[username604]

seriously dude? you're judging by the color of the oil? many have sent in their oil after 15,000 miles, had analysis done on it, and found that it still met specs.

[ctuna]

Do you have examples of that? (15k plus reports)
Most of the Blackstone reports I have seen here say to change at 10k
and no longer.

[mhenry7]

Originally Posted by ctuna

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...ngineOils.aspx

I've always wondered about this page. If you read it closely, it says they recommend you use the BMW oil for oil changes. It then says if you need to top up and BMW is not available, then the others are acceptable. It doesn't say anything about doing an oil change with the non-BMW.

[ENINTY]

2006 E90 (active DD 160 mile per weekday): 160,000 miles. Oil changes 17,500 miles on average.

1997 E37 Z3 (active): 150,000 miles Oil changes 12,000 miles on average (4-cylinder)

1989 E30 (retired, sold in 2006): 256,000 miles. oil changes 10,000 miles on average (1/2 the life of the car on dino oil switched to Mobil 1 at 120,000).

Change as you see fit...

[ASBSECU E93]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

2006 E90 (active DD 160 mile per weekday): 160,000 miles. Oil changes 17,500 miles on average.

1997 E37 Z3 (active): 150,000 miles Oil changes 12,000 miles on average (4-cylinder)

1989 E30 (retired, sold in 2006): 256,000 miles. oil changes 10,000 miles on average (1/2 the life of the car on dino oil switched to Mobil 1 at 120,000).

Change as you see fit...

87 Nissan Sentra Wagon 4 cyl with 220k and 87 Nissan Hardbody 4 cyl Truck with 276k miles...changed every 3k (religiously) using non-synt...agree, change as you see fit.

[Fortyb]

By the way Guys its Mobil 1 5w 30 Syn im using not regular oil. I have been using this on my Car for 4 years now with out a hiccup. Now to say to use Bmw approved oil's that's cool but to me oil is oil it all depends on what brand you want to run. When it comes to Bmw recommending what oil to use remember this is an organization that's wants to keep your business and your money and not have you purchase anything outside of that...like someone posted on here if you cannot find the Bmw approved oil you can use an alternative I guess i will get flamed also for using a FRAM oil filter too.

[Fortyb]

Originally Posted by davidkneiber

seriously dude? you're judging by the color of the oil? many have sent in their oil after 15,000 miles, had analysis done on it, and found that it still met specs.

Can you provide that info so i can look at it. Until then i will go off of the old fashion way of changing oil..

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by Fortyb

By the way Guys its Mobil 1 5w 30 Syn im using not regular oil. I have been using this on my Car for 4 years now with out a hiccup. Now to say to use Bmw approved oil's that's cool but to me oil is oil it all depends on what brand you want to run. When it comes to Bmw recommending what oil to use remember this is an organization that's wants to keep your business and your money and not have you purchase anything outside of that...like someone posted on here if you cannot find the Bmw approved oil you can use an alternative I guess i will get flamed also for using a FRAM oil filter too.

BMW recommends Mobil 1 0w40 because its true syn oil, Mobil 1 5w30 is not. it says fully syn. on the bottle but in reality its not

[Fortyb]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

BMW recommends Mobil 1 0w40 because its true syn oil, Mobil 1 5w30 is not. it says fully syn. on the bottle but in reality its not

Any proof behind that? so i can read up on it...If that's true then it will be the last time i use it. But so far after 4 years no issue's.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by Fortyb

Any proof behind that? so i can read up on it...If that's true then it will be the last time i use it. But so far after 4 years no issue's.

can't give you proof now since I am on phone, not comp. maybe someone else can explain this. I too found out about this recently. pretty much the proof is that 0w40 is approved by BMW because in fact it is syn oil. and 5w30 is not.

are u gonna have trouble with 5w30 probably not.... probably not in 100k miles.... but I guess you never know and it doesn't hurt to use better oil.

[JamesM3M5]

Originally Posted by Fortyb

Any proof behind that? so i can read up on it...If that's true then it will be the last time i use it. But so far after 4 years no issue's.

You can use anything and not have "problems", but following the manufacturer recommendations is, well, recommended. The ACEA grades oils on many factors, and the A3 spec is "extended drain interval, high performance." M1 5W30 is only A1 spec which is an economy spec. And Fram filters are known throughout the automotive world to have poor quality filter materials and poor quality control (popped oil filter canisters blowing oil on motorcycle rear tires, for instance).

Use whatever you want. It's a free country and it's your car. But if you told me you used Mobil 1 5W30 and Fram filters, I wouldn't buy your car. Sorry, I've seen inside too many engines and have read way too much about oils to accept those choices. Tolerances on modern engines are just too tight and too critical to change oil specs from what the engineers tell us.

True synthetics are Grade IV PAO or Grade V ester based oils. Mobil 1 lost a suit to Castrol back in the early Syntec days. Castrol was selling Group III oils as "synthetic" while Mobil used more expensive Group IV bases. Mobil lost and reformulated theirs from cheaper Group III base stocks (which are not synthetic, merely more refined crude oil based stocks). Those oils are only legally labelled as "synthetic" in the US. BMW oil I believe is also only Group III oil. I only use Group IV and V base oils, namely Motul.

[bumere90]

Another worthless debate

[FCBuff]

[QUOTE=Kolyan2k;10837943]color doesn't mean anything...... and m1 5w30 is kinda wrong oil since its not really synthetic, not because its not stamped by BMW

This thread is in danger of getting much misinformation spread around.

M1 synthetic 5w30 is synthetic, at least as much as any of there other synthetics are synthetic.

My point was that it is a thin 5w30. Which is fine with short OCI's. It is geared toward fuel economy, not engine preservation.

Both the BMW 5w30 and Castrol 0w30 are heavy weight oils in comparison. M1 0w40 is heavier yet. These 3 meet the BMW specs for long drain intervals, which we are negating by changing the oil more frequently. However, these oils are more robust which is why they can go extended lengths between changes.

Umm, you are not really using a fram oil filter insert are you? Our Mann filters are some of the best in the industry...why would you switch

[username604]

Originally Posted by Fortyb

But so far after 4 years no issue's.

you could probably use the cheapest oil you find with the correct viscosity, change it at 5k miles, and be good for many years.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by JamesM3M5

True synthetics are Grade IV PAO or Grade V ester based oils. Mobil 1 lost a suit to Castrol back in the early Syntec days. Castrol was selling Group III oils as "synthetic" while Mobil used more expensive Group IV bases. Mobil lost and reformulated theirs from cheaper Group III base stocks (which are not synthetic, merely more refined crude oil based stocks). Those oils are only legally labelled as "synthetic" in the US. BMW oil I believe is also only Group III oil. I only use Group IV and V base oils, namely Motul.

I believe this is correct, although dont know anything about BMW 5w30 oil (pretty sure its Group 3 though). The only widely available true syn oils are Mobil1 0w40 and Castrol 0w30...those are Group 4 oils, the rest of Mobil 1 and Castrol are Group 3 which are labled NON-Syntec in rest of the world. Both 0w40 and 0w30 are the ONLY oils labeled "European" in USA

ps. I have used shit oil in my Nissan for 160k miles and it was good, i used Mobil 1 5w30 in my other Nissan with 120k and it was also good. Now that I know Mobil 1 is not Group 4 oil, i prefer to use Castrol 0w30, after all its same price or difference is small. Many S2000 owners use 0w30 as well even though 10w30 is recommended by Honda......0w30 is just a better oil. I might think about going with new Mobil 1 0w30 or Mobil 1 0w40 for next oil change cause its cheaper.

and as far as those Nissans.... they did run fine, but did they run with same specs and same HP numbers as new ? who knows...."wrong" oil is not gonna kill your car but after a while wear can cause an engine to run worse

[335BBS]

I don't understand why anyone would ever use anything other than what BMW recommends. BMW doesnt have any ownership in the oil or filter companies.

[cptcrunch]

Its personal preference. If you really want to know how your oil is doing, order a Blackstone Lab kit and have your oil tested after 15k, or after 7.5k. That will tell you if/when you need to change your oil early.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by Leaker

I don't understand why anyone would ever use anything other than what BMW recommends. BMW doesnt have any ownership in the oil or filter companies.

they do in re-branded BMW 5w30 oil that you buy at dealer. I wouldn't be surprised that its cheap/cheaper oil.

When I had M3 (did my oil changes myself every 7.5k) I believe BMW dealers stopped stocking M3 oil and started using M1 5w30 because it was cheaper not because it was better for M3.

[Fortyb]

Thanks for all the info Guys. Will look back at this info on the next oil change.

[Sam335ix]

I have been using crisco and the car runs great, Used to use extra virgin olive oil and that was great as well :-)

[Glim]

Originally Posted by Sam335ix

I have been using crisco and the car runs great, Used to use extra virgin olive oil and that was great as well :-)

0w-30 Olive oil all the way!

I also spray pledge furniture oil on the oil filter before installation.

Love how the car smells after a long drive, except for the black smoke billowing out from under the hood the car is holding out really well.

[PA66400]

I also spray pledge furniture oil on the oil filter before installation. ove how the car smells after a long drive, except for the black smoke billowing out from under the hood the car is holding out really well.

Glim, have you tried putting used varsol in the gas tank? Saves money, so you can buy more extra virgin olive oil and then you can change more frequently.