Interesting Reading about BMW OIL facts long

[MWhip]

http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Lub...bil1_0W-40.asp

Time to change out my Mobil 1 5w30 syn....no wonder I have to fill up the engine a lil bit here and there ...must be burning a some oil GRRRRRR

[Ocean-Side M3]

I was buying Mobile 1 from Wallmart, and after reading the back found out that it did NOT meet minimum specs even though the oil had the SAME NAME??

[Bernanke]

BMW recommends 10w-40 or 20w-50 non synthetic oil for our cars, they also recommend copper plugs versus platinum. our cars actually are not designed for synthetic oil so technically we are not supposed to run it but so many do. I may run 10w-40 conventional oil next time based on BMW's recommendations.

[BubbaM3]

its so hard to find anything on lubro moly or even a place that sells it.. but the oil proves itself, no need to verify..

www.bavauto.com currently sells Lubro Moly 5w-40 @ $25 for 5 L container.

According to www.bobistheoilguy.com, LM 5w-40 is at least Group IV.

[jgerry2002]

BMW recommends 10w-40 or 20w-50 non synthetic oil for our cars, they also recommend copper plugs versus platinum. our cars actually are not designed for synthetic oil so technically we are not supposed to run it but so many do. I may run 10w-40 conventional oil next time based on BMW's recommendations.

It still amazes me that anyone would think the motor needs to be "designed" for synthetic oil. I run full synthetic in my M10 in the 2002, and I have since day one of the rebuild in '95. FYI, the 2.0L version of the M10 motor was introduced in '68, way before synthetics were even invented.

It makes no difference PERIOD whether the engine was designed for it. As long as you take into account the other information (weight, shear, ratings etc) in this thread then you will be all set.

I run Mobil 1 synthetic 5w-30, 10w-30 in the M3 or 15W-50 in '02 and change the oil after 6 months or so (depending on the number of track events in the M3 or time rather than mileage in the 2002), mileage varies between 2500 to 4500 miles between oil changes.

-Justin

[paul e]

>>The owner's manual of my Wife's 2004 525i, lists Mobil 1 5W-30 as an "approved oil".<<

exactly.. So how come, now, all of a sudden, what we learned about Group IV base stocks being better than Group III is trumped by this ACEA A3 rating?

[MVEED3]

Another happy Lubromoly user here. My car has used the 5-40 stuff ever since it came from Germany.


Allen

[Balthazarr]

I'm using 10w-40 Castrol Syn blend for a second change interval and no lifter tick like I had with GTX 20w-50 last year.

[M3325]

In my 1992 e36 manual, BMW recommends 15W40 for non-syn oil. I remember that is what bmw uses at my dealership. 15W40 is usually diesel related and that is recommended as we all know diesel puts more stress on the oil than do gasoline engine. 15W40 has very good HTHS and high cSt at 100 degrees. 10W40 is used at low ambient temp. European manufacturers in the 90s has always been recommending 15W40.

Now the question why mobil1 5W30 is approved in 2004 manual. One could be mobil1 outside of USA has different formulation. Second is that M54, as a newer design, requires less viscosity than compared to M50/S50/M52/S52 variants. I remember BMW synthetic used to be 5W40 LL-98 and suddenly when M54 came out they switched to 5W30 LL-01.

If you really was to run 5W30 group 4, then motul has a specific LL-01 ester-based....sells for 7.25 ....and is A3 rated due to high HTHS and high cST

[e36m3_858]

i think most of the recommendation of oil has to do with marketing and who has what contract with what oil company.

[paul e]

I cant imagine that Mobil1 5 or 10W-30, or Amsoil in similar weights, plus 0 and 10W-40 could all of a sudden be bad for these engines. Certainly, theres no way that these synthetics are not way better than conventional oils.

[e36m3_858]

some of you guys are so into what you read or hear or see in the advertisements.. its all about trial and error.. lets see here, what is the oil used for in the engine? to minimize the wear and the heat friction, lube, etc.. proven fact that synthetic oil doesn't break down as fast and can withstand more heat than regular oil.. when oil breaks down from heat it looses the molecules to properly lube your internals, therefore you engine takes a shit.. so why in the hell would someone say that synthetic is not good.. i think the best way to find out for yourself which oil brand is the best is to fry that oil at home of cooking pan or some kind of container and see which takes a shit faster..

[BubbaM3]

i think the best way to find out for yourself which oil brand is the best is to fry that oil at home of cooking pan or some kind of container and see which takes a shit faster..

Or a used oil analysis. Doesn't stink up the kitchen.

[Lance Racing]

What does frequent oil changes do? Extend the life of the engine. Unless your engine is being used primarily on the track in a racing environment, I wouldn't sweat the details too much, it is not getting worked too hard. A few redlines zipping around on the freeway is barely a workload on a BMW engine. Frequent oil changes will probably help the engine get to 200k and even 300k without a rebuild. Unless you are planning to hold onto your car for a long time, your hard work is to a future owners benefit.

I've got 4 BMWs that each get a different style of driving, and each get a different oil change interval and type of oil.

E30 Race Car: Mobil 1 Synthetic 15-50 red cap, changed after each race weekend.

E30 daily driver with 220k miles. Valvoline Max Life, changed around 4k intervals. Waste of money to run Synthetic in a high mile engine, I was running Mobil 1 synth for a long time though, but was getting a lot of burn, so the switch back to dino oil.

'94 325is with 58k miles - wife's daily driver. Mobil 1 Synthetic 15-50 red cap, every 5k miles. Conservative interval.

E30 M3 w/ 85k original miles - garage queen/weekend driver. Mobil 1 Synthetic 15-50 red cap, changed once a year which is about 2,500 mile interval. The S14 engine is special.

When was the last time you heard of someone retiring a BMW due to an engine failure related to oil lubrication? Yep, me either, and I'm around a lot of BMWs. My rec. is to worry a bit less about oil, and worry more about all the other fluids in your car. People blow off coolant, brake fluid, etc and those are important to keep fresh too. Not as often as oil, but 2 years is the general rec.

The oil companies have done a really good job selling people on the 3k interval. Regular motoring just does not need fresh oil that often.

Happy Motoring

[Mantic]

Well i've been running Mobile 1 synthetic 5w-30 for years in both my cars and havn't had any problems. The only think i've ever questioned was when I took a 1200 mile trip with and drove at a high interstate speed for an extended amount of time and burned off a quart or so. But from what i've read this is "normal".

[evnglion]

I know this thread isn't so much aimmed at standard to synth oil switches, but that's what I'm considering. I just bought an M3 less than a month ago, and the previous owner has run regular oil in it since he had it (he got the car in 05/99). Would it be safe to, on the next oil change, start using Mobile1 5w-40? I don't mind staying with normal oil if it is neccesary, but if I can switch, I really want to.

[e36m3_858]

you can switch back and forth all you want, is it good, not 100% sure, but your motor is not going to blow.. its also good to use thick non synthetic oil like 20w50 every once in a while on a car with high miles that only ran on synthetic. it seals all the shit in there a bit better so u don't burn as much oil..

[Lawrence1]

hmmm, that seems very interesting.

however i do have some things i would like to point out.

1. from what i recall the BMW oil is actually a group IV or at least thats what i thought, and the reason im saying this is because hte BMW oil is in fact a rebranded version of the german Castrol(aka. gc aka the Castrol 5W30 sold in germany which is in fact a group IV synth.)

2. a well developed/treated/cracked group III oil CAN be superior to a group IV oil and this was scientifically proven by castrol which is why Mobil 1 lost the lawsuit against them.

btw ... im not a chemist nor an engineer but i've read on this quite a bit and personally i run 5W50 Castrol Syntec in my car as i beleive its one of the best oils to use on the E36.
also the weight ratings are not that much different in synthetics compared to dyno oils so IMO the BMW recomended viscosity chart still applies to synthetics.

[paul e]

>>also the weight ratings are not that much different in synthetics compared to dyno oils so IMO the BMW recomended viscosity chart still applies to synthetics<<

Also, in synthetics, the weight ratings arent Nearly so important as in dino oils, as there is alot more lattitude, and coverage, per each weight. ie, the synthetics are so much more robust and dynamic in their coverage specs.

[DominikM3]

Can you run that new Amsoil SAE 5W-40 Synthetic European Engine Oil all year round?

[paul e]

Generally, you can run almost Any synthetic oil year round. this certainly cannot be said for dino oils.

[nydog]

hmmm, that seems very interesting.

however i do have some things i would like to point out.

1. from what i recall the BMW oil is actually a group IV or at least thats what i thought, and the reason im saying this is because hte BMW oil is in fact a rebranded version of the german Castrol(aka. gc aka the Castrol 5W30 sold in germany which is in fact a group IV synth.)

that's what i thought. from what i have read on this forum in the past, BMW synthectic is actually the euro formula castrol and is group IV

[paul e]

So, prior to this thread, what we were 'supposed' to use were oils with a Group IV base stock instead of Group III..

After reading the thread, it seems that now, its more important to use an oil with the ACEA A3 rating than a Group IV rating.. And I guess, best of all would be to find a combo of Group IV with an ACEA A3 rating.

Would this about sum it up?

[turrokk]

in Russia we use Castrol RS 10w60.. It's the best choice (and the most expensive). I changed my Mobil to RS and was really surprised by the engine sound change (a lot more.. ummm.. BMW-mish!) and slightly better mileage. RS is definately the best oil for BMW motors!

[97estorilM]

HOLY CRAP!! I got a headache reading all this. So which friggin oil should be used to remove the ticking sound. Once i don't hear the ticking sound as much than i know i'm using the right oil.
No really tho, which one of you guys has experienced a reduction in the ticking once they changed to a different oil. I have a pretty annoying ticking with the Mobile 1 syn 5w-30 that i use.