Oil Consumption

[BMA 0]

My car burned a bit of oil about 200ml or so in about 3000km. The engine has about 131,000 on the clock. I am wondering would this slight consumtion be possibly due to me switching to fully synthetic oil or more likely from harder driving ie: more frequent red lining of the engine once warmed up of course. The oil I am currently using is the Castrol Formula R 0W40.

Thanks for all your help/suggestions guys

[Carl 3]

Possibly your oil choice since 0W40 is some fairly thin oil. Just try something more viscous and see if it still burns oil. It could be any number of factors.

[bumpstop325 0]

20w50 or 15w40

[Guest Andrew]

20w50 or 15w40

bingo

and mineral oil also

[Grant 4]

Slight consumption is pretty normal.

200ml in 3,000km's doesn't seem too bad to me. Mine seems to use about 500ml between oil changes.

Both mechanics I have spoken to have told me that it is pretty normal (in an E30) and not to worry about it.

Cheers

Grant

[BMA 0]

Mineral oil is good for really old cars and I mean "old" that need really thick oil or they will simply will run dry quickly. E30s are not that old compared to some cars around. Synthetic oils offer far superior performance compared to Minerals. Most of the damage is done to the engine during start up and short driving. Thats where the synthetics outperform minerals.

I know some people here are mineral oil advocates. So here are some articles for u guys to read

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/m...nthetic_faq.htm

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/m...oil_article.htm

Hint: To reset the "Oil Service" light on the dash, simply connect pin 7 to 19 with a jump lead (20 Pin Socket on 1987 onwards BMWs) and turn the ignition ON, for about 3 or 4 seconds till the lights turn green.

OR

pin 7 to 1 (Pre 1987 15 pin socket) and turn the ignition ON till lights go green on the dash.

The pin socket is located in the engine compartment, usually on the left side of the engine. Black, cylindrical shape with a cap that unscrews.

[*sic 1]

Mineral oil is good for really old cars and I mean "old" that need really thick oil or they will simply will run dry quickly. E30s are not that old compared to some cars around. Synthetic oils offer far superior performance compared to Minerals. Most of the damage is done to the engine during start up and short driving. Thats where the synthetics outperform minerals.

I know some people here are mineral oil advocates. So here are some articles for u guys to read

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/m...nthetic_faq.htm

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/m...oil_article.htm

Hint: To reset the "Oil Service" light on the dash, simply connect pin 7 to 19 with a jump lead (20 Pin Socket on 1987 onwards BMWs) and turn the ignition ON, for about 3 or 4 seconds till the lights turn green.

OR

pin 7 to 1 (Pre 1987 15 pin socket) and turn the ignition ON till lights go green on the dash.

The pin socket is located in the engine compartment, usually on the left side of the engine. Black, cylindrical shape with a cap that unscrews.

so why are you asking about this then?...

you appear to know it all from the net anyways..

[Guest Andrew]

Except mineral oil is cheap as - and most of us change like 3000 k or so - so the difference if neglible.

[Grant 4]

Except mineral oil is cheap as - and most of us change like 3000 k or so - so the difference if neglible.

I just change mine a little less, maybe every 6 - 8,000km's. But if I'm lazy I'll wait till the SI lights tell me too (like now).

Cheers

[petone 0]

I try to do mine every 5000 and filter at least every second change. Thing is, SI lights seem to take ages to go out. How many km should it normally take for them to go down? I know it depends on revs aswell but just an average distance?

[Hartage 0]

seems a bit funney to me, that anyone would change their oil and put it through a dirty filter.

For the cost of a filter, its good practise, in my humgle opinion, to allways do both. :jap:

[Gus 5]

i do it on the oil service lights...works out about every 7k or so for me....personally i felt that my engine improved changing from magnatec 10w-40 to ELF 20W-50.....helps seal the piston rings better...also means i can afford to change oil more often....i could be wrong but clean oil is good oil!

[Carl 3]

Curiously, I have never given any thought to oil, as far as i'm aware oil has several main purposes:

Lubrication

Heat dissipation

Removing nasty chemicals

What I do know synthetic oils are supposed to have better lubricating ability and are less likely to create harmful nasties as they don't contain impurities which can react with oxygen to create acids such as nitric acid.

What I also know is that oil viscosity should also be selected based on your engine age and your running climate, ie, cooler climates dictate lower viscosities such as 5w40 and warmer climates 15w50.

Bearing that in mind, what difference does it make between running say 0w40 and 15w50 and running mineral vs synthetic???

Resistance? Lubrication? Cooling? Performance???

[*sic 1]

royal purple is like engine love.

i love it.

[Grant 4]

royal purple is like engine love.

i love it.

What on earth is 'Royal Purple'??

Cheers

[Gus 5]

royal purple is engine oil....apparently its good

[kiwi535 538]

200 ml in 3000 ks seems alright to me too.To get the best life from my engine i have elected to run castrol 5w30 synthetic,because of its superior performance overall but mostly because of the 5w viscosity a start up...I offset its cost by running it for the full service light interval.I buy the oil off shelleys,cause by my sums its cheaper to buy 6l there than 6l of mobil one at repcos.I just take a couple of containers,and pick up a filter.I also get my massive bmw cub discount.!

[BMA 0]

0W bit indicates a lower pouring point. The lower the pouring point, the quicker oil reaches adequate pressure. The thickness of the oil will still be similar to say a 5W oil.

Purple Blue is this American oil company. Some dude worked for an oil company and then decided to start up his own oil product range. Chances are its just some other brand rebranded with a "Purple Blue" sticker.

In my opinion, its impossible to say this oil is good or bad unless u can like put your engine on a dyno and do some hardcore analysis. But I just trust a brand like Castrol far more than others.

Using something like 20W50 is recommended for cars PRE 1985 anyway. But if your engine is like 200,000km on the clock, might as well go for thicker oil or do a rebuild

[Guest Andrew]

I'm running my engine on 20w 50 for at least 10 000 miles.. I have a new engine. That synthetic stuff does no favors when running in. I have Motul in mine.