[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by pitos_7

I use Royal Purple HPS 5W-30, I drive a 325i though (N52 engine), but this oil should suit your N54 engine as well.

After switching to Royal Purple, engine runs butter-smooth Can't hear any valve or cam or lifters noise at all. The engine runs significantly quieter, it purrs like a kitten when it's idling in traffic lights. RPM needle seems to rev a bit more freely as well

I don't have an oil temperature gauge on my car, but other 335i owners on this forums claim lower temperatures using Royal Purple.

Royal Purple HPS is expensive though, $92 for a 5L bottle off eBay.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321612459...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Not many people would want to put that kind of money in an engine oil, but being a car enthusiast I don't mind obviously. I've used this oil on my Honda Civic, VW Jetta 2.0 FSI Turbo (same engine as a MK5 Golf GTI) and lately used it in my 325i and all three cars ran much quieter and smoother so it's definitely not placebo.

Join a forum called BITOG "Bob Is The Oil Guy", all what they talk about there is engine oil. Over there, we love Royal Purple and Redline (used oil analysis results proved these two provide the best wear protection). Sadly though, we don't get Redline in Australia. So, I stick with Royal Purple



Mobil 1 0W-40 in the gold bottle is not a fully synthetic oil (regardless of what is written on the bottle), I think it's group III. While Royal Purple and Castrol LL-01 are Group IV/V. The old Mobil 1 Formula from the nineties and early 2000's used to be fully synthetic but not any more.

Two things to remember if you put Royal purple in your car:

1- Do 10,000kms oil changes as Royal Purple doesn't have BMW's longlife certifications that Castrol has and won't last 25,000km in your engine.

2- Royal Purple is officially not on BMW's recommended list of oils to use for BMW cars. But you gotta realise that part of this is marketing as well. Castrol paid BMW millions to only recommend Castrol and to stick that Castrol badge on our engine oil lids. In mid 2015 BMW is going to switch to SHELL and all the OEM oils that BMW dealers will be stocking will be SHELL brand only! (The guy working at Doncaster BMW parts department told me this last week).

Other oils to consider:

1- Motul 8100
2- German Castrol (buy off eBay, not available in stores in Australia. Comes in green bottle I think)
3- BMW LL-01 OEM oil from the dealer
4- Liqui-Moly is pretty good too

Redline is available in Australia, it just isn't promoted much at all.

As for the Mobil 1 not being a true synthetic, I'm unsure where you have that info from? Mobil 1 is a true synthetic, and its the castrol edge which is produced from a 'inferior' group III. Mobil 1 actually filed a lawsuit in the usa against Castrol in the late 90's in the USA for this (castrol won the case)

Being 'synthetic' is a bit of a loose term, and I believe that's why castrol managed to win the case!

The only 'true' synthetic castrol is the black bottle made in germany syntec (I've never seen it for sale here in Australia)

Yup I totally agree about the whole bmw approved oil scheme. It's surprising that BMW have finally changed their oem supplier to shell (it's been a rumour for quite some time now!)

Mobil 1 0W40 in my opinion is definately a superior oil over the castrol edge 5W30, unfortunately it's much more expensive to purchase here in Australia (I bought some from Walmart back when the ozzy dollar was equal for close to $25 for 5 quarts and it cost about that again to ship it here for some friends)

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by pitos_7

As for oil weight, I use 5W-30 in winter and 5W-40 or 10W-40 in summer.

Oil tends to shear faster at higher temps, and knowing how hot BMW engines run, and how hot weather can get in Melbourne during summer I like to use a bit thicker oil in summer so I can feel comfortable when I get stuck in peak hour traffic in summer for 2 hours at 42 degrees while blasting the aircon on max

my 2 cents about engine oil..

With the engine idling at 40 degrees and oil temps being 120 degrees wont cause a 5W30 engine oil to shear... It's when the engine is subjected to high loads/rpm's for an extended period (say a track day) where the oil could possibly shear.

In my opinion you would be doing more 'damage' to the motor running a 10W40 in the hot summer than running a 5W30 in a street car, based upon the fact that 10W40 oil takes longer to reach its lubrication point on a cold start.

This 'damage' though would be absolutely minute though, but having said that the 5W30 should provide more benefits through less friction/improved fuel economy.

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by pitos_7

We don't have Amsoil in Australia, I heard it's a top shelf product as well. But I can't say much about it from personal experience as I can say about Royal Purple HPS

Amsoil is available in Australia (its popular with the old school american V8 boys) and like redline is essentially a 'boutique' engine oil down under here in Australia and isn't as popular as the royal purple which is essentially another 'boutique engine oil'.

Like yourself I've never used it, but a lot of us guys love the stuff, but I have heard it's all marketing BS stick to Mobil 1 etc

[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Redline is available in Australia, it just isn't promoted much at all.

Really? I couldn't find it anywhere. Not even on eBay.

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

As for the Mobil 1 not being a true synthetic, I'm unsure where you have that info from? Mobil 1 is a true synthetic, and its the castrol edge which is produced from a 'inferior' group III. Mobil 1 actually filed a lawsuit in the usa against Castrol in the late 90's in the USA for this (castrol won the case)

Being 'synthetic' is a bit of a loose term, and I believe that's why castrol managed to win the case!

The only 'true' synthetic castrol is the black bottle made in germany syntec (I've never seen it for sale here in Australia)

Mobil 1 0W40 in my opinion is definately a superior oil over the castrol edge 5W30, unfortunately it's much more expensive to purchase here in Australia (I bought some from Walmart back when the ozzy dollar was equal for close to $25 for 5 quarts and it cost about that again to ship it here for some friends)

There's a massive thread on BITOG, discussing that the current Mobil 1 formula. I'll find it later and I'll pm you, even the guy working at Autobarn in Doncaster told me this 3 years ago that Mobil 1 is not fully synthetic.

Mobil 1 was once made from PAO ( Group IV) base stock. They switched to a mix of base stocks. They claim VISOM base stock acts very similar to PAO based oils.

True fully synthetic oils are Royal Purple and as you mentioned German Castrol (I think it comes in a green container or I might be wrong and it's actually black container as you mentioned above)

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by pitos_7

Really? I couldn't find it anywhere. Not even on eBay.



There's a massive thread on BITOG, discussing that the current Mobil 1 formula. I'll find it later and I'll pm you, even the guy working at Autobarn in Doncaster told me this 3 years ago that Mobil 1 is not fully synthetic.

Mobil 1 was once made from PAO ( Group IV) base stock. They switched to a mix of base stocks. They claim VISOM base stock acts very similar to PAO based oils.

True fully synthetic oils are Royal Purple and as you mentioned German Castrol (I think it comes in a green container or I might be wrong and it's actually black container as you mentioned above)

Yeah redline was being distributed in Australia by one of those major muscle car parts suppliers a few years back (someone like rocket by memory?) and GLL lubricants in Sydney are grey importers of redline also. GLL prices arent too bad, I imported my own redline transmission fluid though..

Hmm that's interesting re the mobil 1 no longer be manufactured as a group IV synthetic?! any idea how long that's been going on? Their oils certainly haven't dropped in price over the years to indicate this

[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

With the engine idling at 40 degrees and oil temps being 120 degrees wont cause a 5W30 engine oil to shear... It's when the engine is subjected to high loads/rpm's for an extended period (say a track day) where the oil could possibly shear.

The example I gave above is probably poor, but all what I was trying to say is that oil will shear/breakdown faster a hotter climates. It's common knowledge that thinner oils are used in colder climates and thicker oils are used in hotter climates. All car manufacturers will recommend different oil weights based on the market climate that they sell the car in. Here in Melbourne we get near 0 degrees in winter at night and as high as 44 degrees in summer. It's not a necessity, but running 5W-30 in winter and 5W-40 in summer would be preferable, especially if you drive your car hard.

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

In my opinion you would be doing more 'damage' to the motor running a 10W40 in the hot summer than running a 5W30 in a street car, based upon the fact that 10W40 oil takes longer to reach its lubrication point on a cold start.

This 'damage' though would be absolutely minute though, but having said that the 5W30 should provide more benefits through less friction/improved fuel economy.

I agree with you here, but I said you can run "5W-40 or 10W-40". Not necessarily 10W-40. My bad I shouldn't have mentioned the 10W-40.. But running 5W-30 and 5W-40 will have the same properties on cold starts as they both have similar cold start viscosities and the 5W-40 will provide better protection in hot climate when pushing the engine hard.


I am off for tonight,

Peter.

[Douche]

Castrol Syntec 0w30.
That's all you need, and you can be worry free as it's BMW approved, so same change interval and everything.

[Flex68]

Originally Posted by pitos_7

I use Royal Purple HPS 5W-30, I drive a 325i though (N52 engine), but this oil should suit your N54 engine as well.

After switching to Royal Purple, engine runs butter-smooth Can't hear any valve or cam or lifters noise at all. The engine runs significantly quieter, it purrs like a kitten when it's idling in traffic lights. RPM needle seems to rev a bit more freely as well

I don't have an oil temperature gauge on my car, but other 335i owners on this forums claim lower temperatures using Royal Purple.

Royal Purple HPS is expensive though, $92 for a 5L bottle off eBay.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321612459...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Not many people would want to put that kind of money in an engine oil, but being a car enthusiast I don't mind obviously. I've used this oil on my Honda Civic, VW Jetta 2.0 FSI Turbo (same engine as a MK5 Golf GTI) and lately used it in my 325i and all three cars ran much quieter and smoother so it's definitely not placebo.

Join a forum called BITOG "Bob Is The Oil Guy", all what they talk about there is engine oil. Over there, we love Royal Purple and Redline (used oil analysis results proved these two provide the best wear protection). Sadly though, we don't get Redline in Australia. So, I stick with Royal Purple



Mobil 1 0W-40 in the gold bottle is not a fully synthetic oil (regardless of what is written on the bottle), I think it's group III. While Royal Purple (ester-based oil) and Castrol LL-01 are Group IV/V. The old Mobil 1 Formula from the nineties and early 2000's used to be fully synthetic but not any more.

Two things to remember if you put Royal purple in your car:

1- Do 10,000kms oil changes as Royal Purple doesn't have BMW's longlife certifications that Castrol has and won't last 25,000km in your engine.

2- Royal Purple is officially not on BMW's recommended list of oils to use for BMW cars. But you gotta realise that part of this is marketing as well. Castrol paid BMW millions to only recommend Castrol and to stick that Castrol badge on our engine oil lids. In mid 2015 BMW is going to switch to SHELL and all the OEM oils that BMW dealers will be stocking will be SHELL brand only! (The guy working at Doncaster BMW parts department told me this last week).

Other oils to consider:

1- Motul 8100
2- German Castrol (buy off eBay, not available in stores in Australia. Comes in green bottle I think)
3- BMW LL-01 OEM oil from the dealer
4- Liqui-Moly is pretty good too

REALLY??? the gold aus supplied mobil 1 is not fully synthetic????? dam cant we sue for false advertisement???

What oil would you recommend ????

[_ink]

If running e85, Pete@advan is recommending the Liquid Moly Oil now.

[c0ris07]

Which liquid moly?

[Flex68]

And which oil for non e85 user

[Mayuri Krab]

I think it more important to change your oil more frequently (every 10k km/1 year, as long as the oil meets bmw ll01 then it should serve you fine.

[LMT0286]

I use liqui moly. Don't no if I spelt that right but it's close enough. My car runs really smooth when I switched to that

[mcinnes]

So I went to bmw during the week and they said the oil level is fine and I could have a faulty sensor... But I shouldn't bring it back unless the message comes back...

I also told them I planned to change the oil myself every 7500km to which they seemed very very against for some reason... I guess if I do it myself then they don't get the monies for doing it... Meh.

[BMB063]

I just did an oil change and put in Rotella T6 5W-40. It's great oil. It won't break down as fast. I still don't know how bmw recommends 5w-30 given how the engines run on the hot side.

[Scotty89]

Originally Posted by mcinnes

So I went to bmw during the week and they said the oil level is fine and I could have a faulty sensor... But I shouldn't bring it back unless the message comes back...

I also told them I planned to change the oil myself every 7500km to which they seemed very very against for some reason... I guess if I do it myself then they don't get the monies for doing it... Meh.

What was the reason they were against it?

I would not go back to them. They're full of shit.

[titium]

Don't really want to start an oil debate but interested if anyone can clarify (preferably a workshop or oil manufacturer rep ect):

Long life 04 vs long life 01.

It appears that long life 04 is the higher spec however it is not recommended for use outside of europe. Which then makes me question why liquimoly recommends its ll4 approved oil where ll01 and even ll01FE is spec'd (4200 oil in their lineup).
This oil appears to be one of the only oils on the market that has ll01FE spec as well as acea a5,a4,a3,b4,b5 albeit as a recommendation and not as an approval ( guessing it'd have to meet this spec to be advertised as meeting it even without the approval.... Correct me if I'm wrong?)

I'm sure either a ll1 oil or the moly 4200 would be fine at 10k km intervals (which I'm doing) but just curious on the differences. Hopefully someone in the know can clear this up as there seems to be alot of misinformation floating around the internet.

[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by titium

Don't really want to start an oil debate but interested if anyone can clarify (preferably a workshop or oil manufacturer rep ect):

Long life 04 vs long life 01.

It appears that long life 04 is the higher spec however it is not recommended for use outside of europe. Which then makes me question why liquimoly recommends its ll4 approved oil where ll01 and even ll01FE is spec'd (4200 oil in their lineup).
This oil appears to be one of the only oils on the market that has ll01FE spec as well as acea a5,a4,a3,b4,b5 albeit as a recommendation and not as an approval ( guessing it'd have to meet this spec to be advertised as meeting it even without the approval.... Correct me if I'm wrong?)

I'm sure either a ll1 oil or the moly 4200 would be fine at 10k km intervals (which I'm doing) but just curious on the differences. Hopefully someone in the know can clear this up as there seems to be alot of misinformation floating around the internet.

I used to use Royal Purple HPS 5W-30, now I use German Castrol 0W-30. I buy it off eBay, the seller is located in Australia and he imports them from Germany!

This oil is very popular on these forums, just to a search around and read about German Castrol.

Note that the German Castrol formula is different than the local Castrol you buy in Australia. The German Castrol is a group V, the Aussie Castrol, Motul and almost any other oil you'll buy in the shops in Australia is group IV.

Royal purple HPS is group V as well, but it's too expensive. It's a boutique oil at the end of the day.

Now in terms of longlife oil, don't even bother. Longlife oil is recommended if you're going to leave the oil in your car for longer than 10,000km. My advice would be just use non-longlife oil and change it every 8,000-10,000km

That's the one I buy:

https://www.ebay.com.au/ulk/itm/181055023070

CASTROL Edge Syntec Oil 0w30 made in Belgium aka Germany Castrol

Get Dr-Jekl opinion on this as well, he knows a lot about oil!

[DR-JEKL]

Interesting find Pete re the syntec oil! I wouldn't mind trying some in future

Disregard the LL04 spec oil. Essentially its formulated for non spark engines (diesels running DPF) and low sulphur fuels in Germany etc in spark engines.

So continue to use the LL01 if you don't have a diesel

[Flex68]

My mechanic uses only liqui moly so I'll be switching from Mobil 1

[_ink]

Originally Posted by kOncept

Thanks for the info I usually change every 5k kms.

What do you think about the penrite 10 tenths range? They state that it's suitable for race fuels and ethanol blends.

I'm going to be using this at my next service actually!!

There's been a couple of threads now from 2 of the turbo vendors who have recommended using oil with higher ZDDP content.

10 tenths is e85/meth conpatitable whilst also having a high zddp content.

[Socket]

If running thrust upgrade on their RBs this from Rob Beck


It has came to our attention that choice of engine oil could be of problem to some customers running the thrust upgrade due to the steel on steel design of the components.

For these reasons we recommend you using oil that contains a high zinc content. Please reference this document for an oil choice, but Amsoil AMO 10W-40 (with High Zinc) is our overall recommendation:

http://store.forcedperformance.net/m...otor%20Oil.pdf
http://www.evolutionm.net/forums/evo...about-oil.html

Thanks,
Rob