marc hanna

I just received the analysis results from my final sample from this oil change interval.

My vehicle is a 2008 R320 CDI with disabled EGR. The oil is MB brand 229.52. I performed 3 analyses in total over the course of this interval, the last one when I changed the oil after 18,000kms (11,185 miles). I have had no top-ups during this interval.

Here are the comments from Blackstone Labs:

MARC: This is the same oil as last time, just with more use. As you can see, metals came up a bit and that's common after using a longer run. Iron is the one that tracks most directly with oil use; the others do too, but at a much lesser extent. We don't see any mechanical issues in these numbers, and the minor discrepancies with the oil's physical properties are just that - minor. The viscosity was a little thick and there was 1.0% fuel present, but these levels are harmless. The TBN shows plenty of active additive left at 4.6. Check back after 12K km next without draining.

Follow up comments when I asked if it was their opinion that the oil was at the end of its life:

Was the oil at the end of its useful life? Probably not. It may have been starting to break down since the viscosity was a little thick, but there's no evidence that the thick viscosity caused excess wear, so maybe that was caused by something else. Usually, an oil has reached the end of its useful life when it starts becoming abrasive due to its metal content. You're still a long ways before that happens. Let's see how ESP holds up for you. It's a popular choice and it does a good job, so it should work well for you.

I have attached the three analyses

Carsy

Hello Marc,

Good to hear all is well in one US diesel!!

Just wondered why the Boron is so high? I see the universal average is 67. Boron is used in some coolants for preventing corrosion of ferrous metals . I do not know whether MB uses it in their coolant.

JC

marc hanna

Boron is also an additive in the oil. The unit/location average is what's normal for this type of engine and oil. The universal average is with all types of oils and isn't supposed to be compared. If you pan down to the bottom of the reports, you'll see that measure for anti-freeze also.

Glyn M Ruck

Good report all round. Slight thickening due to oxidation, soot & evapourative loss somewhat offset by slight fuel dilution. A very happy engine!

marc hanna

That's what it looks like to me. Anyways, I have Mobil 1 ESP 0W30 in there now, so I'll see how it compares to be MB229.52.

Glyn M Ruck

Look forward to seeing the ESP results. Does this vehicle have a pretty consistent operating cycle?

marc hanna

So far yes. I should have the first test results the M1 in late April.

Glyn M Ruck

JC ~ The Boron is part of the anti-wear additive pack. Has a secondary function of helping with TBN.

Glyn M Ruck

Great ~ then the comparison should be pretty good!

diesel315

Here's my OM648 with higher millage for comparison.
Bit higher iron, but this is only test ever done on this vehicle.
Changes every 8-9k miles, Total or M1 ESP 5w-40 (regular not the MB formula).

marc hanna

I'm just waiting for my most recent analysis.

Are you going to do more analysis, or was this just a one time deal for you?

Glyn M Ruck

Great result. At 162,000 miles on the unit a very good result! Are you leaving the oil in or was this a change?

diesel315

Thanks!
Just sample, as was curious how engine was wearing.
Will try to sample at next oil change with full milage of 8 or 9kmi.

marc hanna

First oil analysis comparison with the Mobil 1 ESP:

marc hanna

Interesting:

The Mobil ! appears to achieve its anti-wear and lubrication properties in a much different way than than MB229.52. Much lower Boron, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, and Zinc. Instead it has much higher Molybdenum and an overall lower TBN.

Another notable point is that the Mobil 1 is already significantly ahead in iron, although this still may not really be a level of concern.

Micah / AF1 Rac

Good results. Making an oil thread on a forum actually interesting reading, priceless! Perfectly happy OM648/W211 owner here. 177k miles by Wednesday or so. Like other people playing with these cars I too am no EGR for last 50k miles at least. Oil changes are usually 10k-ish miles, oil and fuel filters replaced at same time. As soon as time allows my water/methanol kit and new plumbing for entire post Intercooler side and walnut blasting intake ports to go with ported, cleaned Euro no intake flapper manifold and cut, matched and welding NON EGR intake up pipe. That stuff is for another topic entirely. I might do some oil samples to see how mine is doing. Interesting would be before and after water/meth injection is dialed in.

marc hanna

It would really be great to see some more people post their results. I just ordered some Amsoil test kits (performed by a lab in Canada) so I can compare their results against Blackstone's. So for the next couple test intervals, I will post two sets of results.

kajtek1

Mobil1 tends to generate high iron.
I have a test I did in the past on 300DT engine with M1 5w40 ESP
The iron after 12k miles went to 61.
Blackstone noted high iron, but did not make alarm.
Because of that on older diesel I started to use Rotella T6. The car perform excellent and with new owner is about 300k miles now.
Now with new to me Bluetec looks like my only easy choice is going to be M1 0w30 ESP ?
I am big fan of Castrol, so will wait if they will come with 229.52 oil

marc hanna

So far, my tests have shown fairly comparable to the MB 229.52, but my next test will should paint a little better picture.

kajtek1

So many years I used Blacktone lab and only today discovered that I can pull the report from my account with options of blanked personal data.
While waiting for my new Bluetec report, here is report from my Ford when I put Mobil1 in it.
Note how iron immediately jumped. Previous oils were dino.

marc hanna

That is a big jump in iron. Also, a lot of top-up oil too on that interval. If have to wonder if you didn't have something else going on too. At the very least, M1 should be able to protect better than conventional oil.

I'll be sending my next sample off in a day or two, so I'll have data at 10,000kms to compare against the MB 229.52.

kajtek1

3 qt on 14 quarts in the engine is not much, especially when you consider Ford.
The truck was used for hauling and the engine was pulling 30,000 lb of quite few occasions.
The high iron on M1 is establish feature and I read net chat about it, where M1 representative choose not to answer the question.
That is why I am leaning more to other brands.
Have Castrol in my gasoline engine and hoping to find Castrol for Bluetec sooner or later.
Gas engine is about 4k from the change and once I get closer, I will send a sample for test as well.

marc hanna

The trend seemed as though oil consumption was on the increase starting with the previous oil change interval. But yes I agree 3qts is not a lot under those conditions and on that oil volume.

kajtek1

There is always more than you can see on the report.
The first oil was Motorcraft that dealer put in and I changed it after 5,000 miles.
Dealer overfilled, so in 5k I did not have to add.
Than 2nd change I fill 1/2 way between min and max marks, that is why I had to add 3000 miles later.
Frankly I did not record additions, but they were pretty consistent.
Funny on my 1972 Detroit diesel I had to use low-ash oil as well.
The manual did allow 100,000 miles intervals. Yes hundred thousands miles.

marc hanna

Interesting. The iron on my first M1 sample was a little higher than on the first sample with the MB, but still very low. The results of my new sample should indicate if the trend continues. I siphoned off the samples today, and will be sending them out tomorrow.