Blackstone Report, plus wheels!

[Riggodeaux]

Here is my latest Blackstone, after 6k on Mobil1 0w40 and bmw 5w30 syn oil, and a new air filter, for those interested in what a Blackstone will tell you. This fill also had 300ml of Liqui Moly oil additive, which appears to increase the moly and explains the additive level. I ran a 500ml can of the Liqui Moly cleaner through before this change, too. Note the drop in silica, probably helped by a clean air filter.

The current fill is Pennzoil Ultra 5w30, a high detergent syn oil. I will add another 300ml can of Liqui Moly to it and go at least 6,000 miles before the next change.

Also - If they check out, I'm about to buy a set of 18" 209 style wheels [5 spoke] off a 2013 E70, never used [pix attached]. They have Bridgestone all season RFTs mounted. The deal is good enough that I'll try the tires and sell them to one of the many used tire guys around ATL and mount real summer tires on these rims if I can't stand the RFT ride. I was looking for staggered 19 or 20" wheels, which would look great, but their relatively high price and tire costs convinced me that was money better spent elsewhere. I have Conti DWS all seasons mounted on 131 stye 18" wheels, great tires, but the summer heat is tough on them and increases road noise significantly. I'd rather save them for Nov-March GA use, and eventually get to high performance summer tires on the 209s. I'm thinking either General Grabbers, Goodyear Eagles, or the Bridgestone Dueler HP (summer, not RFT) for summer use.

[Riggodeaux]

Sorry, Blackstone and Wheel pic attached!

Blackstone 060814 redacted.pdf

[X5SND]

Interesting! I've heard good things about blackstone, but never seen a report of theirs entails. I like how they give you a quick summary of what they see in laymen terms. I'm seriously tempted to send off a sample for the Rover now. Thanks for posting this!

[Ricky Bobby]

Nice analysis Riggo, why do you want to get rid of the Style 131 and do E70 18" wheels though?

The Style 131 is very classy in my opinion and it's less of an upgrade to laterally buy the same size wheels as you have now, you will hate the RFT ride as well trust me.

If you are keeping the 131's with DWS as a "winter set" for GA then I would recommend at least getting a larger wheel for summer use. I know you are worried about the 20" wheels but trust me the staggered 20's (or 19's) with non run-flat tires will be more comfortable than 18" E70 wheels with runflats. Just my .02

[JCL]

Blackstone report suggests you should be running longer intervals. TBN is 4.7.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux

...I'm about to buy a set of 18" 209 style wheels [5 spoke] off a 2013 E70, never used. They have Bridgestone all season RFTs mounted. ...

Just an FYI in case you didn't know...the e70 has a larger wheel hub (74.1mm) versus the smaller e53 (72.56mm) wheel hub. The exception is the e70 X5M rear wheels which have the smaller 72.56mm center bore

You'll need hub centric rings or wheel adapters the bridges the different center bore size:

[Riggodeaux]

Got it on the center hubs, and on for hubcentric adapters. RB, I'm not shedding the original wheels, just using them and the nice DWS as 'winter' tires [to the extent we have winter .....]. I'm considering the 209s to mount summer tires, and use them April-October. The deal is good enough that I'll try the runflat Bridgestones for a few days, then dump them for non-runflat summer tires on the 18 inch 209s. I would love to mount 20" 132s or 87s, but they come dear, as do staggered 20" summer performance tires. The good deal on the barely-used 209s [from a bmw dealer] make this 0ption attractive, even though I expect to drop the RFTs and buy dedicated summer tires. That said, I'm conflicted on what summer tires to buy. You get mixed reviews on performance, wear, etc; I'm leaning toward trying a set of General Grabbers, which Florida reviewers seem to like on hot asphalt and in rain, though they may not last 30k miles [nmt 3 summer seasons ...]. I'm keeping the X5 long-term, BTW.

[admranger]

I've been using Blackstone for years off and on. Just did another report on the E46M3 and the X5 when I did the inspection II. Both were excellent. Gotta watch for wear metals on the S54 in the E46M3. Rod bearings are the usual culprit. X5 was for curiosity sake.

I like the look of those wheels but I'd never get a wheel that required a hub centric spacer. BTDT and it is a PITA when that spacer gets stuck and you try to put on your spare. Have tools in the boot to ensure you can pry that corrosion welded bastage off...

[Riggodeaux]

Picked up the 209s yesterday. Seller was a tech from a local BMW dealer, told to sell them to get them out of the stock room; off a 2013 X5, less than 100 miles on the RFT Bridgestone all seasons. That said, I'm going to see what I can sell the tires for on the very active ATL used tire retail market and mount dedicated summer tires. Toyo Proxes [sp] are pitched by Butler Tires, the local higher end wheel and tire vendor, for this application. The also sell the high end German tires [forget the name ... and will get me a quote for them today. We'll see.