engine oils???

[danutt 4]

what engine oil are you running in your beema??wat lasts long and wats good etc coz im lookin to do an oil change asap post what oil youre using and your views on it peace

[m325i 711]

I like it relativley thick in my old 330km motor. 15w/40 i think is in it atm (Castrol GTX 2??).

Dont mind a top up with a bit of Moreys Oil Stabiliser too.

Have had magnatech in it before, impartial to it really.

[Carl 3]

Oil is a pointless debate.

If you want a good oil that will last a long time then you have to go with a fully synthetic oil, such as mobil 1.

I just use a semi-synthetic, magnatec 10w-40, as it does the trick personally plus it's easier on the pocket.

You'll never notice a difference performance wise between brands.

The BMW service centres use castrol and i'm assuming a synthetic one as the distance between service intervals gets to around 15k. If you go for mineral based oil then look to around 10k between changes.

[my_e36 43]

My e36 has an oil change done at Jerry Clayton and they use Shell Helix Super 10W40.

Low milage engines can use slightly thinner oil like 5W40 or something like that.

High milage should use slightly thicker oil for more protection.

Thin oil generally give you slightly more responsiveness due to low viscosity.

Most oil of the same grade perform similarly, a lot of the time it comes down to your wallet size and brand preference.

[bmwsparkle 3]

from what ive heard from a lot of very experienced car owners/mechanics you should run an older car from what i ran from factory. most people seem to think a good 20w50 is the best to go for. What i run.

[bimmer boy 21]

20w50 is the basic oil which most cars run on so you can use like 20w50 or 15w40 although there are special oils aimed at older cars with lower or higher viscosity depending on what your usual driving conditions are but yeah as already said 20w50 is fine to use

[bimmer_extreme 0]

Be carful if using fully sinthetic oil in your older car, semi is fine but fully can cause the oil to burn.

[Rod 0]

I use the following in my E28 535iA:

Engine(M30 3430cc): Motul 4100 15W-50

Transmission(ZF 4HP22E Auto): Castrol Transmax M

Power Steering: Castrol Transmax M

Differential(LSD): Motul 90PA

I change the engine oil and filter every 7000km. The remaining oils I change every year or approximately every 15000-20000km. Semi-synthetic and synthetic oils generally offer much better protection upon startup, which is when a significant amount engine wear can occur. The Motul 4100 is also available in a 10W-40 viscosity, for newer vehicles which require thinner oil. Thin oil used in older engine designs may lead to increased oil consumption which is not good for the engine, this is why I do not use thinner oils such as Castrol Magnatec which is only available in 10W-40 viscosity. If you have a newer engine design the story will be different. If you follow the recommendations in your owners manual with respect to viscosity versus ambient temperatures and you use a good oil you cannot go wrong. My M30 engine has never used a drop of oil (15W-50) but I have always been religious about changing oil. I buy oil in lots of 20L minimum and is not expensive on a per litre basis, definitely cheaper compared to the engine wearing prematurely. Basically get the best oil you can afford, when I take the tappet cover off my engine is spotless inside and that is the way it is meant to be.

[Gus 5]

im using 5w50 pennzoil full synth on mine

have not noticed any downsides to using it...no leaks, doesnt seem to burn any oil, the m20 ticking is a bit noisier, but meh car is noisy anyway. i never really seem to get between oil services long until i have to do something that involves draining oil anyway. am happy with the pennzoil, and comes in 5L containers (usually gives enough to fill with a little left over for spare, although if you filling from dead empty you need it all)

IMO, doesnt matter too much what you use (as long as its decent, nothing like Red Rosies Re Re Refined) as long as you change it and the filter regularly

Edited August 8, 2005 by Gus

[4EVAHI 0]

I work for Castrol NZ and there's HEAPS of different oils that can be used but if you want to know what the recommended oil or viscosity to use in your particular car just PM me the year, model of your car and can get the manufacturers recommendation but the type of oil you need to run will be relative to the running temperature of the engine and believe it or not can change quite dramatically amongst some cars even if they are from the same manufacturer and/or model.

But agree with what a lot of others have said as long as it is gd oil (doesn't matter what brand) it will still protect your engine very well it's really only when you get into the peformance and racing side of things that you need to be picky with the oil.lol

[kiwi535 538]

i run full synthetic castrol 5w 30 and from what i undertand Shelleys would put that in anyway.I use it cos i want the maximum protection at startup.I swapped over when i bought the car at 144000 ks didnt notice any extra leaks or anything,i run it for the full service interval of 10-12 000 ks,now at nearly 190,000

Edited August 7, 2005 by kiwi535

[E30_318i 0]

The dirty old M20 on 220,000km has 10W-40 at the moment but uses about 100ml per 1000km, which is quite a lot I think so next oil change I'll try 20W-50, due in a few thousand km or the next month...

I gotta give the Merc one next weekend, needs 8L of the stuff