AZ-S2000

So this story goes back to my BMW when I first got it. On my 540i I replaced the guides because they go out like crazy on those. I am a student at my university in automotive engineering and so a few friends decided to test oils on plastics to see what affect they have. We leave the timing guides in the oil, cycle them through temperatures for a long period of time. I think we're close to a year. Than remove the plastic pieces, than set them up for tension testing. Basically the guide in Mobil1 broke first, followed by Penzoil, Valvoline, and than Castrol tested the best. This was further confirmed when I called the dealer and was advised not to use Mobil1 because its bad for timing guides. Keep in mind the BMW guides were a lot thicker (4L V8) than the Honda ones. Just an FYI

DFWs2k

are you aware that the four companies you listed sell multiple different types/kinds of oil?

s2kmiami69

lolz another mobil 1 bashing thread

ahrmike

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't timing chain guides only "splashed" with oil and not "immersed"? Would this not change the outcome a great deal? What viscosity oil are we talking? Is it one sample per oil? How much of a difference did it make? Are you testing ultimate strength? Yield strength? Did it matter? What sort of machine are you using to test the strength? Was there a control? How about conventional oil? What temperatures are you cycling it between?

Not trying to piss on your parade, but I'd really like to know!

fishfryer

This goes back to the thought of never owning a BMW out of warrenty. Yes, some screwed together right at the factory, but some aren't. Also, BMW does not, can not adequately test their motors the way they should for longevity in every market. Every two or so years they come out with new motors across the board, each is somewhat different from the one before. Most designs are good, few are bad, most have great engineering design, but a few a have poor choice of materials where some of those materials fail when used with fuels or lubricants from places other than Germany. Whether it be plastic impellers or the wrong material used in an engine block, it is just smart to avoid an old BMW (5 years or older) if you can.

My favorite BMW experience with this was with my V8 5 series:

http://www.usautoparts.net/bmw/engines/nikasil.htm

Luckily I traded that car in on my S2000 when I felt some cold startup issues at 80,000 miles. Several weeks later the motor needed replacing.

Yes BMWs are great to drive, but when they get old, you better have some sort of extended warrenty.

edit:

When I switched from conventional to synthetic in that car, it leaked from every orifice. It probably needed 6 visits to the dealer to fix the leaks (under warrenty)

AZ-S2000

Well that's true. The plastics from factory and what we bought OEM are not the same. The Honda one might be a better quality actually cause I don't see any threads of them breaking. A simple search shows lots of cracking and breaking for timing chain guides and they all use Mobil1. My 540i had 188K miles and ran strong but when there was an oil leak oh jeeze good luck finding it. Parts weren't expensive.. Comparing it to the Honda. I pay $ 49.00 per engine mount where as my S2K were 135 each. No complaints. The group of people I posted my car for sale with are still selling their 540i. Gas prices are said to hit 5.00 and no one wants a V8 now. These guys went from 8,000 down to as low as 4,000 now. Sad, but lesson learned.

AZ-S2000

Oh sorry.. We used 5W-30 Synthetic (most common oil used) and we have another set going just to make sure our results are the same. The guides surface what the chain rubs on is strong but eventually the chain wears that surface and oil goes into the pours. And to be fair, the way we were setup to test puts these far past 100,000 miles mark

WolfpackS2k

Interesting results. However I've used Mobil One for as long as I can remember in my Integra (290,000 miles) and it performs flawlessly. Likewise I've been happy with it in my S2000 and don't plan on changing any time soon.

PsykotiK

agreed.. used on every car in the houshold and never a single problem on any of them

AZ-S2000

Must be a older BMW thing haha