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Car Forum / BMW Cars / July 2006Whatis the best Engine oil to use?
Hello all, There are so many engine oils out there and everyone seems to have threr faviourte but what is the best oil to use? I have a E46 325ci, which has just been serviced 6 months ago and the oil low light has already come up! sure there are many of you with the ame problem, my engine oil cap says that BMW RECOMMENDS CASTROL! hmmm, but i heard mobil 1 were really good! Cheers >There are so many engine oils out there and everyone seems to have >threr faviourte but what is the best oil to use? I always recommend cod liver oil to the lube trolls I encounter. >I have a E46 325ci, which has just been serviced 6 months ago and the >oil low light has already come up! Of course, even with today's bullet-proof engines, you still check your engine oil level weekly, don't you? -- Larry >>There are so many engine oils out there and everyone seems to have >>threr faviourte but what is the best oil to use? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Of course, even with today's bullet-proof engines, you still check your engine > oil level weekly, don't you? You'll have to show us how to do that on the new models that don't have dipsticks.  Signature-Fred W > Of course, even with today's bullet-proof engines, you still check your > engine oil level weekly, don't you? It's a very long time since I've found this necessary. Both my cars - one BMW and one 20 year old 'classic' don't need topping up between oil changes, and both have low oil level warning circuits. Of course it will depend on driving style and conditions, but I'd say those would have to be pretty exceptional to require a weekly check. Signature*Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. Hear hear. DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- [...] > It's a very long time since I've found this necessary. Both my cars - one > BMW and one 20 year old 'classic' don't need topping up between oil > changes, and both have low oil level warning circuits. Of course it will > depend on driving style and conditions, but I'd say those would have to be > pretty exceptional to require a weekly check. BMW's house brand synthetic is good and often sold at a good price. Mobil 1 is approved by BMW (5qt jugs at Walmart at good prices sometimes). The 325 is supposed to be fed 5W30. You can also go with the boutique oils (Amsoil, Redline, Royal Purple), all outstanding lubricants but probably not worth the price premium unless you plan on long service intervals and don't consume much oil between changes. R / John > Hello all, > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Cheers > BMW's house brand synthetic is good and often sold at a good price. Mobil 1 > is approved by BMW (5qt jugs at Walmart at good prices sometimes). The 325 [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >> [quoted text muted] I agree with the above. For dino oil synthetic, I would go with mobile one. For pure synthetic, red line seems to be what most bimmer folks lean towards. The best performance/price/availability balance would be mobil one. I'm not sure about castrol's synthetic line, while they do make good dino based oils- I haven't heard much about using their heavy additive derived synthetics. They add some chemicals to make your seals swell up and also some to clean the gunk out of your engine. But if your engine is clean and leak-free, mobile one is typically the standard. BMW doesn't typically recommend high end synthetics probably because of the price/availability. ER > For dino oil synthetic, I would go with mobile > one. You don't consider M1 products to be full synthetics? Care to elaborate and provide some supporting references? Thanks, Pete >> [quoted text muted] > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Pete Sure. Here is a write-up about pure and mixed synthetics. In practice, it doesn't affect a road car's performance in the slightest. Pure synth's are mainly for racing. Mobil 1 or the Castrol Synth are perfect for road driving or heavier. Redline, Royal Purple, or Amsoil, which are considered pure synthetics, are mainly used for nascar racing or bimmer racing enthusiasts. http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbibles/engineoil_bible.html This gets to be a heated debate for some people. They get angry about the terminology. Whether it's dino derived, mixed syth, or pure syth doesn't matter. It matter at what threshold your are running your engine and how much friction you want to have/what buildup you will get. Nothing to get excited about. Which reminds me of a old bimmer joke... hehe. What's the difference between a cactus and a bmw? On a cactus the pricks are on the outside. Please don't take offense. The mixed or pure syth debate won't affect bimmer owners either way. The engine will run clean either way. ER >What's the difference between a cactus and a bmw? > >On a cactus the pricks are on the outside. I heard that as a Porsche 911 joke. And considering my friends that own each type of car it uh, well, ya know, it's only funny cause there's some truth to it. SignatureNeed Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net > I agree with the above. For dino oil synthetic, I would go with mobile > one. For pure synthetic, red line seems to be what most bimmer folks lean [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > typically recommend high end synthetics probably because of the > price/availability. Once again, you have it exactly backwards. Mobil 1 is a true synthetic (PAO base) oil and Castrol Syntec is the cracked mineral oil base. Mobil 1 (0W40) is one of the few BMW Long Life endorsed oils besides the BMW branded oil which is supposedly manufactured by Castrol, but is not the same as Syntec. If I had a newer model I'd use BMW oil. Get it in case lots and save a few bucks. It's about the same price as the others. On all of my oldies, I now use Shell Rotella T Full Synthetic (5W40). Signature-Fred W > and Castrol Syntec is the cracked mineral oil base. Yup, with one exception though. The 0w-30 Syntec that says "Made in Germany" on the back label (someties called German Castrol or GC), which can be found at some AutoZone stores in the US, is actually a repackaged Castrol SLX oil from Europe and does not contain group III (hydrocracked) components. Of course the "Made in USA" Syntec 0w-30 is like all other Syntec grades - group III. One other Castrol oil called TWS Motorsport 10w-60 is also fully synthetic AFAIK, but I'm not sure if it can be easily found in North America. BMW dealers might have it as it was recommended for some M3 engines if I'm not mistaken. Pete >> and Castrol Syntec is the cracked mineral oil base. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >dealers might have it as it was recommended for some M3 engines if I'm not >mistaken. correct, required for all 2001-2006 M3 models. You can not buy this stuff at a regular shop, the dealer sells it for around 10 bucks a quart. What is the consequence? (GC or AC?) DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- [...] > Yup, with one exception though. The 0w-30 Syntec that says "Made in > Germany" on the back label (someties called German Castrol or GC), which [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Pete |
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