Oil Flow - S65 Oil Flow Analysis

Test Vehicle

• 2008 BMW M3
• 100% stock engine with 30000 miles
• Stock ECU
• Stock exhaust

Data logging Equipment

• Racelogic Video Vbox Pro, 32-channels engine (ECU) CAN bus.
• Racelogic Mini Input Module.  Eight channels A-D conversions, transffered via CAN to Video VBox Pro
• AEM oil pressure sensor.  0-10 BAR; 0-5V analog output to Racelogic Mini Input Module
• Flow Technologies Turbine Oil Flow Sensor.  Oil temperature and oil viscosity corrected.  Calibrated for Castrol TWS 10W60 oil.  0-15 Gallons Per Minute (GPM); 0-10V analog output to Racelogic Mini Input Module.

Data signals collected and stored

• Timestamp (GMT)
• Vehicle Latitude
• Vehicle Longitude
• Vehicle Elevation (terrain height)
• Vehicle Velocity
• Wheel Speed Sensors (LF, RF, LR, RR)
• BMW internal speedometer
• Odometer
• Brake pedal pressure
• Steering angle
• Fuel gauge
• Vehicle voltage
• Engine RPM
• Throttle position (% open)
• Ambient pressure
• Ambient temperature
• Water temperature
• Oil temperature
• Oil Flow (0-15 GPM)
• Oil Pressure (0-150 PSI)

Driving Styles

Everyday driving and hard cornering

Vehicle was driven as a daily driver.  27 miles to work in rush hour traffic each day.  Hard corning when possible.  Grocery getting and fast food runs when possible.

Attempt to hit max RPM whenever possible. This helps data log oil flow.

• Attempted to hit max RPM in 2nd gear each morning while getting on the freeway. This was my best and most consistent opportunity.
• Also hit max RPM whenever the opportunity presented itself. Starbucks runs on weekends were a good opportunity for a consistent high RPM runs on open road.

Track day driving

I would have liked to include at least one track day with each set of rod bearings, but that wasn’t possible.  At the track day event with the factory 702/703 bearings, the car immediately went into limp mode on the first parade lap.  We never were able to fix the issue on that day.  It was eventually tracked down to bad seals on the throttle bodies and/or possible loose ground strap (both issues were present).  Therefore, the track day never happened for the original 702/703 bearings.

Test Definitions

Temperature, RPM, and Cold/Warm Start Ranges

For any given temperature range, a set of RPM ranges is defined for analysis. Any samples found within that temperature range, and RPM range are averaged. For mid RPM, tens of thousands, sometimes over one-hundred thousand samples will be averaged in a given temperature and RPM range. This method is intended to smooth out the results and limit the effect of outlying data.

Temperature Graph Ranges

Individual Graphs
Start Temp	End Temp
-100	-0.00001
0	19.99999
20	39.99999
40	59.99999
60	79.99999
80	89.99999
90	91.99999
92	93.99999
94	95.99999
96	97.99999
98	99.99999
100	102
102	104
104	106
106	108
108	110
110	112
112	114
114	116
116	118
118	120

Average Graphs
Start Temp	End Temp
98	119

RPM Ranges

Start RPM	End RPM
500	1499
1500	1999
2000	2249
2250	2499
2500	2749
2750	2999
3000	3249
3250	3499
3500	3749
3750	3999
4000	4249
4250	4499
4500	4749
4750	4999
5000	5249
5250	5499
5500	5749
5750	5999
6000	6249
6250	6499
6500	6749
6750	6999
7000	7249
7250	7499
7500	7599
7600	7699
7700	7799
7800	7899
7900	7999
8000	8099
8100	8199
8200	8299
8300	8399
8400	8499

Cold Start Temperature Ranges

Start Temp	End Temp
-100	-0.00001
0	9.99999
10	19.99999
20	29.99999
30	39.99999

Warm Start Temperature Ranges

Start Temp	End Temp
40	59.99999
60	79.99999
80	89.99999
90	95.99999
96	120

Cold/Warm Start Analysis

Once you start your car, have you ever wondered how long it takes for oil pressure to build and oil flow to start? This is the section that shows what it looks like.

Charts and graphs will show what it looks like from the time you press the "START" button to 30-seconds later. The chart shows how long from “START” until 70% and 90% oil pressure is attained.

During testing of BMW factory 702/703 bearings, we discovered best results were obtained by pushing the start button, and letting the car idle for 30-seconds. Too many times during 702/703 bearing testing, we were in a hurry where we just started the car and drove off. This tended to skew the data collected.

While testing BE Bearings, an adjustment was made to let the car idle for 30-seconds after start. The net effect is that 702/703 data collection methods are slightly different. However, the 702/703 data will look better than it actually is. If the BE Bearing data shows better than factory, then it's a true results and not influenced by a "start-and-go" driving style we used on the 702/703 bearings.

Cold Start Analysis

• Cold Start: Oil Temperature < 40 deg (C)

Each cold start was data logged.  Data logger was powered up and obtained GPS signal.  Once the GPS signal was locked, the data logging was started.  After data logging started, the vehicle was started. This allowed the entire starting sequence, low RPMs with the starter, oil pressure, and oil flow to be tracked during the cold start procedure.

Warm Start Analysis

• Warm Start: Oil Temperature > 40 deg (C)

Exact same procedure as cold starts, and for the same purpose.  Data logger was powered up and obtained GPS signal.  Once the GPS signal was locked, the data logging was started.  After data logging started, the vehicle was started.

Oil Pressure Analysis

The factory oil pump is a variable displacement vane (variable pressure) oil pump. 

	Metric (BAR)	SAE (PSI)
Minimum oil pressure at idle	1.0	14.50
Minimum oil pressure while running	4.0 – 6.0	58.0 – 87.0

Oil pressure in the S65 varies with temperature. This is expected because as the oil is colder, it is more viscous. As the oil heats up, it becomes less viscous and reduces the pressure.

If minimum oil operating oils pressure is 4-BAR (58 PSI), then data logs and graphs will show which RPM level achieves that minimum requirement. Again, that answer will depend on oil temperature – as colder oil is more viscous and produces more pressure.

Average Oil Pressure

The average oil pressure is measured between 98-119c.

Testing Results

BMW Factory 702/703 Bearings

Overview

Distance Traveled	Metric (KM)	SAE (Miles)
Starting Odometer	50007	31073
Ending Odometer	60548	37623
Total	10541	6550

Statistics
Number of files analyzed	360
Number of cold starts	166
Number of warm starts	74
Distance Traveled	6550 Miles (10541 KM)
Data Log Entries (#)	5115132
Individual data items collected	138108564

Cold/Warm Start Analysis

Cold/Warm Start Data

The following chart amd graphs will show what it looks like from the time you press the "START" button to 30-seconds later.  The chart shows how long from “START” until 70% and 90% oil pressure is attained.

Temperature	70% pressure (seconds)	90% pressure (seconds)
0-10c	2.0	2.6
10-20c	2.0	2.9
20-30c	1.7	2.4
30-40c	1.5	1.7
40-60c	1.2	1.5
60-80c	1.2	12.2
80-90c	1.1	1.3
90-86c	1.9	25.6

Cold Start Graphs

Warm Start Graphs

Oil Pressure Analysis

The factory oil pump is a variable displacement vane (variable pressure) oil pump. 

	Metric (BAR)	SAE (PSI)
Minimum oil pressure at idle	1.0	14.50
Minimum oil pressure while running	4.0 – 6.0	58.0 – 87.0

Oil pressure in the S65 varies with temperature. This is expected because as the oil is colder, it is more viscous. As the oil heats up, it becomes less viscous and reduces the pressure. This graph shows the relationship between oil temperature and oil pressure. Each color band represents a different temperature. The temperature (color) bands range from 0-degrees C to 110-degrees C. They are plotted against the RPMs of the engine.

How oil pressure changes with different oil temperatures

These graphs show the oil pressure average of all 5.4 million samples at various temperatures and throttle ranges over RPM. The graphs do change slightly between 5%, 30%, and 50% throttle. The primary graph, 50% throttle is shown here. Click the thumbnails of the other graphs to enlarge each one.

Oil Pressure (PSI) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 5% Throttle
Oil Pressure (PSI) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 30% Throttle

If minimum oil operating oils pressure is 4-BAR (58 PSI), then it’s interesting to see on this graph at what RPM that goal is achieved. Again, that answer depends on oil temperature – as oil is more viscous and produces more pressure the colder it is. As these graphs show, the minimum operating oil pressure at minimum RPM appears to be right around 2500; that’s where we get minimum 4-bar pressure regardless of oil temperature.

The following chart shows average oil pressure vs. RPM. It shows what RPM achieves minimum recommended 4-BAR (58-PSI) oil pressure.

Average Oil Pressure @ RPM per Oil Temperature	5% Throttle	30% Throttle	50% Throttle
0-20c	500	500	500
20-40c	500	500	500
40-60c	500	500	500
60-80c	500	1500	500
80-90c	1500	1500	1500
90-91c	1500	1500	1500
92-93c	1500	1500	1500
94-95c	1500	1500	1500
96-97c	1500	1500	1500
98-99c	1500	1500	1500
100-101c	1500	1500	2000
102-103c	1500	2000	2000
104-105c	2000	2000	2000
106-107c	2000	2000	2000
108-109c	2250	2250	2500
110-111c	2500	2250	2250

Absolute minimum oil pressure with different oil temperatures

So far, the data being shown are averages across millions of samples. But what about absolute minimum and absolute maximums?

These are the same set of graphs as above, but show the absolute minimums. The absolute minimums are the minimum oil pressures collected across all temperature ranges. They are graphed here to show just how low the pressure can go. Some of this may have been observed during hard cornering (more on that later). So it's hard to draw any hard conclusions based on these graphs. They are offered for informational purposes only to let the reader draw their own conclusions.

Minimum Oil Pressure (PSI) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 5% Throttle
Minimum Oil Pressure (PSI) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 30% Throttle

Absolute maximum oil pressure with different oil temperatures

Conversely, the final graph in this set shows the absolute maximums. There's no need to show maximum graphs for different throttle levels because the maximums are absolute and every graph would be the same.

Oil Flow Analysis

About Oil Flow

Why do we measure oil flow?  There are a few important reasons we measure oil flow. 

1. Oil flow across the bearing surface is what keeps the bearings cool and reduces wear. When we change bearings from factory to BE Bearings with increased clearance, there may be a slight drop in oil pressure due to the larger bearing clearance.  But oil pressure doesn’t tell the whole story.  A modest decrease in oil pressure is not harmful; but we are hoping to see an increase in oil flow with BE Bearings.  Establishing this baseline is important to BE Bearing analysis to see if the new bearings increase oil flow as hoped.
2. Expanding on (1) above, measuring oil flow is a good way to gauge the difference caused by BE Bearings.  By testing on the same engine, with the same oil, with same driver, who drives under the same driving conditions, and who drives in the in the same style, oil pressure and oil flow (specifically oil flow) will be the primary measurement change between factory and BE Bearings.
3. As the engine heats up, the oil becomes less viscous.  Increased oil flow is expected as the engine heats up.  Since this data is totally unknown outside of BMW, we measure it and provide it for the community to share.

Measuring Oil Flow

Oil flow is measured with a Flow Technologies turbine flow meter between the engine oil filter outlet and oil cooler.  This is the only place outside of the engine that the sensor could be placed.  Oil flow to the cooler is thermostatically controlled.  When the engine is cold, or just doesn’t feel like it, no oil is sent through the oil cooler – and thus not measured by the oil flow meter.  Our programs used to measure and graph oil flow take this into account and ignore times when the thermostat is closed and not sending oil to the oil cooler.

Oil flow in the S65 varies with temperature and RPM.  Oil As you would expect, the higher the engine RPM, more oil flow will result.  But a little less obvious, oil flow increases as the engine heats up.  This is because the oil becomes less viscous with increased heat.

How oil flow changes with different oil temperatures and RPM

These graphs show the oil flow average of all 5.4 million samples at various temperatures and throttle ranges over RPM. The graphs do change slightly between 5%, 30%, and 50% throttle. The primary graph, 50% throttle is shown here. Click the thumbnails of the other graphs to enlarge each one.

Oil Flow (GPM) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 5% Throttle
Oil Flow (GPM) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 30% Throttle

Summary Oil Pressure and Oil Flow

Average Oil Pressure and Oil Flow

So what is the best way to roll up all of the data, and view it as a single graph?  To me, this was best achieved by limiting the operating temperatures to 98-120 degrees-C.  We’ve seen how the S65 oil pressure and oil flow change with oil temperature and RPM. The oil flow graphs above show that oil flow stays relatively constant below 98c.  At 98c, the oil pump has the most demands on it, and the oil thermostat is fully open.  Even at 94-96c, I could see the oil thermostat closing for brief moments.  This made 98-120c the best choice for rolling up all of the data.  This will be one of the best comparisons against bigger clearance BE Bearings, as that data becomes available.

These graphs show the average oil pressure and average oil flow average of all samples between 98-119c, and throttle ranges over RPM. The graphs do change slightly between 5%, 30%, and 50% throttle. The primary graph, 50% throttle is shown here. Click the thumbnails of the other graphs to enlarge each one.

Oil PSI,GPM vs. RPM with > 5% Throttle
Oil PSI,GPM vs. RPM with > 30% Throttle

BE Bearings SP1527HK

Snapshot Date: 2016-11-30

Overview

Distance Traveled	Metric (KM)	SAE (Miles)
Starting Odometer	60557	37628
Ending Odometer	64902	40328
Total	4345	2700

Statistics
Number of files analyzed	165
Number of cold starts	80
Number of warm starts	65
Distance Traveled	2700 Miles (4345 KM)
Data Log Entries (#)	2417631
Individual data items collected	65276037

Cold/Warm Start Analysis

Cold/Warm Start Data

The following chart amd graphs will show what it looks like from the time you press the "START" button to 30-seconds later.  The chart shows how long from “START” until 70% and 90% oil pressure is attained. After analyzing some of the data, it appears the throttle input might have been influencing the maximum oil pressure and flow. Had I known this, I would have not introduced any throttle until 30+ seconds after starting the car.

BE Bearings

Temperature	70% pressure (seconds)	90% pressure (seconds)
0-10c	1.7	2.0
10-20c	1.8	2.2
20-30c	1.4	1.6
30-40c	1.3	1.5
40-60c	1.0	10.8
60-80c	0.8	0.9
80-90c	0.9	18.9
90-96c	0.9	21.9

BMW Factory 702/703 Bearings

Temperature	70% pressure (seconds)	90% pressure (seconds)
0-10c	2.0	2.6
10-20c	2.0	2.9
20-30c	1.7	2.4
30-40c	1.5	1.7
40-60c	1.2	1.5
60-80c	1.2	12.2
80-90c	1.1	1.3
90-86c	1.9	25.6

Summary: According to this chart, the BE Bearings take less time to reach 70% and 90% oil pressure compared to their BMW OEM counterparts. Not only is it less time to reach full oil pressure, it seems significantly less time to reach full oil pressure. This is a bit of a shock to me and something I never expected to see.

Cold Start Graphs

Summary These graphs show both BE Bearing and BMW Factory bearings (as lighter colors). It's very clear from these graphs, that the oil pressure comes up faster with BE Bearings than BMW Factory bearings. Having oil pressure come up faster and lubricating the bearings is a huge benefit to reduce bearing wear and increase bearing longevity. This was an unexpected surprise that we didn't anticipate. The graphs also show no decrease in oil pressure over factory bearings. This should allay fears that increased clearance would decrease oil pressure, especially during this critical "Cold Start" time period.

Oil flow does seem to modestly increase as well. This was an anticipated outcome, but it's good to see it on the graphs.

Warm Start Graphs

Summary The trend with continues from our Cold Start graphs to our Warm Start graphs. Oil pressure comes up faster with BE Bearings than BMW factory bearings. Oil flow shows modest increases as well, but we'd say this is fairly inconclusive -- especially above 80c. Those graphs contained too much throttle input, and we think that contaminates the results. Now that we know this, we will see if we can filter out the results containing too much throttle, and moving forward will capture results without any throttle until 30-seconds has passed since starting the engine.

Oil Pressure Analysis

The factory oil pump is a variable displacement vane (variable pressure) oil pump. 

	Metric (BAR)	SAE (PSI)
Minimum oil pressure at idle	1.0	14.50
Minimum oil pressure while running	4.0 – 6.0	58.0 – 87.0

Oil pressure in the S65 varies with temperature. This is expected because as the oil is colder, it is more viscous. As the oil heats up, it becomes less viscous and reduces the pressure. This graph shows the relationship between oil temperature and oil pressure. Each color band represents a different temperature. The temperature (color) bands range from 0-degrees C to 110-degrees C. They are plotted against the RPMs of the engine.

How oil pressure changes with different oil temperatures

These graphs show the oil pressure average of all available samples at various temperatures and throttle ranges over RPM. The graphs do change slightly between 5%, 30%, and 50% throttle. The primary graph, 50% throttle is shown here. Click the thumbnails of the other graphs to enlarge each one.

Oil Pressure (PSI) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 5% Throttle
Oil Pressure (PSI) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 30% Throttle

If minimum oil operating oils pressure is 4-BAR (58 PSI), then it’s interesting to see on this graph at what RPM that goal is achieved. Again, that answer depends on oil temperature – as oil is more viscous and produces more pressure the colder it is. As these graphs show, the minimum operating oil pressure at minimum RPM appears to be right around 2500; that’s where we get minimum 4-bar pressure regardless of oil temperature.

The following chart shows average oil pressure vs. RPM. It shows what RPM achieves minimum recommended 4-BAR (58-PSI) oil pressure. This chart compares to the BMW Factory bearings by color of text. Black text means the values are the same. Green text means the BE Bearings achieved minimum oil pressure at a lower RPM than factory bearings. Red text means the BE Bearings achieved minimum oil pressure at a higher RPM than factory bearings.

Average Oil Pressure @ RPM per Oil Temperature	5% Throttle	30% Throttle	50% Throttle
0-20c	500	500	500
20-40c	500	500	500
40-60c	500	500	500
60-80c	500	500	500
80-90c	1500	1500	1500
90-91c	1500	1500	1500
92-93c	1500	1500	1500
94-95c	1500	1500	1500
96-97c	1500	1500	2000
98-99c	1500	1500	1500
100-101c	1500	1500	1500
102-103c	2000	2000	2000
104-105c	2000	2000	2000
106-107c	2000	2000	2000
108-109c	2000	2000	2250
110-111c	2000	2000	2250

Absolute minimum oil pressure with different oil temperatures

So far, the data being shown are averages across millions of samples. But what about absolute minimum and absolute maximums?

These are the same set of graphs as above, but show the absolute minimums. The absolute minimums are the minimum oil pressures collected across all temperature ranges. They are graphed here to show just how low the pressure can go. Some of this may have been observed during hard cornering (more on that later). So it's hard to draw any hard conclusions based on these graphs. They are offered for informational purposes only to let the reader draw their own conclusions.

Minimum Oil Pressure (PSI) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 5% Throttle
Minimum Oil Pressure (PSI) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 30% Throttle

Absolute maximum oil pressure with different oil temperatures

Conversely, the final graph in this set shows the absolute maximums. There's no need to show maximum graphs for different throttle levels because the maximums are absolute and every graph would be the same.

Oil Flow Analysis

About Oil Flow

Why do we measure oil flow?  There are a few important reasons we measure oil flow. 

1. Oil flow across the bearing surface is what keeps the bearings cool and reduces wear. When we change bearings from factory to BE Bearings with increased clearance, there may be a slight drop in oil pressure due to the larger bearing clearance.  But oil pressure doesn’t tell the whole story.  A modest decrease in oil pressure is not harmful; but we are hoping to see an increase in oil flow with BE Bearings.  Establishing this baseline is important to BE Bearing analysis to see if the new bearings increase oil flow as hoped.
2. Expanding on (1) above, measuring oil flow is a good way to gauge the difference caused by BE Bearings.  By testing on the same engine, with the same oil, with same driver, who drives under the same driving conditions, and who drives in the in the same style, oil pressure and oil flow (specifically oil flow) will be the primary measurement change between factory and BE Bearings.
3. As the engine heats up, the oil becomes less viscous.  Increased oil flow is expected as the engine heats up.  Since this data is totally unknown outside of BMW, we measure it and provide it for the community to share.

Measuring Oil Flow

Oil flow is measured with a Flow Technologies turbine flow meter between the engine oil filter outlet and oil cooler.  This is the only place outside of the engine that the sensor could be placed.  Oil flow to the cooler is thermostatically controlled.  When the engine is cold, or just doesn’t feel like it, no oil is sent through the oil cooler – and thus not measured by the oil flow meter.  Our programs used to measure and graph oil flow take this into account and ignore times when the thermostat is closed and not sending oil to the oil cooler.

Oil flow in the S65 varies with temperature and RPM.  Oil As you would expect, the higher the engine RPM, more oil flow will result.  But a little less obvious, oil flow increases as the engine heats up.  This is because the oil becomes less viscous with increased heat.

How oil flow changes with different oil temperatures and RPM

These graphs show the oil flow average of all available samples at various temperatures and throttle ranges over RPM. The graphs do change slightly between 5%, 30%, and 50% throttle. The primary graph, 50% throttle is shown here. Click the thumbnails of the other graphs to enlarge each one.

Oil Flow (GPM) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 5% Throttle
Oil Flow (GPM) @ Oil Temperature (C) vs. RPM with > 30% Throttle