the one year mark.

The majority of my driving is on country roads about 50-60 mph. Trips vary from 2-15 miles (one way). Some freeway driving, and very little city. I make occasional trips to San Jose and Los Angeles. I have done one autox session (four runs) on the tested oil. There is also some spirited driving on twisty back roads.

I typically cruise at 2,500-3,500 rpm depending on the speed. According to the OBC, I'm fairly easy on the car. The miles to service + current miles totaled 19,000 at one point and is now at about 17,000.

 

Thanks, Robin!

 

That's a pretty good looking UOA compared to some of the others at about the same mileage. In particular your Al, Cu, Si levels are a lot lower than our R56. Fuel dilution (and consequently viscosity and flashpoint) is good too. Si actually isn't that bad, Si could also be from assembly lubes and seals.

Does Blackstone give TAN data too? TBN looks low, but if TAN>TBN then the oil really is depleted.

I wonder how you got such a good result. What was your engine break in procedure? Did you follow the MINI manual, or did you use the bring-the-engine-up-to-redline-under-load method, or some other way? How about your driving habits, at what RPM do you upshift?

When is your next planned UOA? If you want to sample without a mess, pull it from the dipstick. You can buy a sample pump from Blackstone or jury rig your own using tubing and parts from Home Depot/Lowes.

 

One factor I didn't mention was that I did the first oil change with Mobil 1 5W30. A few days later I learned about the ACEA A3 issue, drained it and replaced it with MINI branded oil. So, it had an extra "flush" that might have lowered initial Si levels, but shouldn't have affected fuel dillution.

I see TAN listed as $10 extra. What is it?

I tried to follow the recommended <4,500 rpm and less than 90 mph for the first 1,200 miles. However, I accidentally exceeded the rpm level once at around 100 miles on a trial of the Sport button.

My typical acceleration might be characterized as "assertive" rather than "agressive." Usually take it to around 5,000 before shifting under acceleration. I'll occasionally go to redline. I aim for 2,500-3,000 rpm for cruising at 50-60 mph and a little higher for faster. I try to get upto speed quickly and maintain it, rather than gently reaching speed. Started that habit at the recommendation of the users manual for my Acura Integra. It claimed that was best for good mpg.

The conditions I drive in are pretty easy on the car. Cruising at 50-60 in light traffic is about optimum for the oil.

I'm not sure what MINI of Mountain View will want to do at the 1 year mark. I'll tell them when I changed the oil. I'm not sure what the warranty will require. I bought the oil from them, so that might help.

My plan is to put about 8,000 miles on the next batch of oil before changing/testing it again. I might consider just sampling it, but it seems that 5,000 miles is a bit soon for me. Others with different driving conditions would probably get different results. AFAIUI, city driving can be hard on oil and I don't do much of that.

 

done an oil test like yours going the recommended distances before changing the oil? I ask because I have been going the recommended oil change route and without evidence pointing to the results being much different and driving reasonably then I see no benefit to changing more frequently.

 

I don't recall seeing any on R56 MINIs. Perhaps you could do that and post the results. It would be good to see what shape the oil is in after 15,000+ miles.

Exactly what evidence were you expecting to see without an oil analysis, or tearing the engine apart to mic the parts?

 

I'm going to have mine changed soon by the dealer at 15.5k miles. Maybe I'll ask them for a sample to send off for analysis. What do I ask them to do to make it a good sample (size, warmup first, container)?

 

TAN = Total Acid Number - It's the a measure of how acidic the oil is. Not to be confused with pH, higher TAN means more acidic. TBN (Total Base Number) is a measure of how much acid fighting capacity is in the oil. Over time, the bases in the oil get used up neutralizing the acids forming in the oil and the TBN decreases. When the acid fighting capacity gets used up the TAN starts increasing. When TAN>TBN that's when the oil is acidic enough to make corrosion a concern and an oil change is recommended.

 

You get the sample container from the lab when you place the order. 2-3 oz is needed. You can either have the shop collect the sample for you or suck some out of the dipstick tube yourself. It's important that the oil is stirred up and warm (run the engine for 10 mins), but not at full operating temp or it will melt the plastic. It's important the sample is not contaminated so I would recommend collecting it yourself if possible. If you ask for a couple of extra sample containers you can jury rig a sampling device using 1/4" polyethylene tubing and some kind of vacuum device e.g. hand pump, large syringe. Or you could just buy a sample pump from Blackstone.

There are lots of places to get a UOA. Whatever lab you use I would recommend making sure that in addition to the wear metals, you're getting at least the following data: fuel dilution; TBN and TAN

I use Terry Dyson. http://dysonanalysis.com. There is a detailed annotated report and an audio file. Plus you can ask him follow up questions via e-mail about your report.

I've never used them but some folks use Blackstone http://www.blackstone-labs.com. I believe they give a written data sheet with comments next to each data point and a paragraph recommendation. Blackstone can arrange for Terry Dyson to interpret one of their reports, but if you're going to do that, might as well just go direct to Dyson.

 

Have them send you a free test kit.
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free_test_kit.html

The send you a plastic jar inside a bag inside a jar inside a carboard tube for you to return the oil in. Instructions and order form are also included.

Take the inner jar to the dealer and plead with them to take a sample. The sample should be taken hot, midstream (in the middle of draining). They may not want to cooperate with you because you are questioning their dogma. Probably depends on the dealer. Some dogmas can have a loud bark and sever bite.

If you talk to the dealer ahead of time and they aren't cooperative, you can order a pump from Blackstone to sample through the dipstick port. This might be the safest thing to do because you can control how the sample is taken.

 

In ancient times, when I was a pilot, oil was routinely sampled from aircraft engines at every change. As I recall, separate samples were extracted: at the beginning of the drain, at the middle of the drain, and at the end.

 

That could get expensive. If you go for TBN and TAN as well as the standard analysis, cost would be $127.50 + postage. Blackstone asks for midstream after the car has been thoroughly warmed up and the oil thoroughly stirred up.

 

I'd be interested in seeing results from new oil (out of the bottle) being analyzed for comparison. I may have to try that. Greg

 

You might want to call and ask them about that. They may already have the data available for some oils.

 

Did someone say VOA for BMW/MINI Castrol 5W30?

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...rue#Post478676

For those of us too lazy to click the link:

Aluminum 3
Chromium 0
Iron 0
Copper 0
Lead 0
Tin 0
Molybdenum 126
Nickel 0
Manganese 0
Silver 0
Titanium 0
Potassium 1
Boron 53
Silicon 6
Sodium 2
Calcium 2612
Magnesium 6
Phosphorus 717
Zinc 838
Barium 0

SUS Vis @ 210F 64.7
Flashpoint 445
Fuel 0
Antifreeze 0
Water 0.0
Insolubles Trace

Blackstone comments:
This
was a clean 5w-30 oil in which no problems were found in the analyisis.
Only a trace of insolubles were found which really isn't unusual for a
virgin product.
The additives are typical of other samples we have
run for this oil. the TBN was 10.6, plenty high, and a good point to
start out from if you intend to use this oil for extended use. 1.0 is
considered too low. This oil should serve your gas engine needs well.

 

Ok, humor me here for a minute. This is like the fourth or so post i have seen in the R56 section regarding oil analysis. I cannot seem to find the units associated with these numbers. Is it ppm, ppb, mass %, vol %. If for some reason I was chemist, or engineer I would love to know how grasp of the relative significance of these values.

 

Parts per million for the elements.

 

So, TBN dropped from 10.6 to 2.7.
Viscosity has only dropped a few %.
Flashpoint dropped 45F.

 

Fuel dilution is a %
Viscosity is centistokes (cSt) at a given temperature i.e. 40 C/100F and 100 C/210 F
Viscosity index is an arbitrary scale
TAN and TBN are based on titration results, I'm not sure the exact unit

After that it gets a little hazy e.g. I have no clue what Karl Fisher water units are.

BTW, if TXT Softec is MINI/BMW Castrol oil then here is the data sheet

http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/bp...1_B1567_02.pdf

 

If TBN has dropped that much and the FP has dropped 45 °F, it might be a good idea to get the TAN checked next time. Here are the results of the two tests I've had done on the MINI 5W-30:

First batch (factory oil) after 12,500 miles on the oil: TBN 3.4 TAN 3.59

Second batch (dealer-changed) after 9,000 miles on the oil: TBN 3.5 TAN 3.78

So, if your TBN is all the way down to 2.7, I'd be a little worried about where the TAN is. (In oil, as the TBN decreases, the TAN increases, and it's time to start thinking about changing the oil when the numbers meet.)

Based on the TAN/TBN results I showed here (plus other results from the reports), Terry said that the oil was pretty much at end-of-life in each case.

Considering that your numbers are after only 5,200 miles, I'd be a little concerned (unless you're planning on 5,000-mile change intervals). Based on your test and another 6,000-mile R56 test posted here using Pennzoil Platinum, it looks like the R56 is going to be *very* hard on oil (much like several of the other newer direct-injection engines on the market).