what is the best oil?

[BinagMW E39]

So I recently picked up my M3 and I wanted to change the oil. I don't know what oil the person used before me? So what is the best oil to put in my M3 it has close to 128000 miles? I was thinking royal purple? Any other opinions?

[khaos]

I'm still fairly new here... but one thing I do know is you are going to get some pretty interesting answers

:popcorn

[propcar]

Royal Purple is good, I've used 10w40 and never had any problems with my Vanos or Valve tick yet and I got 153k miles

I recently just switched to Shell Rotella T6 5w40. It costs much less but alot of people like it, it has alot of the euro certifications and some people here even use it on their track cars.

I think any synthetic will be fine as long as you choose the weight appropriately for your climate. What you really need to worry about is consumption, this is normal, even from the factory. Some M3 engines hardly burn any oil, some burn much more. Some oils lend themselves to consumption more than others, this is for you to find out.

Also, if you use fully synthetic, depending on your usage, you can change it every 6k miles. If it's a track car you'll want to do it more often I assume.


Also, there's tons of threads on this topic... and you're going to hear all sorts of recommendations. Just stick to the major brands, Castrol, ELF, Mobile1, Shell, Motul, etc.

[ECSTuning]

You can never go wrong with Genuine BMW fluids!

Click HERE for more information. (http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E36-M3-S52_3.2L/Maintenance/Engine/Inspection_1/ES250867/?salesrep=JHorak&utm_source=bimmerforums&utm_medium=forum&utm_content=JHorak&utm_campaign=postreply).
http://c1552172.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/74405_x600.jpg ( http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E36-M3-S52_3.2L/Maintenance/Engine/Inspection_1/ES250867/?salesrep=JHorak&utm_source=bimmerforums&utm_medium=forum&utm_content=JHorak&utm_campaign=postreply)

Please let us know if you have any questions! Feel free to shoot me a PM or email.

Best,
Joe

[Xiphos]

Mobil 1 synthetic
Rotella Synthetic
Lubro Molly
Castol Euro synthetic

All of those are good.

[l1ttlej7]

First google it b/c as soon as you do you'll find threads from this forum on this and be able to read more recommendations. Second, if you are changing your oil every 3000 miles any synthetic oil will be sufficient. I personally like MOTUL over the Redline, Royal Purple, and Mobile One.

[SoTexM3]

Not sure which of these oils is best, but here is what I use:

Lubro Moly 5w40 is what I use in my BMW. During the summer I might run Mobile 1 15w50, but I live south of Hell and it is hot.

Pennzoil or Quaker state (depends what's on sale at the time) 5w30 is what I use in my truck.

Lemon oil is what I use on my coffee table, and mineral oil sure makes a slip and slide fun (twister too).

Peanut oil is what I use in my turkey fryer.

Olive Oil is what I use in my day to day cooking.

Oil paint is what I use on my canvas.

[langley]

Vegetable.

Run Rotella T6 5W-40 and call it a day.

[Chazwick05]

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1406255


here's your answer. it's also conveniently located at the top of the e36m3 sub-forum. wooooooooooooooo.

[gk325is]

Whale oil or royal purple which ever you prefer

[graywolf316]

Royal purple isnt bad its just over priced.

You cant g wrong with OEM which is rebottled castrol so any fully syn. castrol will be fine.

Mobil 1 is good as well.

Just stick with a higher end fully syn. (no blends) oil and you should be fine.

[cek2]

Mobil 1 0W 40 works well in my 95 M3.

[BinagMW E39]

im pretty sure i will start useing royal purple, or amsoil. but my question is what kind of weight oil is best? around spring?

[esp42089]

More important to change often (3-5k) depending on your environment. I prefer plain old Castrol 10w40, and I change it every 3k. My car only eats 1qt of it every oil change. Valvoline and Mobil 1 both used nearly 2 qts in 3k. So my advice is experiment and find what your engine uses the least of, and then go with that.

[Fasterthanyou]

I only use Mobil 1 synth.

[E30wheelman]

poor guy, welcome to BFC! FWIW i use M1 Ow40 for the winter and Rotella T6 5 w40 for the summer. 97 m3 Street driven car, for my 528 i use BMW 5w30 syn

[knickfan5745]

More important to change often (3-5k) depending on your environment. I prefer plain old Castrol 10w40, and I change it every 3k. My car only eats 1qt of it every oil change. Valvoline and Mobil 1 both used nearly 2 qts in 3k. So my advice is experiment and find what your engine uses the least of, and then go with that.

Dumb question, but is there any harm in changing your oil "too" often like every 2k miles?

[ChuckDizzle]

Dumb question, but is there any harm in changing your oil "too" often like every 2k miles?

it harms your wallet more often than changing it at regular intervals

[esp42089]

yeah, cost. Some will say the detergents in the oil don't start working in that short a period, but I'm not sure how much I buy that. Your main goal, along with lubrication, is cleaning out particles and such.

[breakfast]

yeah, cost. Some will say the detergents in the oil don't start working in that short a period, but I'm not sure how much I buy that. Your main goal, along with lubrication, is cleaning out particles and such.

you need to head to bobistheoilguy to learn.

Running the oil 7-10k is perfectly fine. Any sooner and you are just blowing money away for no reason.

The additive packages in oil these days hold together plenty over that time(and could be pushed even more but youd have to do a UOA on your engine to see how its going) .

[knickfan5745]

I see. I'm just trying to do as much "preventative maintenance" as possible after spending two paychecks to have the head unit replaced.

[propcar]

I think 6-7k is a sufficient interval on a DD car that doesn't see track time

[esp42089]

DD, if it is short runs of less than about 20 minutes, is the hardest on your engine and oil. I would feel fine letting a track driven car go longer without an oil change because the engine always gets up to operating temperature. Same with a car that see's regular commutes.

[Manhattan]

I run M1 15-50. Get a magnetic drain plug. It will pick up all sorts of metal filings.

[sjpgoalie]

I run 5w30/40 depending on the season. Some of you guys run really odd weights. I've never had engine problems, knock on wood, running these two weights on S/M5X engines for years, including an engine that's nearly a full blown race S52.

[my1stE30]

I just bought an 88 E30 320i from my mechanic ... he said that all fluids in the car were new (except he forgot to fill the fuel tank ... LOL) ... and that for the engines he uses MOTUL synthetic 5W30 ... so that is what I will be using .... he said that oil would be good for a 10,000 kilometer oil change interval unless the car was used only for a very low distance daily driver ....

[V8EATR]

Castrol 15-60 get it from the stealership.

[m3pare]

I ran ENEOS 5w-40 for the past two oil changes but switched to Lubro Moly 5w-40 for the very recent oil change. Might just be me but it seems like cold start is a LOT smoother and fuel economy has risen a tad bit.

[pig4bill]

You can never go wrong with Genuine BMW fluids!

Click HERE for more information. (http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E36-M3-S52_3.2L/Maintenance/Engine/Inspection_1/ES250867/?salesrep=JHorak&utm_source=bimmerforums&utm_medium=forum&utm_content=JHorak&utm_campaign=postreply).
http://c1552172.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/74405_x600.jpg ( http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E36-M3-S52_3.2L/Maintenance/Engine/Inspection_1/ES250867/?salesrep=JHorak&utm_source=bimmerforums&utm_medium=forum&utm_content=JHorak&utm_campaign=postreply)

Please let us know if you have any questions! Feel free to shoot me a PM or email.

Best,
Joe

Isn't 5w-30 kind of thin for an e36?

Okay, I used to use the Euro formula Castrol 10w-40 (I think it was 10w) that had the LL-98 certification on the bottle. Now that same stuff no longer has LL-98 listed, although it still has various Porsche, Mercedes, and VW certifications. So I decided to fall back on old-faithful Mobil 1 0w-40. I quit using this stuff a couple years ago because it doesn't seem to keep the lifters quiet as long as the Castrol did. Anyway, I see the LL-98 is gone from the Mobil 1 also. It has the LL-01, but since my engine is older, I'd rather find something with LL-98.

Any suggestions? I considered Royal Purple, but it had no certifications. Yeah, everyone says how good it is, but I want to see it in writing. Am I stuck going to the dealer if I want to get LL-98?

[TLPE36M3]

it harms your wallet more often than changing it at regular intervals

:lol love the smart @ss answer

[SmokedBMW23]

Mobil 1 0W40---It's a BMW approved oil BTW

[Andryuha]

Vegetable.

Run Rotella T6 5W-40 and call it a day.

+1. I was using mobil 0w30 before and Shell silenced the valve tick quite a bit.