[jwebb335xi]

Hey guys,

I just switched my engine oil at almost 96k miles from Total 5w-30 to Redline 5w-30; and, it seems my car is idling smoother and more quietly. The Total had 4,800 miles on it so it shouldn't have been in bad shape. Hopefully, my engine will like this stuff a bit more. Anyone experience improvements using Redline?

By the way, the used oil is in a sample container and will be shipped off to Blackstone tomorrow as will the next change (used Redline) for comparison. I'm not having any issues with the engine that I'm aware of; I'm doing all this out of curiosity.

[limitdown]

I haven't used Redline 5w30, but I switch between Redline 5w40 and Motul xcess 8100 5w40 (past 30k miles).
The Redline 5w30 also has a good viscosity index of 166, vs the Redline 5w40's 174. HTHS is good at 3.7 vs the 5w40's very good 4.4 mpa.
Our ultra high running temps will shear oils with poor HTHS. I've had some 5w40 oils shear after just 1k miles, sending oil and water temps into limp territory.

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by limitdown

I haven't used Redline 5w30, but I switch between Redline 5w40 and Motul xcess 8100 5w40 (past 30k miles).
The Redline 5w30 also has a good viscosity index of 166, vs the Redline 5w40's 174. HTHS is good at 3.7 vs the 5w40's very good 4.4 mpa.
Our ultra high running temps will shear oils with poor HTHS. I've had some 5w40 oils shear after just 1k miles, sending oil and water temps into limp territory.

Thanks for the input. Have you done UOA on either Redline or Motul. Both seem well regarded as were LuquiMoly, Shell Rotella and European Castrol.

[limitdown]

Originally Posted by jwebb335xi

Thanks for the input. Have you done UOA on either Redline or Motul. Both seem well regarded as were LuquiMoly, Shell Rotella and European Castrol.

I've done UOA only on Redline 5w40, at 5k miles. Aluminum and lead numbers were all well below thresholds. Soon I'll be doing UOA on the Motul xcess 8100 5w40 that's currently in my car.

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by limitdown

I've done UOA only on Redline 5w40, at 5k miles. Aluminum and lead numbers were all well below thresholds. Soon I'll be doing UOA on the Motul xcess 8100 5w40 that's currently in my car.

I hope the tests are good. I'll report my UOA results with Total. Perhaps that will be of value to somebody here. I'll do UOA on the Redline sometime this summer when it's got roughly 5-6k on it.

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by jwebb335xi

Hey guys,

I just switched my engine oil at almost 96k miles from Total 5w-30 to Redline 5w-30; and, it seems my car is idling smoother and more quietly. The Total had 4,800 miles on it so it shouldn't have been in bad shape. Hopefully, my engine will like this stuff a bit more. Anyone experience improvements using Redline?



By the way, the used oil is in a sample container and will be shipped off to Blackstone tomorrow as will the next change (used Redline) for comparison. I'm not having any issues with the engine that I'm aware of; I'm doing all this out of curiosity.

go for 5w40 next time. motul, liqui moly, shell rotella and amsoil are other good alternatives, but you cant go wrong with redline.

your car runs quieter mainly because it is new oil. old oil shears down a grade every 3000 miles, and with BMW's ridiculous oil temps the stuff basically offers zero protection by 5000 miles.

Originally Posted by limitdown

I haven't used Redline 5w30, but I switch between Redline 5w40 and Motul xcess 8100 5w40 (past 30k miles).
The Redline 5w30 also has a good viscosity index of 166, vs the Redline 5w40's 174. HTHS is good at 3.7 vs the 5w40's very good 4.4 mpa.
Our ultra high running temps will shear oils with poor HTHS. I've had some 5w40 oils shear after just 1k miles, sending oil and water temps into limp territory.

I remove my plastic engine cover in positive celcius weather to help keep temps somewhat in check.

I have recently switched to shell rotella 5w40 and it seems very good, strong to shearing and what-not. temps have improved.

[frozenfire]

Originally Posted by 6IX-F10-N52

go for 5w40 next time. motul, liqui moly, shell rotella and amsoil are other good alternatives, but you cant go wrong with redline.

your car runs quieter mainly because it is new oil. old oil shears down a grade every 3000 miles, and with BMW's ridiculous oil temps the stuff basically offers zero protection by 5000 miles.



I remove my plastic engine cover in positive celcius weather to help keep temps somewhat in check.

I have recently switched to shell rotella 5w40 and it seems very good, strong to shearing and what-not. temps have improved.

yeah the n54 oil temps really make me uneasy, I change my oil every 4-6k miles and have a 140k total miles right now. I used stick to only LL01 oils only but now I just alternate between a few of them, so long as the spec sheets show similar viscosities @40C and @100C to the LL01 ones and are either a 5w30/0w30 or 5w40/0w40 oil.

The t6 is one of my favorite ones since my car "burns" 3/4 to 8/10 of a quart every 5000 miles, but when i've used the t6 i find it "burns" a bit less (or maybe I drive it easier in better conditions, who knows). My only worry is that the zinc content might be too high, which may degrade the cats quicker...

I would also suggest the castrol 0w40 that is LL01 approved, it's pretty cheap at walmart or Mag1 0w40 from amazon that is also LL01 approved. I'm not a stickler for LL01, but I find those do the job well and if you shop at the right times you can get them for $22-$25 for 5 quarts.

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by frozenfire

yeah the n54 oil temps really make me uneasy, I change my oil every 4-6k miles and have a 140k total miles right now. I used stick to only LL01 oils only but now I just alternate between a few of them, so long as the spec sheets show similar viscosities @40C and @100C to the LL01 ones and are either a 5w30/0w30 or 5w40/0w40 oil.

The t6 is one of my favorite ones since my car "burns" 3/4 to 8/10 of a quart every 5000 miles, but when i've used the t6 i find it "burns" a bit less (or maybe I drive it easier in better conditions, who knows). My only worry is that the zinc content might be too high, which may degrade the cats quicker...

I would also suggest the castrol 0w40 that is LL01 approved, it's pretty cheap at walmart or Mag1 0w40 from amazon that is also LL01 approved. I'm not a stickler for LL01, but I find those do the job well and if you shop at the right times you can get them for $22-$25 for 5 quarts.

your car doesnt burn much oil, dont worry about your cats.

why did you add quotations around burn? just curious.

the oil temps that the BMW's with electric water pumps sit at is alarming. oil wears very quickly at 230F +. keep your engine cover removed! it helps by about 50f for me.

[frozenfire]

Originally Posted by 6IX-F10-N52

your car doesnt burn much oil, dont worry about your cats.

why did you add quotations around burn? just curious.

the oil temps that the BMW's with electric water pumps sit at is alarming. oil wears very quickly at 230F +. keep your engine cover removed! it helps by about 50f for me.

I added quotes cause I'm not actually if it burns it or leaks it somewhere and I just don't notice the leak or if it's a combination of the two. I dont notice any oil on my drive way or anywhere that it's parked at, but the oil pan is a bit "oily" around it or maybe just dirty. But i'ts most likely burning it.

I'll have to try the engine cover removed next time I change my oil, I didn't know it would be that much of a difference! I have the stock sport package oil cooler and it tends to sit at 230-240 in California summer weather a bit cooler right now since it's winter (maybe 220-235), which is why I try and get an oil change sooner, rather than later.

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by frozenfire

I added quotes cause I'm not actually if it burns it or leaks it somewhere and I just don't notice the leak or if it's a combination of the two. I dont notice any oil on my drive way or anywhere that it's parked at, but the oil pan is a bit "oily" around it or maybe just dirty. But i'ts most likely burning it.

I'll have to try the engine cover removed next time I change my oil, I didn't know it would be that much of a difference! I have the stock sport package oil cooler and it tends to sit at 230-240 in California summer weather a bit cooler right now since it's winter (maybe 220-235), which is why I try and get an oil change sooner, rather than later.

nice, your temps will be perfect with the cover removed. I recommend you leave it off for any ambient temps 35F or higher.

it does trap a good amount of heat, makes a difference for sure.

how many miles you got on your car? your oil pan is probably leaking or sweating a little.

you wouldnt know if your car is leaking by looking at the ground, im pretty sure we have belly pans.

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by 6IX-F10-N52

your car doesnt burn much oil, dont worry about your cats.

why did you add quotations around burn? just curious.

the oil temps that the BMW's with electric water pumps sit at is alarming. oil wears very quickly at 230F +. keep your engine cover removed! it helps by about 50f for me.

Are you saying water temps stay about 200* with cover off?

[titium]

So much misinformation in this thread. the high oil temps are the reason bmw is able to have such a long oil change interval.

The biggest killer of oil is contamination, this includes water/condensation, fuel, sulfur ect. The best way to ensure these contaminants are kept low is to let them boil off, hence the higher temps and why you see cars that do short trips where oil doesn't reach temp with oil issues.

This is also why it's important to have a healthy pcv system as this is the method of removal for these contaminants.

From oil analysis' I've seen a good quality synthetic has plenty of life still in it after 6k miles and very far from providing no protection.

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by jwebb335xi

Are you saying water temps stay about 200* with cover off?

not sure about water temps, but oil temps stays between 100-110c with cover off.

literally just keeping your heater on will drop coolant temps by alot.

Originally Posted by titium

So much misinformation in this thread. the high oil temps are the reason bmw is able to have such a long oil change interval.

The biggest killer of oil is contamination, this includes water/condensation, fuel, sulfur ect. The best way to ensure these contaminants are kept low is to let them boil off, hence the higher temps and why you see cars that do short trips where oil doesn't reach temp with oil issues.

This is also why it's important to have a healthy pcv system as this is the method of removal for these contaminants.

From oil analysis' I've seen a good quality synthetic has plenty of life still in it after 6k miles and very far from providing no protection.

dude, that makes absolutely zero sense. first off, everything unwanted in your oil will start burning off as soon as you reach 80-100c. BMW's stay much higher then that.

how do you not know that oil wears much quicker at temps like this? 120c is too much!!! dangerously high. BMW's actually run this hot for fuel economy/emissions purposes and im not going to let my car run this hot just for that.. I dont care about emissions. I had an old audi with an oil temp gauge that would NEVER go a tick past 100c on a hot summer day with back to back redlines for half an hour straight. BMW's reach 120c, on a hot summer day, revving to 2000RPM in traffic. its too high.

[hellokitty]

Running Redline 5w-30. Most recent black stone analysis came back as showing it's good for a 7,500 mile run.

[jwebb335xi]

Thanks for the comments. I just received the UOA from Blackstone on the Total 5w30 I had used for 3,816 miles. They say its good, but seems to me viscosity is low a 100C.... am I missing something?

Hello Kitty - how does your report compare with Redline 5w30.

[r4dr]

Originally Posted by titium

So much misinformation in this thread.

Yes. I would caution anyone reading this thread to disregard literally everything posted in it. Never forget this is the Internet where BS is abundant.

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by titium

So much misinformation in this thread. the high oil temps are the reason bmw is able to have such a long oil change interval.

The biggest killer of oil is contamination, this includes water/condensation, fuel, sulfur ect. The best way to ensure these contaminants are kept low is to let them boil off, hence the higher temps and why you see cars that do short trips where oil doesn't reach temp with oil issues.

This is also why it's important to have a healthy pcv system as this is the method of removal for these contaminants.

From oil analysis' I've seen a good quality synthetic has plenty of life still in it after 6k miles and very far from providing no protection.

My UOA showed Total 5w30 was still good in MY engine at 3,800 miles with no contamination. Blackstone suggested going 2,000 further before next change..

Originally Posted by jwebb335xi

My UOA showed Total 5w30 was still good in MY engine at 3,800 miles with no contamination.

lol I'd like to see a UOA of an oil (conventional or otherwise) that wasn't still good after 3,800 miles.

You're wasting your money if you can't/won't run that expensive of an oil for at least 7500 miles IMO.

[hellokitty]

Hopefully this is helpful to everyone considering running Redline 5w-30. Keep in mind my 1st oil analysis was when I first purchased the car. It likely was a new drain interval.

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by hellokitty

Hopefully this is helpful to everyone considering running Redline 5w-30. Keep in mind my 1st oil analysis was when I first purchased the car. It likely was a new drain interval.

FWIW, my viscosity at 100* was down to 9.18 on the Total 5w30... that seems much thinner than Redline. I wonder if that matters a whole lot. My wear metals were pretty low, however.

[hellokitty]

Originally Posted by jwebb335xi

FWIW, my viscosity at 100* was down to 9.18 on the Total 5w30... that seems much thinner than Redline. I wonder if that matters a whole lot. My wear metals were pretty low, however.

Could be because I take a lot of short trips as my daily commute is only a couple of miles. Oil temperature doesn't get past 170 on my daily drive to work. Also push it a little hard when I'm running late. Definitely holding back after the Analysis

[flexinator]

There was some BS earlier in this thread. Contaminants can make and oil less affective for example if you have fuel contaminants can you change the flashpoint. Coolant Can dilute the additives and lead to premature wear. It's important that oils have enough HTHS values to prevent thinning and shearing at higher temperatures and high pressures. Low enough Nowak scores prevent burn off at the higher temperatures. The long life one approval takes these into account and also ensures longer drain intervals. In Modified BMWs we often times change the oils much more often and rightly so. I would stick to a long life one oil's because I don't know if we can take into account the other factors are required for the engine. If you visit the Lubrizol site you can get an idea of what is required for the specs on various cars. The wording on red lines site is a little concerning instead of saying approved or certified as long life 01 it says suitable or recommended for LL01. And the only one listed is 5w-30. I have decided against using redline for these reasons. LubriMolly has had early burn off issues. Castrol makes options that include the Long life one approval. 0w-30 and 0w-40 are great options but I'd stay away from the 5w-40. Take a look at Bob is the oil guy. There are some well informed oil contributors there. I currently have fresh fill of Castrol oil that I plan to do oil analysis on after 4K miles. It's good to see there's some other BMW oil Fanatics on here!