Engine Oil..Again!

[Kepes 231]

Used penrite for my first oil change in the E30 then switched to Redline when i could get free shipping from amazon (they were running a promotion, yipee!) got 12quart for around $150. Noticed no difference in noise, fuel consumption, performance etc. Both seem to be high quality oils. Penrite is more readily available so i`d say go with that. I am no expert! Just your average joe really :~)

[Michael. 2312]

I remember about 7 or 8 years ago Penrite was really hard to find.

Repco didn't have it, Supercheap didn't have it, just some obscure small parts stores. Then slowly but surely it's caught onto the mainstream market sellers.

[andrewm 236]

I stopped worrying so much about oil when I found out the old man ran his EL falcon on gtx modern engine at 10-15,000km changes and it was still going strong at 485,000km when he sold it.

Also his BA XR6T was filled at the dealers on GTX modern engine and he kept filling it with that at 10,000km changes and its near 300,000 with no issues.

Unless you have an exotic engine or an engine that regularly see's north of 7000rpm then any 'synthetic' that is on special with a 0,5,10,15w and a hot 30,40,50 rating changed 10,000km will be great.

EDIT: bobistheoilguy forum can keep you entertained for hours if you are an oil fanatic.

Edited July 2, 2015 by andrewm

[wtbdeath 4]

This weekend I bought 20 L of Castrol 0w40, did oil changes on my dad's E90 and my wife's E90, both felt very good, very very smooth engine. I would recommand doing oil change every 10k, My wife's one had 8k since last oil change at the dealers, I can still feel a good improvement after oil change, at the mean time, I can see the old oil is pretty useable.

My dad's one is another story, last oil change was 40k ago, oil becomes very very bad, the new oil completely transformed the car, I am not joking.

So yeah, after a good 3 weeks on bobistheoilguy, I figured that I should go with LL-01 APPROVED oil AND choose an oil to my liking. Not all LL-01 are equal. So no Penrite for me.

[qube 3568]

took you 3 weeks of brownsing on bob's site to figure out u need LL01? lol jk

but seriously 40k on your dads car since last oil change? thats crazy.

[Allanw 1051]

^ where do all you guys live?

15w has a cold range of -10*C, 10w is about -20*C and 0w is about -30*C.

I'm pretty sure very few NZ applications require a 0w oil, a 15w40 oil is a much better choice than a 0w40 oil if it's suitable for your climate.

15W-40 is much thicker cold, than a 0W40, so you get much poorer cold flow. 0W-40 is still too thick when cold, but it's much closer to being a consistant viscosity.

Ideally, you want an oil that is the same viscosity at ALL temperatures, but that hasn't happened yet If you had an oil that was SAE40 at 100c, and didn't thicken as it cooled, your engine would be much happier - especially on short town trips!

[wtbdeath 4]

^ where do all you guys live?

15w has a cold range of -10*C, 10w is about -20*C and 0w is about -30*C.

I'm pretty sure very few NZ applications require a 0w oil, a 15w40 oil is a much better choice than a 0w40 oil if it's suitable for your climate.

I am in Auckland, my manual actually says "BMW recommends the use of oil classified SAE 0W-X or SAE 5W-X in this case X stands for any upper value, e.g. 30,40 or 50."

[westy 614]

I did 180000ks on me old AU ute with 1 oil change. Beat that.

[Olaf 3235]

I did 180000ks on me old AU ute with 1 oil change. Beat that.

maaaaaaate. did you run a magnet over what came out of the sump afterwards?

[Olaf 3235]

^ where do all you guys live?

15w has a cold range of -10*C, 10w is about -20*C and 0w is about -30*C.

I'm pretty sure very few NZ applications require a 0w oil, a 15w40 oil is a much better choice than a 0w40 oil if it's suitable for your climate.

south of the bombay hills, mate.

in the dim and distant past, I used to leave my vehicle parked at the Top of the Bruce on Whakapapa for 4-5 days at a time, it was often buried in snow. Poor little A12, ISTR it was 15w40 or 15w50 back then! ooooh, high-tech multigrades! Duckhams Hypergrade 15W50, and that recycled low-sulphur BP oil 'Envron'.

Edited July 7, 2015 by Olaf

[westy 614]

maaaaaaate. did you run a magnet over what came out of the sump afterwards?

Cant even remember if I changed the filter...

[Allanw 1051]

i.e a 10w40 is more stable than a 0w40.

Huh? What is your definition of more stable?

Those two oils would have the "same" viscosity when hot (within the SAE 40 specs = 12.5 to 16.3 cSt), but the 10W-40 thickens more when cold, than the 0W-40... surely that would make the 0W-40 more "stable"?

[curryinahurry 38]

As a BMW enthusiast I understand that people want to get whats best or whats recommended by the OEM.

But in my opinion, there isn't very much point in getting such expensive oils unless you either:

1. Own a brand new BMW and you want to drive it forever.

2. Own a used BMW, and a lesser oil (e.g semi-synthetic 10w-30) would result in your engine failing pre-maturely - by that I mean before 200,000 km.

This is strictly my opinion, but by the time the car goes over 200,000 km there are many other things that will fail and there is no point in having your engine out live everything else.

Given the above, whats the point of spending $100+ on oil when your 200,000+ km BMW is worth bugger all. Aren't you better off saving that money to buy a BMW when the time comes???

Just my 2c - happy to hear what other people think.

Andrew

[Allanw 1051]

Ah right - I was thinking stable as in viscosity :-)

The W rating is actually at 40C (which is considered cold for an engine), and the second number is at 100C. So the 10W-X when cold is about as viscous as a Xw-60 would be at 100C - average about 25 cSt, the 40 part at 100C is about 15 cSt (the SAE 40 range is 12.6 to 16.3 or something).

The most I paid for Castrol Edge 0W-40 A3/B4 was $88, but last lot I got was $82 - over 15K, the difference is nothing, really. I've altered my SI figures to give about 15K, instead of 23K like they would normally (15K on 6.5 litlres is no different to a jap 2.5, holding 4 or 4.2, doing 10K, really) I suspect the improved short trip economy probably saved more in gas - I just switched from Penrite 5W-40 back to the Edge 0W-40 and even with the sudden colder weather, the economy has improved slightly on the Mrs Kindy/School run. Just .1L/100km would be about a $30 savings over the oil change interval, though Currently the average has dropped almost down to summertime levels - prior to the change, it was slowly getting worse and worse - upto 12L/100 kms (wifey doesn't do economy!), and since the change, We've had 11.5, 11.7, 11.4, 11.4 over 4 tanks. The last time we had that economy on the Penrite, was Febuary 8, and it's been climbing steadily as the weather got colder.

[wtbdeath 4]

Sorry, by stable I mean it has fewer viscosity modifiers and therefore will take longer to break down.

Castrol Edge 0w40 $98 / 5l

Castrol Edge 5w40 $80 / 5l

You are right narrorwer gap will be more stable, to an extend, depends on which oil you are talking about, for average joe oil, yes it is correct.

The point of getting 0w40 ($98/5L) rather than 5w40($80/5L) is not the price, it is how much group IV PAO is in that oil, from what I have read, castrol 0W40 has much more PAO content (if it is not a true synthethic) than the rest of the castrol EDGE range, (except GC 5W30) , which means, natrually, with higher PAO content, it does not need much VI improvers to achive wide SAE range.

Let's step back for a second, even at $98/5L ,which means roughly $30 more than the cheaper 5W40 , or Penrite per oil change, the gas saving will pay back itself well enough, PLUS you have better oil anyway.

[sonic_attack 89]

Used Penrith everyday 10w40 fully synthetic for last two oil changes (roughly 10,000K intervals) seems to stay quite clean. Not a fully opaque black at least anyway, quite impressed with that.

Good price too. Just wait for supercheap sales. I'm sure I paid $11 a litre for a couple 5 litre packs.

[sonic_attack 89]

*penrite*... Damn auto-correct