What oil do you put in your e60?

[tcdesignguy]

Mobile 1 European Formula 0-40 (live in mn and its been down to -18F lately)

I used Mobile 1 on my Audi A6 since new and when I pull of valve cover at 200k it was super clean. I'll post a pic soon.

[bsenright]

Old thread I know but lots of opinions with very little data. Get a name brand Synthetic oil at the wt specified in manual. You will find Mobil snobs, Pennzoil snobs, Castrol snobs. Which is fine. Synthetic oil is manufactured pretty much the same by all with very slight differences but it really doesn't matter. The key is, get a good filter recommended by BMW.

And second, all the people saying to change your oil every 5k or 7k miles, if you get full synthetic quality oil and a BMW recommended filter, there is absolutely no reason to change your oil before 12K miles and can go 15k. Germans are laughing at us Americans who get bombarded with ads for our poor quality cars requiring oil changes every 3-5k miles. I currently have 2 BMW's. A 2004 525i with 210K miles and a 2005 X3 with 156K miles. Never changed oil in them sooner than 12K miles. Both look and run like new. I have owned at least 12 BMW's in my life and treated them all the same and never hand internal engine issues.

[bellabmw]

After 200k in clock using only 5w40 castrol full synthetic

[oh2ball]

I used Mobil 1 5W-30 every 7500 miles with every BMW I've owned since 1992. No problem ever.

[jtbgonesailing]

oh2ball, You change your oil every 75,000 miles???? Mobil 1 0w40 use to be LL01 rated, no longer is and Mobil1 5w30 has never been LL01 rated.

[militarydave30]

I used Royal Purple my last oil change with a K&N Filter.

Thinking of going Mobil 1 Extended Performance with either a Mobil 1 filter or Mann filter.

[oh2ball]

I bought my car way out of warranty. I love BMWs and think they are great engineers that build them. However, just because BMW says it's not LL01 approve is not enough for me to move away from Mobil 1. 25 plus years of experience has given me confidence that it is the right oil for me. I just wish they could get the dang turbos to work consistently like the Japanese engineers.

Response from ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Team, ExxonMobil
May 16, 2016
Quality & performance of the new Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 is comparable to the outgoing Mobil 1 0W-40, carrying many of the same claims. However, Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 no longer carries BMW LL-01, due to changes in BMW’s testing requirement.

[cmyachtie]

For many years now on all three BMW's I have had used Castroll 0W-30 German but will go tho the same 0W-40 next change on the 545

[Justin318i]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JGQLZSU...61KVZ2TWQWKG90

[oh2ball]

BTW My 2000 740i Sport had 266,000+ miles on it before some nut ran into it all on Mobil 1 5w-30. Never had to replace the chain guides or tensioner.

[bellabmw]

BTW My 2000 740i Sport had 266,000+ miles on it before some nut ran into it all on Mobil 1 5w-30. Never had to replace the chain guides or tensioner.

Lucky you because in many cases after 200k in clock have to use -40 and not anymore 30 because it seems to be more loss/burn of oil with 30grade.

[militarydave30]

speaking of which... it's 6.5 quarts of oil to fill up a 528i (inline 6 cyl), correct?

[Justin318i]

some are 6.5 some 7 anywhere in between you're good.

[oh2ball]

Good to know about moving to 10w-40? or 0w-40?

[jtbgonesailing]

Oh2ball, Here is a nice Specification Comparison chart comparing oil additive packages to meet certain Auto Manufacturers oil requirements. https://www.lubrizol.com/apps/relperftool/pc.html

I realize you have used Mobil 1 over the years. I to have used Mobil 1 first in my 1981 e21 and e12 after they had 12k miles on them. In the case of the e21, it was 20w50 and the e12, 5w30. Still have the e21 and it receives 15w50 today.
The e12 received 5w30 the entire 19 years of ownership.

My e60, 05 530i has lived on Mobil 1 0w40 on all oil changes that BMW didn't provide through this spring when Mobil lost the LL01 certification. Now it lives on Castrol Edge European formula 0w40 manufactured in Germany. ACEA A3B4, BMW LL01, Porsche A40 ratings.

The Comparison Chart will provides a overview of the additional additive package have above the ACEA A3B4, for LL01 and A40.
ACEA additive packages are generally considered better oils than the US SAE oils of a given viscosity.

Whats my point you may be asking? Just thought you might not realize what strides have been made in lubricants ability to clean, reduce wear and protect our engines today compared to years past.

[bschmidt25]

speaking of which... it's 6.5 quarts of oil to fill up a 528i (inline 6 cyl), correct?

It's 6.5 liters, which is equal to ~6.9 quarts. I just call it 7.

[oh2ball]

Thanks for the info!

[militarydave30]

I'll put it just under 7 quarts and keep an eye on it to top it off about half way from the oil change interval.

thanks!

[oh2ball]

I thought the spec was 6.9 qts anyway right?

[Ozfndz]

Hello all, I recently purchased an 08 528xi and upon a gasket valve replacement I found that it was poorly maintained. Thick heavy gunk of oil accumulated all over. Is there a way of cleaning this up?

[sid the sloth]

Hello all, I recently purchased an 08 528xi and upon a gasket valve replacement I found that it was poorly maintained. Thick heavy gunk of oil accumulated all over. Is there a way of cleaning this up?

First post, eh? Welcome! Easiest is a mild degreaser with short soak, rinse, wipe and repeat.

For oil, I put anything ll01 or acea a3/b3 high temp, high shear

[bellabmw]

I go with Castrol full synthetic 5w40 because I have 240k kilometers in the clock.

[ss109]

Rotella T6. Has an amazingly high shear which is great for these engines.

Sent from my LG G6 using Tapatalk

[Roadwarrior1956]

Rotella is great oil, I have taken it a step further and use the T4 15-40 non-synthetic diesel oil, I know your all gonna think I'm crazy but I have had many very reputable mechanics advise me to use this oil, when I first put the oil in the car the difference was very noticeable, it was quieter, smoother, and accelerated less hesitation, I was also told that with all the additives in this oil it would really clean the motor and help soften and swell the seals.
Time will tell on that but I have seen any oil smoke in the exhaust since I added it, they it should to oil changes to see a real difference, that being said oil changes will be every 4500 miles but this oil only cost $38 per 2.5 gallons!

Update: I was hoping this oil would help with the smoking valve seals! NOOOO! didn't happen, no such thing as a mechanic on a bottle lol
Just completed the valve seal change, it is a job from HELL!!! to do but very satisfying to complete.

A note on the valve seal replacement job, You don't need a leak down tester or a rope when the piston is at TDC the valve will not fall in the cylinder and can still be accessed and the keeper installation tool is worthless, a little white grease on a long thin screw driver will do the trick nicely.

[90turbo1]

I purchased a 04 545i SMG and the motor would rattle a bit when first started up, and appeared to puff a small amount of smoke. The oil change sticker on windshield (from previous owners shop) said SYN 5w30 dont know what brand or anything.

182k on vehicle. When I did the oil change I used Castrol 0W40 Syn European Formula (purchased in 5 quart jugs at local walmart) and a factory oil filter.

no more smoke and no more rattles. runs like it should. Who knows what was in it from previous.

We would get cars at dealership that stuck to the oil change reminder in car and others that would change oil at 7.5k others at 3k (waste of money) we saw the same problems with the 3k oil change cars as we did with 15k oil change cars and suprise suprise they looked the same under the valve covers...... so who threw there money away.

I have heard of the rotellaT diesel oil in the cars. The only real difference would be the additive package added to the oil to help with the diesel by products that produce alot of acid in diesel motors. BMW also sells a 5w30 castrol for the diesel which seems to have the same packaging on bottle as the euro formula 0w40 i get. strange.

when we went to BMW training we were told that the 5w30 that bmw sells in the dealership (the quarts through parts dept) is quite a bit different than the castrol 5w30 syntec purchased at auto parts store. the BMW is actually closer to a 40 weight. And going from a 30 weight to a 40 weight is 2 times thicker (i know doesnt make sence to me either). But maybe that explains the 0w40 on the euro formula from castrol that is labled BMW LL1 approved.