Quote:
Originally Posted by Bdc101
So how long do I have? That's what I mean. So what if there is lead, copper, and iron in the sample, do I need to park the car and rebuild my motor right now? In 50 miles? In 50,000 miles? In a year? In ten years? There's no actionable information here because there's no way to determine how much service life the engine has left.
This sample was taken 15 months ago, so clearly it had more than 15 months of life left.
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No one is going to be able to answer that without inspection.
Were it me, I'd add Lucas Stabilizer, switch oil brands, switch to 4 or 5k changes (especially since you tow) and I'd drive it until I heard knocking. Then replace engine as M54's are pretty cheap. But I do my own labor as well... so that's a factor. Your case is a little different also in that you are having the oil pan done soon. Might have the shop visually inspect a couple of the main bearings (one front, one back maybe?).
^But again, huge grain of salt there. I am no engine builder. Just someone with experience on BMW's and the M54. Shop I was at, not once did bearings on an M54. That's... 1000's of M54's in the 2 years I was there.