IS synthetic oil supposed to turn black as time progresses. I recently checked the oil in my moms 330xi and it was pitch black. I called to schedual an oil change (was like 6000 miles before interval) and the guy said synthetic just turns black.

I recently switched to mobil 1 5w-30 in my G, and i just checked the oil. It still has the honey color, but looks a little darker. When I wipe off the dipstick the rag has some black residue on it. Was just wondering if synthetic turns blacker than regular oil. I have roughly 1000 miles on the synthetic oil in my G.

Thanks

My car has around 5,000 miles on it since the last oil change. It is Mobil 1 5W/30. It is not black.

Ugh. If you are THAT worried about the condition of the oil, email Blackstone Labs and have them send you some free sample bottles. Then send them a sample and $20 and they will analyze it. It's the ONLY sure way to tell the condition of your oil/engine.

I use Mobil 1 synthetic and it's not black. Poor air filtration will cause the oil to become black.

When you drain oil from your car and its dark/black that is a good sign. That means its cleaning the dirt out of your engine and its doing its job. If oil comes out clean that isn't good and thats when you might want to try a different oil that works better and helps clean the engine some.

my oil gets black after around 2k. called dealer they told me to bring it over to do an engine flush
I use mobil 1 but im switching to castrol syntec

mine turns black after 1500-2000 miles.... so i change it every 5K with M1

The oil should turn dark. That means that combustion byproducts and dirt that has made it past the air filter are being suspended in the oil which is a good thing. When then are not trapped by the oil, they can end up causing additional wear and form sludge in the engine. Note that this is not a property of synthetic oil, although superior additive packages in some synthetics allow them to keep more of the crud in suspension. Here is a pic of some black looking mobil 1 synth coming out of my G35. The blackstone analysis of that oil was fine.

Mobil 1 in both my Honda's are black like Shaq!

Alright good news guys, thanks for the help.