Disco 2 engine oil colour after service

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Kaijun

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Sorry for this topic is a bit out of this forum. I just had my wife's 21-plate BMW 320D serviced under warranty and found the engine oil was very black at home (see pics), it is less than 20 miles drive. I suspected if the garage had changed the oil. By googling BMW oil change, some people said it is normal. Ten years back, my td5 was serviced by a garage chain, the oil looked a bit dark afterwards, they told me it was normal. Since then, I have been serviced my D2 td5 and the oil is always golden colour from dipstick even after a few days. I wonder if D2 td5 has different diesel circulation system than BMW or colour depends on brand, or garage service man has cut corners in oil change. Any comments are appreciated.
 

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It's normal. Think of it this way, every oilway and gallery including the oil pump & oil cooler onwards, will be full of 'old' oil, this will not drain out, however long you leave it. It's a diesel high(er) compression engine which means there will be more blow-past of the exhaust gases into the crankcase so the new oil will mix with the remaining oil and become sooted to the eye much quicker.

If you were to put a sample of oil in a test tube and shine a light through it, you'd see the difference between recently changed and old oil very easily. putting some on a cloth is a poor check because the lubricant will be absorbed, leaving only carbon, you will also be able to feel the difference if you rub some between finger & thumb.
 
I would say you can see that oil has been changed, black oil is black and then some.
I change the oil in all our cars every 5k, the oil is always black.
 
Our TD5 oil is still reasonably clean after 20 miles.
Wonder if it depends on how you drain the oil and how often.
We change every year which is probably less than 5k miles.
 
Pretty normal on a diesel engine, unless you clean out every drop, and do numerous flushes.... Both my BMW and Transit never had totally clean oil, despite a flush and a change.
 
I found the Td5 oil stays clean for a while before darkening, but the oil in our old diesel Clio would go dark in a few miles. I assumed it wasn't all draining out.
 
Spong said:
I change both of mine every time, but I thought the spinny one was intended to be every other service?
Click to expand...
You're prolly right but I have never seen the sense in that. You aren't paying anyone to do it, so why not, for the dosh it costs?
Only problem can be the threads going in the bolt holes but that's easily fixed.
 
Thank you for your inputs. I guess bmw oil flows in from the outside of cylinder filter. The black soot is blocked and cumulated there. The oil looks black. D2 one is inside centrifugal filter for power rotating.
 
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