Oil analysis for identification

[susser]

Is it feasible to have oil analysed to see if it is a particular spec ie BMW Longlife-04, or even if it's a particular make. ie Castrol Edge. ?

I suspect I've got cheapo oil in my Bimmer.

[simonpa]

On the bimmer forums, there are people who have had their oil tested for longevity - mainly to see whether the oil in question stands up as well as the manufacturers do.

It's not cheap and takes several weeks to get the results back...

 

Are you saying you have had a service and suspect they haven't put in the 120-quid oil?

 

 

[susser]

The thought had more than crossed my mind. I think there's some shady practise going on.

[Unclefester]

It happens. ☹️

Dunno about analysis labs in the UK personally but Don at www.performanceoilsltd.co.uk should.

 

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds..ooooh hooo hooo!!...

😬 😬Abbey Road Time-Machine *eek*

 

[Paul McKenzie]

Susser,

 

IMHO it'll cost you a fortune , and when you present the results to the rogues in question, their 'expert witness' will say that the fact the engine was still contaminated with the previous fill invalidates the results

 

Forget it and do the oil changes yourself

[susser]

Paul,

That's quite likely true, but it would probably be Trading Standards who got the testing done. The car's only had one oil change (according to BMW) and it was at their authorised independant.

Uncle,

I'll give Don a call.

 

The issue is, the car's done 10,000 miles since the oil was last changed. The car's Condition Based Service indicator expects the next change in 4700 miles.

If the Indy didn't put the pukker oil in, then my car's engine is eating itself.

If it wasn't currently the subject of a dispute, I'd change the oil and filter now.

15000 between changes is not in my nature. My Volvo and Caterham don't know what dirty oil looks like.

 

[Rich N]

Susser, have you read this which shows what CBS is based on? i.e. is it possible the indicator is unhappy about some other service item? (was the oil changed at all? same filter, etc?)

[susser]

Rich

I'm happy with what the CBS is up to. I'm not convinced that the car's had the a, Correct oil and b, changed when the service book says. Resetting the CBS is not as expensive as actually changing the oil with the Longlife (Castrol Edge etc) oil. . I'm not sure how I could tell if it was the original filter other than looking at if it looks 1 or 2 years old. (1 if it was changed, 2 if it's original.)