Quote:
Originally Posted by SiEgs90
I ran my car for about 25mins and let it cool for 15mins or so before starting on the change. After it was over I ran it down the street a couple mins and came back and put a tiny bit more left from the 7th qt I used. Upon removing the oil cap it was produced a very light white smoke like steam. Not a lot. Just like vapor from coffee or tea. I had a leak down at the bottom of the oil drain plug before the change and as I said in an earlier post my car told me to add 1qt immediately about a month ago. Ran a full tank with Techron Fuel System Cleaner right up until the change. Filled up a new tank of Shell 93 after. So with that being said would this be any reason to add the anti friction additive? I was reading up on the possibilities of blown head gaskets before. I had the valve cover gasket replaced less than a year ago due to leaks.
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OP, I should apologize for derailing the thread a bit discussing BMW's extended oil service intervals. But, I need to clarify some things. I think you are one of the BMW owners that way over thinks oil and oil change intervals. You say the engine has a "tick", but it's probably normal, the N52 has a noisy valvetrain and the '06 and '07 cars are notorious for it, but it doesn't harm the engine. ALL engines make ticking noises because they are full of moving parts. The Valvetronic system used on the N52 has a bunch of additional valvetrain components that straight valvetrain systems (cams + hydraulic lifters) don't have, so there are more parts to make noise.
I drive the living crap out of my car because I live in an area that has fantastic roads; it also sees at least 200 miles a week of heavy traffic as well. I commute in my car 800 miles a week and have been doing that for 11 years and it's accumulated 350,000 miles in the process. I've been all through my engine via replacing the OPG and VCG and OFHG, and I've found zero sludge build up anywhere. I've used only MANN HU816 OE or OEM oil filters and nothing but BMW LL01 5W-30 oil. The N52 is as a robust engine as you can find in an automobile. If you stick with BMW's oil and OE/OEM filters I doubt you'll have any problems. Adding in chemicals of unknown composition IS introducing changes to the lubrication system that the manufacturer didn't account for when designing the engine. What most people don't understand is the N52 is designed for extended oil service intervals.
I'm not trying to convince you to switch to a long oil service interval, I'm just trying to give you confidence and piece of mind that your engine is just fine and you are over thinking about it's condition and service life. You are worrying too much.
And the last thing... Most people have issues with the e-dipstick. It is not a direct-read device as is a mechanical dipstick is. The CBS reports the last known oil level once the engine is warm but the system has not yet updated to a new reading. That means if you change the engine oil when the level is 6 quarts (1-quart low) for example, the e-dipstick will report the 1-quart low level if you immediately check the oil level after the oil change and you added in the correct quantity of oil (6.9 qts/6.5L). The CBS needs at least 10 minutes of normal driving and the car needs to reach specific temperature, acceleration, and g-force (i.e. turns) conditions before it updates the engine oil level. When changing the oil just drain the oil when the engine is hot, remove the oil in the oil filter housing, replace the filter, and add in the 6.9 quarts/6.5L engine oil and forget about the level reading until the next time you drive the car in your normal fashion. The proper way to drain the oil is to open the oil filter housing first and open the oil fill cap, then remove the drain plug.