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Quote:

Originally Posted by motordavid (Post 806171)

Weasel is one TheAnswerMen on this Board! :thumbup:

You ought to see the mag drain plug on my '75 HD Shovelhead; looks like a Chia Pet when I drain that oil, :rofl:.
GL, mD

Absolutely!

There are a half dozen threads on this board with similar discussion points for those interested. Here is one:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...rain-plug.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weasel (Post 806140)

Magnetic plugs may be available, but there are no ferric metals in your engine to stick to it... Unless they make a magnet to collect aluminum there is really no need at all.

Not quite true. And the more I think about it the more parts I can come up with that are ferric.

Piston rings, valves, cams, lifters, valves springs, valve retainers, valve keepers, all internal hard ware (rod end cap bolts for example) internals of the oil pump it's self, oil pick up tube has a metal screen on it. Cam chain, cam sprocket.

Just name a few off the top of my head. :stickpoke

But that's not really the parts that put out metal shavings...

The steel cams are riding in aluminum bearing ledges. Which of those two parts would lose material...

The piston rings are on aluminum pistons in an alusil sleeve, not gonna lose much steel there either.

Lifters are really HVA's and are fully stationary in little holes, not moving parts.

The valves ride in guides made of softer metal as well. (notice that all the steel parts ride in softer metals)

If your valve springs or retainers are losing material there's much bigger problems in your engine!

And I have yet to hear of a case where rod bolts/main bolts etc. lost material...

The oil pump itself is simply the best lubricated part in the engine, and the only time I've ever seen a BMW oil pump fail is when they busted the oil pan and drove without oil... but no worries, the new engine came with an oil pump already installed. ;)

The only parts you mentioned that can contribute to metal shavings in the engine are the rings and the chains/sprockets... and I have yet to see a chain worn down, or sprockets at that, in one of these modern BMWs.

But hey, you did find steel in the engine! :troutslap

As always, the best bet is to just use proper oil and filter, change at regular service intervals (or sooner as many of you do) and keep up with your basic maintenance. Minimize the conditions that cause engine wear/shavings to begin with, much better than something to merely collect the shavings.

Thanks for the feedback all. Will do another change in the near future.

Cheers