Turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug

F87source · 05-31-2021, 02:32 AM

Introduction:

So in this product review I will be taking a look at the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug, and why this is the only magnetic drain plug you should buy for your bmw. Before we begin I must thank ECS tuning/Turner motorsports for giving me a partial discount on the products that I will be using in this review, however I will be as unbiased as possible despite that.

Disclaimer:

Any technical advice, installation instruction, or product installation is done so at your own risk I will not be responsible for personal injuries, injuries to others or any living being, or any damage to your car, or any property damage.

Credits:

Images and videos used in this review are all property of their rightful owners as credited below each image, I am just using them for the purpose of this review but if you (the owner of the image) would like them removed please let me know via pm. Otherwise thanks to the owners (I made sure to credit your online name and link where I found the photo) of the photos, without you this review would be so much more bland.

Quick intro for those of you that don’t like long articles:

Cheap magnetic drain plugs made of brass or aluminium commonly break leaving the body of the bolt inside your drain pan resulting in alot of struggles to extract it. Cheap magnetic drain plugs can also have incorrect thread pitches and diameters that will result in damage to your oil pan threads. These cheap magnetic drain plugs can also utilize cheap neodymium magnets that loose their magnetic abilities at temperatures lower than what your engine oil gets to during operating conditions, this means that the magnetic drain plug will let go of all the metal debris it has stuck to until it cools down meaning it is essentially useless. The turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug address all of these issues and provides a magnetic drain plug that has no flaws that a cheaper plug or even a more expensive drain plug may have. Overall if you are looking for a magnetic drain plug this is the best magnetic drain plug available in my opinion.

Table of contents:

1) Risk of a Cheap aluminium or brass drain plug

2) Benefits of titanium drain plugs over aluminium and brass drain plugs

a) Defining metal tensile strength and yield strength

b) Metal tensile strength and yield strengths

c) Summary of why cheap drain plugs fail

3) Turner motorsports titanium oil drain plug
a) Quick overview with pictures
b) Specs
i) Thread pitch
ii) Diameter
iii) Hex size
iv) Copper washer fitment
v) Magnetic strength and talk about surface area

c) Images of the drain plug fully installed

d) Addressing some concerns
i) Stripping threads
ii) Drain Plug diameter
iii) Drain Plug thread pitch
iv) Magnets coming loose
v) Head rounding off

e) Additional stock drain bolt images

f) Summary

Risk of a cheap aluminium or brass drain plug:

So why should you use a titanium magnetic drain plug over a brass or aluminium drain plug? There are a few reasons for this, but one reason is cheaply made plugs often found on aliexpress can have the incorrect thread pitch or bolt diameter leaving your oil pan threads stripped (and if you own an ///M vehicle the oil pans are $1000 USD so it is best not to risk it), more on this later on. Another reason is because the weaker brass and aluminium drain plugs are susceptible to breaking at quite low torque specs and this can leave the end of the plug stuck in the oil drain pan threads resulting in a huge hassle to extract this portion of the bolt.
Here are some examples of this:

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...84&postcount=7
This m2C owner has had an aluminium magnetic drain plug snap in the oil pan long before the torque required to crush the copper washer was achieved.

Credit: Diamente Post #16 https://www.toyotanation.com/threads...#post-13124826

Credit: Diamente Post #16 https://www.toyotanation.com/threads...#post-13124826

In these images you see a toyota owner with a broken magnetic drain plug from Greddy which is also aluminium.

The benefits of titanium drain plugs over aluminium and brass drain plugs:

Defining metal tensile strength and yield strength:

To explain this we must go into terms such as yield strength, and tensile strength.

Yield Strength: How much force it takes to induce plastic deformation and permanently deform the bolt, meaning the bolt is permanently stretched and will not spring back to its preloaded length after releasing (unscrewing) the fastener. This is an important metric because if the yield strength is too low you can end up stretching a drain bolt over and over again while torquing a plug resulting in its fatigue and eventual failure.

Tensile Strength: How much force a bolt is able to resist in its axial (lengthwise) direction before failing aka snapping/breaking.

Before we go into the strength comparison below we need to note that the turner motorsports titanium drain plug is made out of grade 5 Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy.

Metal Tensile and Yield Strengths:

Titanium Grade 5 Ti-6Al-4V Alloy: Tensile strength = ≥ 895 MPa, Yield strength = ≥ 828 MPa
Credit: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=9299

Brass: Tensile strength = 360 MPa, Yield strength = 140 MPa
Credit: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6380

Aluminium 6061 Alloy: Tensile Strength = 310 MPa, Yield Strength = 276 MPa
Credit: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6636

So looking at this data we can see titanium (Ti-6Al-4V alloy used by turner motorsports in their drain plug) is nearly ~3X stronger than both the 6061 aluminium alloy and brass alloys in terms of tensile strength. The titanium is also nearly ~4x stronger than aluminium in terms of yield strength and nearly ~8X stronger than brass in terms of yield strength. So straight off the bat we are dealing with a significantly stronger metal meaning it will take much higher torques to break a drain plug made of this material, and you are more likely to strip the threads out of your aluminium drain pan before breaking the plug in terms of maximum torque you can apply. This is great because the common reports of failure was that cheaper plugs broke before the prescribed torque specs were reached, so making these plugs out of titanium will prevent that from ever happening, and prevent fatigue induced failures. This is even more important because magnetic drain plugs are hollow inside for magnet placement, so they are already weaker than solid bolts so a strong metal is really vital to avoid breaks.

Quickly looking at the cheaper plugs we can speculate that they fail due to the following reasons:

1) The problem normally occurs because of the fact that alot of people working on these cars do not use torque wrenches or poorly calibrated torque wrenches. You commonly hear of owners saying “it is tight when it is tight”, “wrist tight”, “one ugga dugga” etc. When gauging how much torque or how tight they should have their drain bolts. Well this is a problem especially on cheaper magnetic drain plugs because they are made of aluminium or brass which has a really low tensile strength which you can easily exceed if you are not being careful and thus end up breaking the bolt.

2) Reuse of old copper washers. I can’t believe I even have to bring this up but the copper washers are single use only, once they are crushed down they are finished. If you reuse them at the bmw prescribed torque they will leak and if you try to stop the leak with more torque to crush it down more then you will either strip your pan or break your bolt.

3) Even if tensile strength limits of a bolt is not exceeded one can still reach the yield point of the bolt which can cause permanent plastic deformation of the bolt forever weakening it due to fatigue (this is why you should never reuse torque to yield bolts). Over time if this is done alot your bolt will snap.

4) The bolt gets a bit seized due to road debris (this one is not very likely because bmw puts a nice cover to protect the drain plug, unless you have an M car because the stiffening plate does not have a cover, but the situation as a whole is also no likely unless you live in a really dirty environment) and the force it take to break the bolt free is higher than the tensile strength of the bolt resulting in breaks.

5) Metal impurities weakening the metal

Overall I have seen alot of horror stories of aluminium and brass drain bolts snapping inside of the oil sump, and this is what prevented me from buying a magnetic drain plug until finally Turner motorsports solved this issue by releasing a magnetic drain plug made out of titanium. This stronger metal that the turner motorsports drain plug is constructed out of should prevent any breaking issues regardless if you over tighten it (you are more likely to strip out your oil pan threads so please use a properly calibrated torque wrench these sumps are expensive to replace at $1k for M vehicles and alot of labour costs as well if you cannot diy, and the walls of the drain hole are so thin you cannot timersert or helicoil it), the bolt gets seized from road debris, and even if there were small impurities in the metal the overall strength of titanium should be high enough to compensate and prevent failure.

Turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug:

Quick overview - with pictures:

So lets begin our over view of this magnetic drain plug!

Credit: F87source

Credit: F87source

Specs:

Now lets discuss some of the specs of this titanium magnetic drain plug.

i) Thread pitch: The thread pitch of the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug is M12 X 1.5 X 20, so the pitch is 1.5 mm. Comparing this to the stock plug that has been used pretty much on all bmws for the last couple of decades, the stock plug is M12 X 1.5 X 16 (https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...&q=11137535106).

Here are some images of the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug and stock drain plug having their thread pitch measured, and being meshed together to ensure there are no thread pitch anomalies. Note that metric bolts have a 60 degree thread angle so my thread pitch tool will also verify this angle if it fits snugly.

Credit: F87source

Credit: F87source

As you can see by these images the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug’s thread pitch is exactly the 1.5 mm as required by the bmw oil pan, and is perfectly meshed with the stock plug and thread pitch gauge. This means that the thread pitch of this drain bolt is perfect and will not cause any issues. The only difference is that the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug is 20 mm long vs 16 mm of the stock plug. The length discrepancy however is not an issue due to the fact that the there is nothing the plug can hit even if it is longer.

ii) Diameter: Next we will examine the diameter bolt of the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug compared to the stock one with digital calipers, and with a swiping technique to get the maximum diameter (major diameter) of a cylindrical object.

Credit: F87source

Credit: F87source

As you can see by these images the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain bolt has a major diameter of 11.90 mm and the stock drain bolt has a major diameter of 11.77 mm.

iii) Hex size: The turner motorsports titanium drain plug also features a 17mm hex which is the same size as the factory drain plug. Here is an image of the hex being measured with digital calipers.

Credit: F87source

Credit: F87Source

As you can see the hex is exactly 17.00 mm so it will fit perfectly in hex sockets (which are actually slightly bigger than 17.00 mm by a small amount) with nearly no play, this means that the hex will not suffer from damage by being slightly too small which means there will be play in the socket. The hex also has a decent depth of 7.51 mm as well so it will be able to better fit hex sockets without “slipping out” even when flush against the oil pan. The stock drain plug actually has a hex that is 16.56 mm so a bit off of the 17.00 mm so it actually has a bit more play vs the turner bolt in a 17 mm socket as those (like I just said) sockets are slightly bigger than 17 mm to account for bolt tolerances.

iv) Copper washer fitment: I was not able to get images of the various washer fitments while performing the oil change but here is what I noted:

a) The included copper washer with the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain bolt had a larger diameter compared to the genuine Bmw copper washer that was present from my last dealership performed oil change. However the thickness remains the same. With this washer it will be larger than the hex of either the turner or stock bolt and stick out.

b) The genuine Bmw copper washer was the exact same in terms of diameter and thickness as the copper washer that was included in the mann hu8011z oil filter (this is the exact same one as the genuine Bmw oil filter minus the ///M logo, all the part numbers on the filter from mann were the same). With this washer it will be smaller than the hex head and stay quite hidden underneath the stock bolt or the turner bolt.

c) What I noticed was that despite the Turner provided copper washer having a larger diameter it doesn’t really perform any differently than the stock or mann supplied copper washer. This is because there is a small circular raised lip underneath of the titanium plug’s hex, this is the only part that contacts the copper washer and it is a bit smaller than the genuine Bmw/Mann copper washer. So having a larger washer wouldn’t really benefit it too much as all the force that crushes the washer down is in a diameter smaller than the larger turner washer. The stock drain bolt behaves the same way with the washer being actually smaller than the hex just like on the turner drain bolt, so a larger washer wouldn’t really benefit anything in terms of providing more seal as the outer edges wouldn’t be crushed down anyways.

So overall I opted to use the mann crush washer and there have been zero issues/leaks.

v) Magnetic grade strength and surface area: Not many people think about the magnet type itself when purchasing a magnetic drain plug, but I am here to tell you that not all magnets are the same for the reasons below.

The turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug utilizes a neodymium grade n42 type SH magnet (https://www.albmagnets.com/neodymium...ts-grades.html) which retains its magnetic efficacy up to 150℃, however when talking to an engineer from Turner motorsports he informed me in their testing efficacy of the magnet was not lost until 204℃. These numbers are incredibly good especially since bmw starts to cut power at 132℃ and full limp mode occurs before 150℃ - so you will never have to worry about the magnet loosing its ability to cling onto metal particles even at high track temps. This is fantastic because some cheaper magnetic drain plugs utilize cheap magnets which lose their efficacy at 80℃ meaning it will not work even when the engine is below operating temperature (operating temps for oil is at 90℃). So essentially when your car warms up those cheapo magnets let go of all the metal they have captured and let it free directly into the oil pick up.... Then the only time they will capture anything is when the engine is off and the oil has cooled down and that means they are only able to catch particles that have settled onto the magnet, as opposed to when the engine is on and oil is sloshing around. So here you can see not all magnets are made the same and thus if you cheap out on a drain plug you could essentially get a useless paper weight.

The strength of this magnet is also really impressive, it can hold a large wrench and still provide a decent bit of retention even when I pull against it with the help of gravity. So that is really nice, and note even if those cheaper magnetic drain plugs can hold alot of weight if the magnet grade is not designed for high temps then all that strength is for nothing.

But speaking in terms of a numbers side of things neodymium grade n42 magnets have a Br rating (it is the magnetic property that is independent of magnet shape and is the magnetic induction remaining after a magnetic field has been removed from a magnetic material it is trying to induce a magnetic field in) of 13,200 Gauss (https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp...20the%20magnet.) while offering the highest operating temperature possible. So essentially it is a really strong magnet even compared to the competition which offers neodymium magnets in the low 4 digit gauss ratings.

Finally I must mention surface area. This magnetic drain plug has some of the best magnet surface area out there, because the not only is the tip of the magnet exposed but the magnet also protrudes out giving it more surface area than even some of the best brand name plugs out there. This helps the plug capture more metallic debris than any of the other competitors that may rival this drain plug.

Images of the drain plug fully installed:

Credit: F87source

Credit: F87source

So here are my install images of the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug on my bmw m2. The first image shows a view directly underneath of the drain plug and as you can see it fits perfectly in the hole, and has plenty of clearance all the way around for a 17 mm socket. There is nothing abnormal with the way it fits and does not cause any issues. Overall it fits perfectly and looks quite nice.

The second image shows a side view of the drain plug and you can see the mann hu8011z supplied copper crush washer underneath of the drain plug fitting perfectly just like how it would on the stock drain bolt. There has been zero leaks after 2 weeks of my pennzoil platinum euro 5w40 oil change and the drain plug being installed, a lot of hard km’s have also been put on it with oil temperatures reaching 98C and there has been no issues whatsoever. So I am very happy thus far with the fit and finish of this drain bolt it has given me no issues at all.

Addressing some concerns:

While doing research for this review I have stumbled upon a couple of concerns and a bunch of misinformation regarding issues with magnetic drain plugs and I would like to address them.

1) Stripping threads: I have heard so much about how after market plugs can strip the oil drain pan plugs, but this generally is not the case. If the aftermarket drain plug has the same thread pitch, and plug diameter as the stock drain plug stripping can only be due to these reasons I have listed below (note aluminium pans already have weaker threads than steel pans):

a) The threads in the oil pan are not cleaned out during oil changes and residual oil acts like a torque multiplier and you end up putting more torque on the drain plug than what was required resulting in faituging of the threads. This over time and repetitive cycles will cause the drain pan threads to fail.

b) Reuse of the factory crush washer, again you have to over tighten the drain plug as a result to compensate for any leaks due to the crush washer already being crushed down, resulting in stripped threads.

c) Not using a torque wrench and using the bmw prescribed torque specs and thus over tightening the pan (this is the big one).

d) Cross threading the drain plug because it was not put in by hand first.

e) Use of impact tools or any power tools on the drain bolt.

2) Drain plug diameter: Before we can discuss this I must include an image demonstrating diameters.

Credit: Site admin from all America thread products, August 28, 2015. https://330zpr17apfr1j45wba4i5dj-wpe...-1-768x327.jpg

From this image you can see there are a couple of different parameters that a bolt may have:

a) major diameter: the outermost diameter and the one that classifies what type of bolt it is eg m12 or m8 etc. (I measured the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain bolt’s major diameter above).

b) minor diameter the innermost diameter the pitch diameter the midpoint between the major and minor diameter

c) the thread angle this is another factor that determines if a bolt is metric or inch based, for eg. metric bolts have 60 degrees of thread angle (my thread pitch tool was 60 degrees so it also measured thread angle as a result of measuring thread pitch).

d) pitch which determines the spacing between the threads (as we have measured earlier).

So I have also heard chatter about how aftermarket drain plug major diameters are smaller than stock or smaller than the required 12.00 mm of an m12 drain bolt causing the drain plug to strip. Again this is complete nonsense, every bolt even the factory one (as measured above) can vary from the perfect 12.00 mm spec (actually no bolt should be exactly 12.00 mm in terms of major diameter otherwise it might get cause too much galling due to it being way too tight, or seize up from being too tight, and thermal expansion differences can play a problematic roll) of an m12 bolt due to manufacturing tolerances. So as long as the bolt is within the tolerance range for an m12 bolt which is generally around 11.732 mm - 11.968 mm (as per this source: https://www.engineersedge.com/hardwa...ead-sizes1.htm). Every source is slightly different in the hundredths or thousandths of a mm range so nothing too major as the general range is the same. Also note if your bolt has a thread that is a bit more round instead of sharp this can impact major diameter measurements as well adding to the mostly benign variation that we see bolt to bolt, so again this shows how major diameter can fluctuate alot so you should not panic if your bolt is not exactly 12.00 mm or slightly smaller than stock. When we look at the measurements I took above my turner motorsports magnetic drain plug is at 11.90 mm so it falls within this acceptable tolerance range as well so no issues with this plug. My stock drain bolt is 11.77 mm, so even smaller than the Turner bolt, but again in the acceptable tolerance range. Right away this debunks the “myth” that smaller bolts cause issues. It is simply not true and likely the reason for stripped threads was the mechanic did not torque to spec properly, or did not clean the threads of oil which acts like a torque multiplier.

What is more important is the pitch diameter which determines how much surface area of the thread makes contact with the oil pan threads, and this is verified via measuring minor diameter and major diameter and determining the average. Unfortunately the blades of my calipers were to thick to obtain the minor diameter of the drain bolt so I could not calculate pitch diameter. However I did perform a “wobble test” on both the stock and TMS drain plug. What the wobble test is - is that you thread in the bolt down the same number of threads and wobble it to see if it moves. If the bolt doesn’t move it is extremely tight in the hole and this could mean the minor or major diameter was too large and is touching the drain pan threads too much preventing any wobble. Since we know that the major diameter is acceptable for both bolts the minor diameter is what we would be testing. The stock bolt did have some wobble and from what I determined so did the TMS bolt to the same degree. This obviously isn’t super scientific but it did verify that nothing was out of spec to the point where there was alot of additional friction on the oil drain pan threads to where it would cause galling and potential stripping.

I also did mesh the two drain plugs together as seen in the images above and you do not see any gaps meaning thread pitch was good (also verified by my thread pitch gauge).

So in general if the major diameter is different than the M12 spec do not panic so long as the major diameter and all of the other diameters are within the acceptable range it is perfectly fine, remember when machining occurs there will always be minor error nothing is perfect when mass produced hence why a tolerance range exists. So don’t panic if you see posts of individuals saying a smaller bolt is bad and will strip your threads (most likely their pan threads were either already fatigued, or it was over torqued, or cross threaded, or maybe their bolt happened to be defective who knows), the engineering side of things says otherwise so long as your bolt is in the acceptable tolerance range you will be fine.

3) Thread pitch: This has also been a concern for alot of people. But with the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug the thread pitch is the correct 1.5 mm as verified with my thread pitch gauge in the section 3 sub section 1. So you will not run into any issues with thread pitch when using the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug.

4) Magnets coming loose: Ok this is only a concern with cheap magnetic plugs that rely on adhesives to hold the magnet in, because when the oil gets hot the adhesives fail and the magnet can come loose. Some cheaper plugs may use really weak adhesive and rely on the magnet to also stick to the metal plug, but the combination of poor adhesives that fail in high temperature situations and cheap magnets that loose their magnetic properties (as discussed earlier) at low temperatures will also cause the magnet to come loose. But honestly despite alot of research I did not see this issue too frequently.

Now with the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug it is fit into the body of the plug using an interference press fit technique. This means that the hole is smaller than the size of the magnet so the retention of the magnet is unparalleled compared to any adhesives and will not weaken over time, and you should never have a magnet fall out unless you crack it or damage the plug body. Now turner motorsports have also informed me that they performed alot of thermal simulations so that the different expansion rates of the different metals (the neodymium magnet and titanium plug) will not be able to cause the magnet to come loose even at temperatures higher than what the engine will see. Another benefit of titanium for interference press fits is that the metal is extremely durable and strong, so you won’t have to worry about titanium fatiguing over time due to use and possibly stretching or deforming to the point where the magnet may slip out. So overall the magnet coming loose on this drain plug is a nonexistent issue.

5) Hex head rounding off: This is a really rare issue but I have heard complaints of this online. This issue is mainly due to the hex on magnetic drain bolts being alot smaller and shallower than the socket that you’re supposed to use which creates alot of play, or the user using an imperial socket instead of a metric one. This combined with a soft metal like aluminium can eventually result in the hex being rounded off. But this is a non-issue with the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug which has an exactly 17.00 mm hex as shown by my caliper measurements in section 3 sub section iii labeled hex size. The depth of the hex is also sufficient enough that when used with a 17 mm socket there is no play and the sect doesn’t want to slip off the drain bolt (due to a lack of depth). Combine this with the fact that the plug is made of titanium means there is no chance that you will round the hex on this plug, you’re more likely to strip the threads on the drain pan before damaging this hex.

Additional stock drain bolt images:

Credit: F87source

Credit: F87source

Overall summary:

Overall in my opinion this is the best magnetic drain plug currently available due to its titanium construction which should prevent any breaking issues from ever occurring. It also features the correct thread pitch and diameter as previously described so no thread stripping of your oil pan should ever occur. The magnet itself is also the correct type to withstand higher oil temperatures that your car may ever experience without loosing magnet efficacy meaning this magnet will always work and be able to stick to any metal particles in your engine. The magnet also has more surface area than its competitors. So all of these features literally make it the best magnetic oil drain plug available imo, there literally is nothing else that I could find that I would say even comes close to this plug. It also is a really nice cheap mod every bmw owner should get because it can also help protect your engine from experiencing any additional wear and tear from metal debris.

F87source · 05-31-2021, 02:34 AM

Reserved for future posts.

TopJimmy · 05-31-2021, 06:45 AM

With that write up they should have given you two bolts. Good detailed info.

F87source · 05-31-2021, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

With that write up they should have given you two bolts. Good detailed info.

Thanks! But unfortunately I didn't get anything for free, just a discount.

But thanks for the kind words and taking the time to read!

hC1001 · 05-31-2021, 08:41 PM

Would be interested in what the magnet picks up on the next oil change.

I didnt know Turner made a titanium magnetic drain plug. Thanks for bringing it to my attention and the review.

F87source · 05-31-2021, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hC1001

Would be interested in what the magnet picks up on the next oil change.

I didnt know Turner made a titanium magnetic drain plug. Thanks for bringing it to my attention and the review.

No problem! I'll report back next oil change, but I tend to do 2,000 - 3,000 km oci so hopefully it catches very little to nothing. It's more of a nice little mod where it's there if it's needed but you never want it to be needed. Aka like a safety assurance you like having but never want to use like air bags.

However I saw an m4 owner with an ecs plug have a fair amount of metal sludge that was caught.

hC1001 · 05-31-2021, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F87source

No problem! I'll report back next oil change, but I tend to do 2,000 - 3,000 km oci so hopefully it catches very little to nothing. It's more of a nice little mod where it's there if it's needed but you never want it to be needed. Aka like a safety assurance you like having but never want to use like air bags.

However I saw an m4 owner with an ecs plug have a fair amount of metal sludge that was caught.

Yea its normal. You might also get little hairs of metal. It usually gets trapped inside the oil filter and you never see it. Was just curious how much sludge/hairs will be on the magnet...

F87source · 05-31-2021, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hC1001

Yea its normal. You might also get little hairs of metal. It usually gets trapped inside the oil filter and you never see it. Was just curious how much sludge/hairs will be on the magnet...

Yeah I'm curious too, clearly I hope there is not too much which could indicate issues.

But for my oci I don't know if I'll see any.

agentrnge · 06-01-2021, 10:22 AM

Very much appreciate this write up. Thank you. And also appreciate the precision/validation of the threads.
One worry I have is the plug is stronger than the pan. I thought it was usually intentional that the drain plug would be softer metal than the pan so if someone over-tightens, there is hopefully only damage the cheap and easy to replace plug and not damage the pan.

F87source · 06-01-2021, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agentrnge

Very much appreciate this write up. Thank you. And also appreciate the precision/validation of the threads.
One worry I have is the plug is stronger than the pan. I thought it was usually intentional that the drain plug would be softer metal than the pan so if someone over-tightens, there is hopefully only damage the cheap and easy to replace plug and not damage the pan.

No problem.

If the plug was softer it would protect the threads in the pan, however it could snap off inside the pan leaving a really difficult extraction ahead.

icegrill · 06-01-2021, 01:42 PM

I'm still so anal I was afraid of the magnet coming out of the bolt and ending up in the pan or worse.

F87source · 06-01-2021, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icegrill

I'm still so anal I was afraid of the magnet coming out of the bolt and ending up in the pan or worse.

That's why press fit magnets are the best bet. I tried to pull on the magnet and it's really really stuck on. So imo with the tna bolt nothing to worry about.

hlm2c · 06-03-2021, 03:19 AM

Wow, great write up! Took me awhile to read it all, but appreciate all the effort you put in. I noticed while searching for a Turner titanium magnetic drain plug, that they offer a plug for the rear diff and transmission as well. Any plans to compare those in the future as well?

F87source · 06-03-2021, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hlm2c

Wow, great write up! Took me awhile to read it all, but appreciate all the effort you put in. I noticed while searching for a Turner titanium magnetic drain plug, that they offer a plug for the rear diff and transmission as well. Any plans to compare those in the future as well?

Thanks for the kind words it means alot!

So for the transmission iirc that was dct only and I have a manual so unfortunately I can't review that, but it would be a nice part since clutches produce alot of magnetic particles.

For the diff I would have loved to, but I did my fluid change last year so I won't be able to do it for another 3 years because MSP/A diff oil is a decent chunk of change and the plug is also an additional bit of money. But we will see what happens if TMS sends me a bottle of MSP/A diff oil with a plug im always willing to do a review, the effort and time to do a fluid flush is no problem for me.

F87source · 04-27-2022, 09:36 PM

Just wanted to post an update, I just did my oil change today and I noticed that the magnet actually does pick up metallic debris. There was a small greyish layer of metallic sludge covering the head of the magnet that was easily wiped off. It wasn't a large amount of metal by any means - nothing to be concerned about, but it does show that these engines do have ferrous metal components inside that do wear (cam shafts, valvetronic shaft, valve springs, timing chain, etc). So these magnetic drain plugs do work, and aren't useless as many speculated.

Another thing to note was my oil temps got to 106*C in comfort mode before I shut off the car to drain the oil. So it was extremely hot and the magnet didn't lose its magnetism showing that turner does indeed use a very good quality grade n42 type SH neodymium magnet.

Overall it is a very solid product and I am happy to have it.

Jbrown7403 · 04-27-2022, 09:53 PM

And the prize for the most detailed and thorough product review goes to ….

Seriously well done …. I’m sold!

F87source · 04-27-2022, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jbrown7403

And the prize for the most detailed and thorough product review goes to ….

Seriously well done …. I’m sold!

Thanks for the kind words, I try my best when doing reviews.

If you're interested in other cheap mods that have a large impact, you can check out my other reviews:

1) Malo industries crank seal plate:
https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1807187

2) Malo industries oil filter cap:
https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1809255

papasmurf_m3 · 04-30-2022, 10:13 PM

So, does this work with the magnesium oil pans too? Or is this just for the newer aluminum pans?

F87source · 04-30-2022, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by papasmurf_m3

So, does this work with the magnesium oil pans too? Or is this just for the newer aluminum pans?

Was the magnesium pan the hex style bolt? If so I believe turner sells a different bolt to fit that pan.

BzsBimmer · 06-26-2022, 12:38 AM

That was some serious writing and investigative work for a oil drain plug. I hope Turner sees this and provides you something!

This will only pick up ferrous metals though. Aluminum and copper won’t get picked up. I think you stated any metallic pieces.

I have the ECS metallic drain plug and it’s worked for me as well. Because I have a 2015 and have a different plug, I kept getting frustrated when buying filters with free crush washers that didn’t fit and I saw the ECS one that came with a bunch of washers…

6 oil changes later, still works, and I also get a black fine dust coating my magnet when draining hot/warm oil. I don’t think I saw the Turner one at the time.

Again, super detailed breakdown. Would love to see this thorough breakdown of something else like a air cooler!!

F87source · 06-26-2022, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

That was some serious writing and investigative work for a oil drain plug. I hope Turner sees this and provides you something!

This will only pick up ferrous metals though. Aluminum and copper won’t get picked up. I think you stated any metallic pieces.

I have the ECS metallic drain plug and it’s worked for me as well. Because I have a 2015 and have a different plug, I kept getting frustrated when buying filters with free crush washers that didn’t fit and I saw the ECS one that came with a bunch of washers…

6 oil changes later, still works, and I also get a black fine dust coating my magnet when draining hot/warm oil. I don’t think I saw the Turner one at the time.

Again, super detailed breakdown. Would love to see this thorough breakdown of something else like a air cooler!!

Thank you for your kind words, not many people like these long style reviews.

Yes you are correct, I was callous in saying it picks up all metallic particles, I should have added ferrous.

Yeah the Turner bolt is new, that's probably why you couldn't get it back then. Although I'm not sure if they have it for the 2015 generation pan.

Again thanks for your kind words! I do have some tiger really in-depth reviews like about the oil flow through the oil filter housing and about the malo industries oil cap. You can read about these other reviews if you'd like, just click on my profile and look at my other threads. Yeah Turner knows about all of my reviews for them, I linked it to them. Hopefully they can offer me something lol, but I'm not crossing my fingers, maybe I'll reach out if I see something interesting, either way I'll disclose it in the review if I was sponsored or not.

pesh · 08-05-2022, 09:46 PM

What an amazing write-up. Thank you for taking the time and detail!

I am dealing with an oil change issue on my 2015 BMW M4 Convertible where the European Car Service Center (in Austin, TX) that I go to has said my oil pan is stripped and a new pan must be installed ($3000 - ugh!).

As part of ordering a new pan and casket from Turner Motor Sports, I also added the matching Titanium Oil Plug to my order (thanks you your write-up).

As a novice, looking forward to future oil changes. Will the Titanium Plug be re-usable on future oil changes? or does a new plug have to be installed on each change? Or do we re-use the plug and just get a new "crush" washer each time?

Excuse my ignorance and thanks in advance for any guidance.

05-31-2021, 02:32 AM	#1
F87source Major General 7247 Rep 7,423 Posts Drives: Bmw M2 Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: . iTrader: (1)	Turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug Introduction: So in this product review I will be taking a look at the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug, and why this is the only magnetic drain plug you should buy for your bmw. Before we begin I must thank ECS tuning/Turner motorsports for giving me a partial discount on the products that I will be using in this review, however I will be as unbiased as possible despite that. Disclaimer: Any technical advice, installation instruction, or product installation is done so at your own risk I will not be responsible for personal injuries, injuries to others or any living being, or any damage to your car, or any property damage. Credits: Images and videos used in this review are all property of their rightful owners as credited below each image, I am just using them for the purpose of this review but if you (the owner of the image) would like them removed please let me know via pm. Otherwise thanks to the owners (I made sure to credit your online name and link where I found the photo) of the photos, without you this review would be so much more bland. Quick intro for those of you that don’t like long articles: Cheap magnetic drain plugs made of brass or aluminium commonly break leaving the body of the bolt inside your drain pan resulting in alot of struggles to extract it. Cheap magnetic drain plugs can also have incorrect thread pitches and diameters that will result in damage to your oil pan threads. These cheap magnetic drain plugs can also utilize cheap neodymium magnets that loose their magnetic abilities at temperatures lower than what your engine oil gets to during operating conditions, this means that the magnetic drain plug will let go of all the metal debris it has stuck to until it cools down meaning it is essentially useless. The turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug address all of these issues and provides a magnetic drain plug that has no flaws that a cheaper plug or even a more expensive drain plug may have. Overall if you are looking for a magnetic drain plug this is the best magnetic drain plug available in my opinion. Table of contents: 1) Risk of a Cheap aluminium or brass drain plug 2) Benefits of titanium drain plugs over aluminium and brass drain plugs a) Defining metal tensile strength and yield strength b) Metal tensile strength and yield strengths c) Summary of why cheap drain plugs fail 3) Turner motorsports titanium oil drain plug a) Quick overview with pictures b) Specs i) Thread pitch ii) Diameter iii) Hex size iv) Copper washer fitment v) Magnetic strength and talk about surface area c) Images of the drain plug fully installed d) Addressing some concerns i) Stripping threads ii) Drain Plug diameter iii) Drain Plug thread pitch iv) Magnets coming loose v) Head rounding off e) Additional stock drain bolt images f) Summary Risk of a cheap aluminium or brass drain plug: So why should you use a titanium magnetic drain plug over a brass or aluminium drain plug? There are a few reasons for this, but one reason is cheaply made plugs often found on aliexpress can have the incorrect thread pitch or bolt diameter leaving your oil pan threads stripped (and if you own an ///M vehicle the oil pans are $1000 USD so it is best not to risk it), more on this later on. Another reason is because the weaker brass and aluminium drain plugs are susceptible to breaking at quite low torque specs and this can leave the end of the plug stuck in the oil drain pan threads resulting in a huge hassle to extract this portion of the bolt. Here are some examples of this: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...84&postcount=7 This m2C owner has had an aluminium magnetic drain plug snap in the oil pan long before the torque required to crush the copper washer was achieved. Credit: Diamente Post #16 https://www.toyotanation.com/threads...#post-13124826 Credit: Diamente Post #16 https://www.toyotanation.com/threads...#post-13124826 In these images you see a toyota owner with a broken magnetic drain plug from Greddy which is also aluminium. The benefits of titanium drain plugs over aluminium and brass drain plugs: Defining metal tensile strength and yield strength: To explain this we must go into terms such as yield strength, and tensile strength. Yield Strength: How much force it takes to induce plastic deformation and permanently deform the bolt, meaning the bolt is permanently stretched and will not spring back to its preloaded length after releasing (unscrewing) the fastener. This is an important metric because if the yield strength is too low you can end up stretching a drain bolt over and over again while torquing a plug resulting in its fatigue and eventual failure. Tensile Strength: How much force a bolt is able to resist in its axial (lengthwise) direction before failing aka snapping/breaking. Before we go into the strength comparison below we need to note that the turner motorsports titanium drain plug is made out of grade 5 Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy. Metal Tensile and Yield Strengths: Titanium Grade 5 Ti-6Al-4V Alloy: Tensile strength = ≥ 895 MPa, Yield strength = ≥ 828 MPa Credit: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=9299 Brass: Tensile strength = 360 MPa, Yield strength = 140 MPa Credit: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6380 Aluminium 6061 Alloy: Tensile Strength = 310 MPa, Yield Strength = 276 MPa Credit: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6636 So looking at this data we can see titanium (Ti-6Al-4V alloy used by turner motorsports in their drain plug) is nearly ~3X stronger than both the 6061 aluminium alloy and brass alloys in terms of tensile strength. The titanium is also nearly ~4x stronger than aluminium in terms of yield strength and nearly ~8X stronger than brass in terms of yield strength. So straight off the bat we are dealing with a significantly stronger metal meaning it will take much higher torques to break a drain plug made of this material, and you are more likely to strip the threads out of your aluminium drain pan before breaking the plug in terms of maximum torque you can apply. This is great because the common reports of failure was that cheaper plugs broke before the prescribed torque specs were reached, so making these plugs out of titanium will prevent that from ever happening, and prevent fatigue induced failures. This is even more important because magnetic drain plugs are hollow inside for magnet placement, so they are already weaker than solid bolts so a strong metal is really vital to avoid breaks. Quickly looking at the cheaper plugs we can speculate that they fail due to the following reasons: 1) The problem normally occurs because of the fact that alot of people working on these cars do not use torque wrenches or poorly calibrated torque wrenches. You commonly hear of owners saying “it is tight when it is tight”, “wrist tight”, “one ugga dugga” etc. When gauging how much torque or how tight they should have their drain bolts. Well this is a problem especially on cheaper magnetic drain plugs because they are made of aluminium or brass which has a really low tensile strength which you can easily exceed if you are not being careful and thus end up breaking the bolt. 2) Reuse of old copper washers. I can’t believe I even have to bring this up but the copper washers are single use only, once they are crushed down they are finished. If you reuse them at the bmw prescribed torque they will leak and if you try to stop the leak with more torque to crush it down more then you will either strip your pan or break your bolt. 3) Even if tensile strength limits of a bolt is not exceeded one can still reach the yield point of the bolt which can cause permanent plastic deformation of the bolt forever weakening it due to fatigue (this is why you should never reuse torque to yield bolts). Over time if this is done alot your bolt will snap. 4) The bolt gets a bit seized due to road debris (this one is not very likely because bmw puts a nice cover to protect the drain plug, unless you have an M car because the stiffening plate does not have a cover, but the situation as a whole is also no likely unless you live in a really dirty environment) and the force it take to break the bolt free is higher than the tensile strength of the bolt resulting in breaks. 5) Metal impurities weakening the metal Overall I have seen alot of horror stories of aluminium and brass drain bolts snapping inside of the oil sump, and this is what prevented me from buying a magnetic drain plug until finally Turner motorsports solved this issue by releasing a magnetic drain plug made out of titanium. This stronger metal that the turner motorsports drain plug is constructed out of should prevent any breaking issues regardless if you over tighten it (you are more likely to strip out your oil pan threads so please use a properly calibrated torque wrench these sumps are expensive to replace at $1k for M vehicles and alot of labour costs as well if you cannot diy, and the walls of the drain hole are so thin you cannot timersert or helicoil it), the bolt gets seized from road debris, and even if there were small impurities in the metal the overall strength of titanium should be high enough to compensate and prevent failure. Turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug: Quick overview - with pictures: So lets begin our over view of this magnetic drain plug! Credit: F87source Credit: F87source Credit: F87source Credit: F87source Credit: F87source Credit: F87source Specs: Now lets discuss some of the specs of this titanium magnetic drain plug. i) Thread pitch: The thread pitch of the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug is M12 X 1.5 X 20, so the pitch is 1.5 mm. Comparing this to the stock plug that has been used pretty much on all bmws for the last couple of decades, the stock plug is M12 X 1.5 X 16 (https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...&q=11137535106). Here are some images of the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug and stock drain plug having their thread pitch measured, and being meshed together to ensure there are no thread pitch anomalies. Note that metric bolts have a 60 degree thread angle so my thread pitch tool will also verify this angle if it fits snugly. Credit: F87source Credit: F87source Credit: F87source Credit: F87source As you can see by these images the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug’s thread pitch is exactly the 1.5 mm as required by the bmw oil pan, and is perfectly meshed with the stock plug and thread pitch gauge. This means that the thread pitch of this drain bolt is perfect and will not cause any issues. The only difference is that the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug is 20 mm long vs 16 mm of the stock plug. The length discrepancy however is not an issue due to the fact that the there is nothing the plug can hit even if it is longer. ii) Diameter: Next we will examine the diameter bolt of the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug compared to the stock one with digital calipers, and with a swiping technique to get the maximum diameter (major diameter) of a cylindrical object. Credit: F87source Credit: F87source As you can see by these images the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain bolt has a major diameter of 11.90 mm and the stock drain bolt has a major diameter of 11.77 mm. iii) Hex size: The turner motorsports titanium drain plug also features a 17mm hex which is the same size as the factory drain plug. Here is an image of the hex being measured with digital calipers. Credit: F87source Credit: F87source Credit: F87Source As you can see the hex is exactly 17.00 mm so it will fit perfectly in hex sockets (which are actually slightly bigger than 17.00 mm by a small amount) with nearly no play, this means that the hex will not suffer from damage by being slightly too small which means there will be play in the socket. The hex also has a decent depth of 7.51 mm as well so it will be able to better fit hex sockets without “slipping out” even when flush against the oil pan. The stock drain plug actually has a hex that is 16.56 mm so a bit off of the 17.00 mm so it actually has a bit more play vs the turner bolt in a 17 mm socket as those (like I just said) sockets are slightly bigger than 17 mm to account for bolt tolerances. iv) Copper washer fitment: I was not able to get images of the various washer fitments while performing the oil change but here is what I noted: a) The included copper washer with the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain bolt had a larger diameter compared to the genuine Bmw copper washer that was present from my last dealership performed oil change. However the thickness remains the same. With this washer it will be larger than the hex of either the turner or stock bolt and stick out. b) The genuine Bmw copper washer was the exact same in terms of diameter and thickness as the copper washer that was included in the mann hu8011z oil filter (this is the exact same one as the genuine Bmw oil filter minus the ///M logo, all the part numbers on the filter from mann were the same). With this washer it will be smaller than the hex head and stay quite hidden underneath the stock bolt or the turner bolt. c) What I noticed was that despite the Turner provided copper washer having a larger diameter it doesn’t really perform any differently than the stock or mann supplied copper washer. This is because there is a small circular raised lip underneath of the titanium plug’s hex, this is the only part that contacts the copper washer and it is a bit smaller than the genuine Bmw/Mann copper washer. So having a larger washer wouldn’t really benefit it too much as all the force that crushes the washer down is in a diameter smaller than the larger turner washer. The stock drain bolt behaves the same way with the washer being actually smaller than the hex just like on the turner drain bolt, so a larger washer wouldn’t really benefit anything in terms of providing more seal as the outer edges wouldn’t be crushed down anyways. So overall I opted to use the mann crush washer and there have been zero issues/leaks. v) Magnetic grade strength and surface area: Not many people think about the magnet type itself when purchasing a magnetic drain plug, but I am here to tell you that not all magnets are the same for the reasons below. The turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug utilizes a neodymium grade n42 type SH magnet (https://www.albmagnets.com/neodymium...ts-grades.html) which retains its magnetic efficacy up to 150℃, however when talking to an engineer from Turner motorsports he informed me in their testing efficacy of the magnet was not lost until 204℃. These numbers are incredibly good especially since bmw starts to cut power at 132℃ and full limp mode occurs before 150℃ - so you will never have to worry about the magnet loosing its ability to cling onto metal particles even at high track temps. This is fantastic because some cheaper magnetic drain plugs utilize cheap magnets which lose their efficacy at 80℃ meaning it will not work even when the engine is below operating temperature (operating temps for oil is at 90℃). So essentially when your car warms up those cheapo magnets let go of all the metal they have captured and let it free directly into the oil pick up.... Then the only time they will capture anything is when the engine is off and the oil has cooled down and that means they are only able to catch particles that have settled onto the magnet, as opposed to when the engine is on and oil is sloshing around. So here you can see not all magnets are made the same and thus if you cheap out on a drain plug you could essentially get a useless paper weight. The strength of this magnet is also really impressive, it can hold a large wrench and still provide a decent bit of retention even when I pull against it with the help of gravity. So that is really nice, and note even if those cheaper magnetic drain plugs can hold alot of weight if the magnet grade is not designed for high temps then all that strength is for nothing. But speaking in terms of a numbers side of things neodymium grade n42 magnets have a Br rating (it is the magnetic property that is independent of magnet shape and is the magnetic induction remaining after a magnetic field has been removed from a magnetic material it is trying to induce a magnetic field in) of 13,200 Gauss (https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp...20the%20magnet.) while offering the highest operating temperature possible. So essentially it is a really strong magnet even compared to the competition which offers neodymium magnets in the low 4 digit gauss ratings. Finally I must mention surface area. This magnetic drain plug has some of the best magnet surface area out there, because the not only is the tip of the magnet exposed but the magnet also protrudes out giving it more surface area than even some of the best brand name plugs out there. This helps the plug capture more metallic debris than any of the other competitors that may rival this drain plug. Images of the drain plug fully installed: Credit: F87source Credit: F87source So here are my install images of the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug on my bmw m2. The first image shows a view directly underneath of the drain plug and as you can see it fits perfectly in the hole, and has plenty of clearance all the way around for a 17 mm socket. There is nothing abnormal with the way it fits and does not cause any issues. Overall it fits perfectly and looks quite nice. The second image shows a side view of the drain plug and you can see the mann hu8011z supplied copper crush washer underneath of the drain plug fitting perfectly just like how it would on the stock drain bolt. There has been zero leaks after 2 weeks of my pennzoil platinum euro 5w40 oil change and the drain plug being installed, a lot of hard km’s have also been put on it with oil temperatures reaching 98C and there has been no issues whatsoever. So I am very happy thus far with the fit and finish of this drain bolt it has given me no issues at all. Addressing some concerns: While doing research for this review I have stumbled upon a couple of concerns and a bunch of misinformation regarding issues with magnetic drain plugs and I would like to address them. 1) Stripping threads: I have heard so much about how after market plugs can strip the oil drain pan plugs, but this generally is not the case. If the aftermarket drain plug has the same thread pitch, and plug diameter as the stock drain plug stripping can only be due to these reasons I have listed below (note aluminium pans already have weaker threads than steel pans): a) The threads in the oil pan are not cleaned out during oil changes and residual oil acts like a torque multiplier and you end up putting more torque on the drain plug than what was required resulting in faituging of the threads. This over time and repetitive cycles will cause the drain pan threads to fail. b) Reuse of the factory crush washer, again you have to over tighten the drain plug as a result to compensate for any leaks due to the crush washer already being crushed down, resulting in stripped threads. c) Not using a torque wrench and using the bmw prescribed torque specs and thus over tightening the pan (this is the big one). d) Cross threading the drain plug because it was not put in by hand first. e) Use of impact tools or any power tools on the drain bolt. 2) Drain plug diameter: Before we can discuss this I must include an image demonstrating diameters. Credit: Site admin from all America thread products, August 28, 2015. https://330zpr17apfr1j45wba4i5dj-wpe...-1-768x327.jpg From this image you can see there are a couple of different parameters that a bolt may have: a) major diameter: the outermost diameter and the one that classifies what type of bolt it is eg m12 or m8 etc. (I measured the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain bolt’s major diameter above). b) minor diameter the innermost diameter the pitch diameter the midpoint between the major and minor diameter c) the thread angle this is another factor that determines if a bolt is metric or inch based, for eg. metric bolts have 60 degrees of thread angle (my thread pitch tool was 60 degrees so it also measured thread angle as a result of measuring thread pitch). d) pitch which determines the spacing between the threads (as we have measured earlier). So I have also heard chatter about how aftermarket drain plug major diameters are smaller than stock or smaller than the required 12.00 mm of an m12 drain bolt causing the drain plug to strip. Again this is complete nonsense, every bolt even the factory one (as measured above) can vary from the perfect 12.00 mm spec (actually no bolt should be exactly 12.00 mm in terms of major diameter otherwise it might get cause too much galling due to it being way too tight, or seize up from being too tight, and thermal expansion differences can play a problematic roll) of an m12 bolt due to manufacturing tolerances. So as long as the bolt is within the tolerance range for an m12 bolt which is generally around 11.732 mm - 11.968 mm (as per this source: https://www.engineersedge.com/hardwa...ead-sizes1.htm). Every source is slightly different in the hundredths or thousandths of a mm range so nothing too major as the general range is the same. Also note if your bolt has a thread that is a bit more round instead of sharp this can impact major diameter measurements as well adding to the mostly benign variation that we see bolt to bolt, so again this shows how major diameter can fluctuate alot so you should not panic if your bolt is not exactly 12.00 mm or slightly smaller than stock. When we look at the measurements I took above my turner motorsports magnetic drain plug is at 11.90 mm so it falls within this acceptable tolerance range as well so no issues with this plug. My stock drain bolt is 11.77 mm, so even smaller than the Turner bolt, but again in the acceptable tolerance range. Right away this debunks the “myth” that smaller bolts cause issues. It is simply not true and likely the reason for stripped threads was the mechanic did not torque to spec properly, or did not clean the threads of oil which acts like a torque multiplier. What is more important is the pitch diameter which determines how much surface area of the thread makes contact with the oil pan threads, and this is verified via measuring minor diameter and major diameter and determining the average. Unfortunately the blades of my calipers were to thick to obtain the minor diameter of the drain bolt so I could not calculate pitch diameter. However I did perform a “wobble test” on both the stock and TMS drain plug. What the wobble test is - is that you thread in the bolt down the same number of threads and wobble it to see if it moves. If the bolt doesn’t move it is extremely tight in the hole and this could mean the minor or major diameter was too large and is touching the drain pan threads too much preventing any wobble. Since we know that the major diameter is acceptable for both bolts the minor diameter is what we would be testing. The stock bolt did have some wobble and from what I determined so did the TMS bolt to the same degree. This obviously isn’t super scientific but it did verify that nothing was out of spec to the point where there was alot of additional friction on the oil drain pan threads to where it would cause galling and potential stripping. I also did mesh the two drain plugs together as seen in the images above and you do not see any gaps meaning thread pitch was good (also verified by my thread pitch gauge). So in general if the major diameter is different than the M12 spec do not panic so long as the major diameter and all of the other diameters are within the acceptable range it is perfectly fine, remember when machining occurs there will always be minor error nothing is perfect when mass produced hence why a tolerance range exists. So don’t panic if you see posts of individuals saying a smaller bolt is bad and will strip your threads (most likely their pan threads were either already fatigued, or it was over torqued, or cross threaded, or maybe their bolt happened to be defective who knows), the engineering side of things says otherwise so long as your bolt is in the acceptable tolerance range you will be fine. 3) Thread pitch: This has also been a concern for alot of people. But with the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug the thread pitch is the correct 1.5 mm as verified with my thread pitch gauge in the section 3 sub section 1. So you will not run into any issues with thread pitch when using the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug. 4) Magnets coming loose: Ok this is only a concern with cheap magnetic plugs that rely on adhesives to hold the magnet in, because when the oil gets hot the adhesives fail and the magnet can come loose. Some cheaper plugs may use really weak adhesive and rely on the magnet to also stick to the metal plug, but the combination of poor adhesives that fail in high temperature situations and cheap magnets that loose their magnetic properties (as discussed earlier) at low temperatures will also cause the magnet to come loose. But honestly despite alot of research I did not see this issue too frequently. Now with the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug it is fit into the body of the plug using an interference press fit technique. This means that the hole is smaller than the size of the magnet so the retention of the magnet is unparalleled compared to any adhesives and will not weaken over time, and you should never have a magnet fall out unless you crack it or damage the plug body. Now turner motorsports have also informed me that they performed alot of thermal simulations so that the different expansion rates of the different metals (the neodymium magnet and titanium plug) will not be able to cause the magnet to come loose even at temperatures higher than what the engine will see. Another benefit of titanium for interference press fits is that the metal is extremely durable and strong, so you won’t have to worry about titanium fatiguing over time due to use and possibly stretching or deforming to the point where the magnet may slip out. So overall the magnet coming loose on this drain plug is a nonexistent issue. 5) Hex head rounding off: This is a really rare issue but I have heard complaints of this online. This issue is mainly due to the hex on magnetic drain bolts being alot smaller and shallower than the socket that you’re supposed to use which creates alot of play, or the user using an imperial socket instead of a metric one. This combined with a soft metal like aluminium can eventually result in the hex being rounded off. But this is a non-issue with the turner motorsports titanium magnetic drain plug which has an exactly 17.00 mm hex as shown by my caliper measurements in section 3 sub section iii labeled hex size. The depth of the hex is also sufficient enough that when used with a 17 mm socket there is no play and the sect doesn’t want to slip off the drain bolt (due to a lack of depth). Combine this with the fact that the plug is made of titanium means there is no chance that you will round the hex on this plug, you’re more likely to strip the threads on the drain pan before damaging this hex. Additional stock drain bolt images: Credit: F87source Credit: F87source Overall summary: Overall in my opinion this is the best magnetic drain plug currently available due to its titanium construction which should prevent any breaking issues from ever occurring. It also features the correct thread pitch and diameter as previously described so no thread stripping of your oil pan should ever occur. The magnet itself is also the correct type to withstand higher oil temperatures that your car may ever experience without loosing magnet efficacy meaning this magnet will always work and be able to stick to any metal particles in your engine. The magnet also has more surface area than its competitors. So all of these features literally make it the best magnetic oil drain plug available imo, there literally is nothing else that I could find that I would say even comes close to this plug. It also is a really nice cheap mod every bmw owner should get because it can also help protect your engine from experiencing any additional wear and tear from metal debris. __________________ Click on the link below to see a compiled list of every review I have ever written: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...2#post30368242
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05-31-2021, 02:34 AM	#2
F87source Major General 7247 Rep 7,423 Posts Drives: Bmw M2 Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: . iTrader: (1)	Reserved for future posts. __________________ Click on the link below to see a compiled list of every review I have ever written: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...2#post30368242
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05-31-2021, 06:45 AM	#3
TopJimmy Major General 5459 Rep 5,152 Posts Drives: 2023 M3 Comp xDrive Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Chester County, PA iTrader: (5)	With that write up they should have given you two bolts. Good detailed info. __________________ '18 F80 Base 6MT \| '19 F82 Exec DCT \| '18 F82 Comp Exec DCT \| '23 G80cx
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05-31-2021, 08:41 PM	#5
hC1001 Captain 591 Rep 988 Posts Drives: E36 M3, F80 M3 Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Brooklyn, NY iTrader: (4)	Would be interested in what the magnet picks up on the next oil change. I didnt know Turner made a titanium magnetic drain plug. Thanks for bringing it to my attention and the review.
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06-01-2021, 10:22 AM	#9
agentrnge Lieutenant 381 Rep 486 Posts Drives: 2018 M3 6MT, 2001 740iL Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Morris County, NJ iTrader: (0)	Very much appreciate this write up. Thank you. And also appreciate the precision/validation of the threads. One worry I have is the plug is stronger than the pan. I thought it was usually intentional that the drain plug would be softer metal than the pan so if someone over-tightens, there is hopefully only damage the cheap and easy to replace plug and not damage the pan.
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06-01-2021, 01:42 PM	#11
icegrill Lieutenant Colonel 2078 Rep 1,780 Posts Drives: 2015 M3 Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Oregon iTrader: (3)	I'm still so anal I was afraid of the magnet coming out of the bolt and ending up in the pan or worse.
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06-03-2021, 03:19 AM	#13
hlm2c Lieutenant 290 Rep 408 Posts Drives: M2C Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: US/Korea iTrader: (1)	Wow, great write up! Took me awhile to read it all, but appreciate all the effort you put in. I noticed while searching for a Turner titanium magnetic drain plug, that they offer a plug for the rear diff and transmission as well. Any plans to compare those in the future as well? Last edited by hlm2c; 06-03-2021 at 04:00 AM..
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04-27-2022, 09:36 PM	#15
F87source Major General 7247 Rep 7,423 Posts Drives: Bmw M2 Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: . iTrader: (1)	Just wanted to post an update, I just did my oil change today and I noticed that the magnet actually does pick up metallic debris. There was a small greyish layer of metallic sludge covering the head of the magnet that was easily wiped off. It wasn't a large amount of metal by any means - nothing to be concerned about, but it does show that these engines do have ferrous metal components inside that do wear (cam shafts, valvetronic shaft, valve springs, timing chain, etc). So these magnetic drain plugs do work, and aren't useless as many speculated. Another thing to note was my oil temps got to 106*C in comfort mode before I shut off the car to drain the oil. So it was extremely hot and the magnet didn't lose its magnetism showing that turner does indeed use a very good quality grade n42 type SH neodymium magnet. Overall it is a very solid product and I am happy to have it. __________________ Click on the link below to see a compiled list of every review I have ever written: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...2#post30368242
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04-27-2022, 09:53 PM	#16
Jbrown7403 Captain 2641 Rep 640 Posts Drives: 2016 BMW M4 Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Austin Texas iTrader: (0)	And the prize for the most detailed and thorough product review goes to …. Seriously well done …. I’m sold!
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04-30-2022, 10:13 PM	#18
papasmurf_m3 Captain 455 Rep 844 Posts Drives: YMB F80 M3 Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: LA iTrader: (0)	So, does this work with the magnesium oil pans too? Or is this just for the newer aluminum pans? __________________ 60-130 mph 6.72 secs 1/2 mile trap speed 158 mph ecutek - bend calibration pro tune - flex fuel - mpe - stock turbos - oem+
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06-26-2022, 12:38 AM	#20
BzsBimmer Major General 3271 Rep 6,723 Posts Drives: '23 G80 FO M3, M3 & MY Tezzy's Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Nor. Cal iTrader: (32)	That was some serious writing and investigative work for a oil drain plug. I hope Turner sees this and provides you something! This will only pick up ferrous metals though. Aluminum and copper won’t get picked up. I think you stated any metallic pieces. I have the ECS metallic drain plug and it’s worked for me as well. Because I have a 2015 and have a different plug, I kept getting frustrated when buying filters with free crush washers that didn’t fit and I saw the ECS one that came with a bunch of washers… 6 oil changes later, still works, and I also get a black fine dust coating my magnet when draining hot/warm oil. I don’t think I saw the Turner one at the time. Again, super detailed breakdown. Would love to see this thorough breakdown of something else like a air cooler!!
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08-05-2022, 09:46 PM	#22
pesh First Lieutenant 122 Rep 303 Posts Drives: 2024 Black M4 Convertible Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Austin, TX iTrader: (0) Garage List 2015 BMW M4 Convert ... [0.00]	What an amazing write-up. Thank you for taking the time and detail! I am dealing with an oil change issue on my 2015 BMW M4 Convertible where the European Car Service Center (in Austin, TX) that I go to has said my oil pan is stripped and a new pan must be installed ($3000 - ugh!). As part of ordering a new pan and casket from Turner Motor Sports, I also added the matching Titanium Oil Plug to my order (thanks you your write-up). As a novice, looking forward to future oil changes. Will the Titanium Plug be re-usable on future oil changes? or does a new plug have to be installed on each change? Or do we re-use the plug and just get a new "crush" washer each time? Excuse my ignorance and thanks in advance for any guidance.
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