I just went through all of this, and figured I should throw my hat into the ring... I am the new owner of a 2005 M3 with 138,000 miles on the clock. The first oil change I did I sent off to Blackstone for analysis. Unfortunately, the results were not favorable.
Any hoo... Here is the important data from the lab result, as well as what my rod bearings and crank looked like when I had the service done. The shop told me that I was basically 1 or 2 miles from spinning a bearing. There were hairs of copper in the oil, and the copper had started to create striations on the crank.
Thankfully, I was able to get the service done right before it blew up. Moral of the story. If you see numbers like this, schedule a service now, not later.
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