[Needbmwpartzz]

Go to BMW and buy the oil they recommend.

[dstrickland]

This debate has been around forever...if you plan on going by BMW's ridiculously long intervals, then yes, I'd put some real thought into the oil & may consider BMW's oil...

But if your doing it smart & changing every 5k-7.5k miles, then the oil doesn't really matter. I've used Mobil 1, Castrol, Amsoil & just about every fully syn since I bought the car at 53K miles. I'm currently at 240K, modified, tuned & run it hard every single day without a single issue except your normal maintenance upkeep.

For what it's worth the past 4 changes I've used Liqui Moly special tec, which is LL01 anyway. Your Mobil 1 0w-40 is completely fine for 5K-7.5K intervals, I ran it exclusively from 170K-220K, I only switched due to getting the liqui Moly for next to nothing from our parts supplier.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by 6IX-F10-N52

I've actually noticed the weight of my castrol 5w-40 sheer down to 30, you are right about that. I think motul or AMSoil is probably the best. but castrol is better then Mobil 1, so i can only imagine how bad M1 is. its a very watery oil. if you guys think your engine sounds healthy and quiets down the lifters with 0w-40 M1, you have not seen what a proper 5w-40 will do at operating temp.

Noticing 40 weight shear to 30? Use 5w as opposed to 0w? "Watery oil"? 5w-40 is better than 0w-40 at operating temp?

Feel free to post your impressions on whatever you like, but stop giving advice based on your impressions. They're not based on science.

OP, I think you're ok using what you are currently. If you need a little peace of mind maybe just change it out at some time before the BMW recommended OCIs is up.

[justpete]

Originally Posted by 6IX-F10-N52

I've actually noticed the weight of my castrol 5w-40 sheer down to 30, you are right about that. I think motul or AMSoil is probably the best. but castrol is better then Mobil 1, so i can only imagine how bad M1 is. its a very watery oil. if you guys think your engine sounds healthy and quiets down the lifters with 0w-40 M1, you have not seen what a proper 5w-40 will do at operating temp.

Sheer? You mean shear I assume. Which model viscometer did you use?

0W40 is fine as is 5W40 as is 10W40 in hot weather, it's friggin oil fercryinoutloud. Keep it synthetic and you're golden. The engine is not going to grenade cuz you used "watery" oil.

[tdavis42]

Originally Posted by justpete

Sheer? You mean shear I assume. Which model viscometer did you use?

0W40 is fine as is 5W40 as is 10W40 in hot weather, it's friggin oil fercryinoutloud. Keep it synthetic and you're golden. The engine is not going to grenade cuz you used "watery" oil.

Not to hijack this "watered down" thread but.........
I autoX every month and here in Phoenix its hot during the summer but right now it gets to high 60's mid 70's and I wanted to know what would be a good oil to run?

[justpete]

Originally Posted by tdavis42

Not to hijack this "watered down" thread but.........
I autoX every month and here in Phoenix its hot during the summer but right now it gets to high 60's mid 70's and I wanted to know what would be a good oil to run?

Pretty sure 5W40 is plenty good enough. Maybe 10W50 in the summer. But for AX it probably doesn't matter, the runs are fairly short, right? Not like roadrace circuits for 20-30min flat out, right?

[justpete]

Originally Posted by tdavis42

Not to hijack this "watered down" thread but.........
I autoX every month and here in Phoenix its hot during the summer but right now it gets to high 60's mid 70's and I wanted to know what would be a good oil to run?

You might wanna consider adding an Accusump for pre-oiling prior to start when most of the wear occurs. You'd want to use the correct EPC valve assembly but it's worth it. It stores oil under a precharge pressure at shutdown and pushes into the high side of the oil system when the ignition lights up before starting.

[tdavis42]

Originally Posted by justpete

Pretty sure 5W40 is plenty good enough. Maybe 10W50 in the summer. But for AX it probably doesn't matter, the runs are fairly short, right? Not like roadrace circuits for 20-30min flat out, right?

Correct, runs are about 45-55 sec long and 4-8 a day so its not like I'm running hard for extended amounts of time.

[tdavis42]

Originally Posted by justpete

You might wanna consider adding an Accusump for pre-oiling prior to start when most of the wear occurs. You'd want to use the correct EPC valve assembly but it's worth it. It stores oil under a precharge pressure at shutdown and pushes into the high side of the oil system when the ignition lights up before starting.

Any particular brand you prefer?

[justpete]

Originally Posted by tdavis42

Any particular brand you prefer?

Oil brand?

[tdavis42]

Originally Posted by justpete

Oil brand?

Castrol, Mobil, Napa, those are brands right? Or am i that lacking in oil knowledge?

[justpete]

Originally Posted by tdavis42

Castrol, Mobil, Napa, those are brands right? Or am i that lacking in oil knowledge?

You were replying to a post about Accusumps rather than one about oil so it was a bit confusing. Any major brand is fine, don't know what the fuss is if changing oil every 3-5K or after every race weekend, etc.

[Terraphantm]

Originally Posted by dstrickland

This debate has been around forever...if you plan on going by BMW's ridiculously long intervals, then yes, I'd put some real thought into the oil & may consider BMW's oil...

But if your doing it smart & changing every 5k-7.5k miles, then the oil doesn't really matter. I've used Mobil 1, Castrol, Amsoil & just about every fully syn since I bought the car at 53K miles. I'm currently at 240K, modified, tuned & run it hard every single day without a single issue except your normal maintenance upkeep.

For what it's worth the past 4 changes I've used Liqui Moly special tec, which is LL01 anyway. Your Mobil 1 0w-40 is completely fine for 5K-7.5K intervals, I ran it exclusively from 170K-220K, I only switched due to getting the liqui Moly for next to nothing from our parts supplier.

For what it's worth, my dad's N54 seemed to wear pretty well with BMW's oil even with long OCIs

[dstrickland]

Originally Posted by Terraphantm

For what it's worth, my dad's N54 seemed to wear pretty well with BMW's oil even with long OCIs

I bet...majority of owners think if BMW says it, and the products they use has a BMW label, all is golden. Dealers love those owners because they're usually the same ones that take their car in for repairs and pay a 200% mark up on parts and labor.

[Terraphantm]

For the typical owner? That's probably fine. I did the blackstone analysis on dad's car in an attempt to show him that he should be doing his oil changes at shorter intervals. And then I get that result saying the exact opposite. Car's still running fine 3 years later with no issues beyond some of the usual N54 BS (bad injectors most recently)

[justpete]

Originally Posted by dstrickland

I bet...majority of owners think if BMW says it, and the products they use has a BMW label, all is golden. Dealers love those owners because they're usually the same ones that take their car in for repairs and pay a 200% mark up on parts and labor.

Well, yes, because they can afford it. BMW dealerships don't exist to service old secondhand cars owned by drivers who can't afford a new one. Not being mean, just stating the obvious.

[dstrickland]

Originally Posted by Terraphantm

For the typical owner? That's probably fine. I did the blackstone analysis on dad's car in an attempt to show him that he should be doing his oil changes at shorter intervals. And then I get that result saying the exact opposite. Car's still running fine 3 years later with no issues beyond some of the usual N54 BS (bad injectors most recently)

I have nothing against it...I was replying to OP that if he chose to stick with BMW's extremely long intervals, that would be the only time I would put any deep thought into which oil or would consider paying for BMW's oil. But if he chose to go with 5-7k changes, any fully syn would be fine.

[dstrickland]

Originally Posted by justpete

Well, yes, because they can afford it. BMW dealerships don't exist to service old secondhand cars owned by drivers who can't afford a new one. Not being mean, just stating the obvious.

Not necessarily about what can be afforded, for some, it's about principal & experience. At least in GA the dealers here deliberately take advantage of customers, charging $225 per hour in labor. I've owned 2 separate BMW's that I purchased new, as soon as the warranty was up & I never went back to the dealer for anything...

I see e39's, e46's, e90's in the dealers bays all the time when I pass by the one across the street from my home. I've spent too many weeks in loaners, getting thrown around with BS & trying to rape in cost for the simplest of repairs...

[justpete]

Originally Posted by dstrickland

Not necessarily about what can be afforded, for some, it's about principal & experience. At least in GA the dealers here deliberately take advantage of customers, charging $225 per hour in labor. I've owned 2 separate BMW's that I purchased new, as soon as the warranty was up & I never went back to the dealer for anything...

I see e39's, e46's, e90's in the dealers bays all the time when I pass by the one across the street from my home. I've spent too many weeks in loaners, getting thrown around with BS & trying to rape in cost for the simplest of repairs...

It's unseemly to make a virtue of necessity. And no one cares.

Can't afford to buy a new one when the warranty is up? You're not the reason they're in business so you're not a customer worth keeping other than a revenue stream for the service department.

[dstrickland]

Originally Posted by justpete

It's unseemly to make a virtue of necessity. And no one cares.

Can't afford to buy a new one when the warranty is up? You're not the reason they're in business so you're not a customer worth keeping other than a revenue stream for the service department.

I get it...they're business model obviously works for them..my comment was only to help OP with the oil issue to not get overly concerned with his Mobil 1 not carrying the LL01 cert anymore...

[justpete]

Originally Posted by dstrickland

I get it...they're business model obviously works for them..my comment was only to help OP with the oil issue to not get overly concerned with his Mobil 1 not carrying the LL01 cert anymore...

Zackly. If it doesn't say LL-01, decrease the OCI, simple as that.

[dstrickland]

Originally Posted by justpete

Zackly. If it doesn't say LL-01, decrease the OCI, simple as that.

Are BMW's OCI's still 17K, I know they may change them for specific cars & customers on "by basis" level, but in general is 17k still the standard?

It would be interesting to see an analysis between 2 of the same engine after high miles(120K+), one with a "compatible full-syn" with short oci, another with BMW's oil during their oci.