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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum
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Oil change -- what oil to use?
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05-17-2012, 01:33 AM | #67 | ||
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05-17-2012, 06:46 AM | #68 |
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It was mechanical "white" noise. If you google something like "Mobil1 noise" you'll see tons of stuff. Some people believe it's BS because it doesn't happen on their engine. Others go on and on about it.
On my M52, it was dramatic. On Mobil1 the engine drowned out a slight lifter tick and everything else under the hood. Running through the rev range on the road sounded kind of like it was doing it but it wasn't happy at high revs. Lab analysis of the used oil came back great for oil condition and wear metals. The oil had sheared significantly from being a light 40 weight to a mid-weight 30 though. On anything but Mobil1, suddenly the slight lifter tick was prominent, I could hear power steering and alternator whirring, and I could talk to someone comfortably in my attached garage with the hood up. On the road as I ran up to high revs I could most only hear intake and exhaust instead of all of the other mechanical hash. I believe the phenomenon started during one of the early 2000s reformulations of Mobil1 (like change from TriSyn to SuperSyn or something). I was a die-hard M1 fan and ran it in a 1990 Acura (5W30) and 1992 Porsche (15W50 red cap) too. I had noticed that both seemed to get noisy but didn't associate it with the oil. I just thought they were "getting old". The Acura Integra picked up a lower frequency rumbly noise from the valvetrain. The Porsche was more general noise like the BMW, but was the least affected of the three. Anyways - it's subjective and doesn't affect protection. I stopped using M1 just because of the noise, not its performance as a lubricant. I don't know if the N52 is affected and, frankly, I'm not going to spend $100 on oil to find out when there are other options on the table that I know are fine. I found Castrol 0W30 to be substantially quieter in my M52 than Mobil1 0W40. GC is also more shear stable (doesn't thin as much). M1 0W40 starts thicker than GC but is thinner after only 6000km (4k mi). In the last couple of years with my M52 I was running Rotella T 15W40 in the summer (super quiet, and great lab results). I started running Rotella T6 5W40 year round - not quite as quiet but was a 5W syn oil (albeit group III) so was more suitable to my climate. I was about to do an oil change and send the T6 to the lab when my E39 was totaled. Synthetic really wasn't necessary in the M52 unless you were trying to do BMW's super long intervals or you lived in an extreme cold climate. You just need to make sure to change it "often enough", which lab analysis can help with. As I wrote in a previous post, finding a cold weather oil that is still ACEA A3 is very difficult, and GC and M1 0W40 are the best choices for that situation. Conventional oils are much better now than they were 10 years ago and the M52, M54, M62 series of engines were really easy on oil and, despite having VANOS, weren't cranky about running very specific viscosities. Now DI cars eat oil for breakfast in North America because of the richer operating tune. There's nothing more damaging to engine oil than fuel contamination (fuel is a solvent) and in North American trim DI engines usually dump fuel into the oil. There are lab results for an Audi S4, I believe, with DI that nukes it's oil in only 1,000km. The BMW factory intervals are particularly horrifying in light of that. Without careful lab analysis, I'd probably run synthetic in any of the DI turbo cars (N54, N55) and probably change 2-3x as often as the BMW interval (if it were mine) Last edited by Surly73; 05-17-2012 at 07:03 AM.. |
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05-17-2012, 11:42 AM | #69 | ||
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And yes, the factory set intervals are indeed horrifying. Here's what Terry Dyson himself has to say about the N54 in general: Quote:
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05-17-2012, 01:12 PM | #70 | |
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05-17-2012, 07:37 PM | #71 |
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I have noticed that M1 0W40 starts getting noisier in my N52 at 7,000 mls, which is about when I change it anyway (1/2 the factory change interval.)
I've been happy with M1 on this car, and my previous E46, but at the next change I'm changing to GC 0W30. I've been under the impression that M1 0W40 was a Group IV PAO oil, based on what I had read, but now I believe it is hybrid of Group 3 & 4, while GC is a true Group IV. Probably no big deal based on my change interval, still I want the best oil I can get that's approved by BMW. And I live in one of the hottest populated places on earth. |
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05-17-2012, 08:34 PM | #72 | |
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No one on e90post knows this, but I've said a hundred times - don't get hung up on looking for this group or that group. They are ALL blends. Go for the product that gets the job done. Group IV oils don't even make good lubricants without splashes of group I, III and/or V. Group IV oils are typically non-polar and don't dissolve additive packs. They're also not good for seals. I believe that GC is a blend of III or III+, IV and V. There's definitely group V in GC because displays incompatibility with Auto-RX, which is composed entirely of esters. Regardless, I prefer GC over M1 at the moment too because of the noise issue. Of course my "new" 2007 E90 was serviced at dealer intervals (every other car I looked at was that or even worse) and I was tempted to go with M1 0W40 due to M1's reputation for more aggressive cleaning. I still have a year of a transferable extended warranty so I didn't want to go to Redline (which having lots of group V should be pretty much the tops in terms of cleaning) since it doesn't have an LL-01 badge. I went with GC because a local store put it 40% off the day I went out to grab oil. I bet you really would have noticed your E46 being quieter with something other than M1 in there. |
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05-18-2012, 11:55 AM | #73 | |
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The Europeans are strict on their labeling of oil, and according to this, it has no Group III. You're saying it does have Group III, can you point me to the information source for this? I was misinformed on the M1, I don't want to do that twice. |
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07-06-2012, 05:52 PM | #74 |
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I read this whole thread and i just want to ask you guys what oil is going to be the safest bet?
Castrol or mobil 1? I recently puchased a 08 328i, I just hit 65k miles and this is my 1st oil change. Thanks |
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07-07-2012, 08:06 AM | #75 |
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Never Ending OIL Question
Just choose ANY LL-01 OIL.
STICK WITH IT ---- . . More important to change it often --- over brand . . I find M1 0W-40 to be the cheapest & change every 5K with Mann. . . In a 328i --- 7.5K intervals would be good -- in most cases. |
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07-07-2012, 12:20 PM | #76 | |
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It doesn't matter - pick whichever you like, or can obtain the easiest/cheapest. I have experienced noise issues with M1 lubricants in other engines (including my M52 BMW) and make a point of not using M1 products now. I used to use M1 in everything years ago. The lab results from the used M1 oil were great though so the noise wasn't resulting in wear, it was just annoying. I haven't tried M1 0W40 in an N52/N54 so I can't comment on whether it makes a difference or not. |
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07-10-2012, 07:35 PM | #77 |
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I'm a bit confused. At the beginning of the thread everyone was saying to use the Castrol 0w30 now the Castrol Edge w/Syntec 5w40 is also LL-01. So which one do you guys? I have a 2007 328i and not sure which one I should be getting.
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07-10-2012, 09:16 PM | #78 |
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Don't over think it. The 5w40 Castrol product was LL98 when this thread was started. Castrol upgraded this product to LL01 late last year or early this year. Just buy whichever LL01 is the cheapest. Hell the BMW dealer oil is used in all the new turbo M cars and it's cheap.
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07-14-2012, 11:14 AM | #79 | |
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07-14-2012, 11:21 AM | #80 |
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BEST OIL FOR 335i
Try RED LINE 5-30W winter and 5-40W summer by far the best oil for a hard working turbo.In my case moded close to 500hp crank.
Tried 10 different oils out and only Red Line does not cause my car to consume any oil 5k change routine and 0 topoffs,simply amazing stuff...less turbo lag as a bonus... |
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07-14-2012, 12:26 PM | #81 |
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Well I need to do an oil change now so I think I'll just get the oil at a dealer. We have a BMW Dealer sponsor over at Maxbimmer that provides us with great pricing. I think it was under $7/L. Not really sure to find the 0w30 stuff here in Toronto. I've checked Canadian Tire but they only have the 5w40 Castrol Edge SPT for over $11/L
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09-17-2012, 01:06 PM | #82 |
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http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...ngineOils.aspx - gives a list of a few partially down the page.
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09-19-2012, 08:26 AM | #84 |
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09-19-2012, 07:48 PM | #85 |
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Just some info to take in;
I use mobile1 0w-40 and... I had a 2000 323ci that I got rid of at 150k and that car ran like a dream Then had an 01 330ci which also ran absolutely perfect, as if new. Got rid of it at 140k. Now I have a 09 335i at 27k, bet your butt I'm using mobil1 0w-40. I only PRAY this car would run half as good as my old 3-series. |
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09-20-2012, 04:00 PM | #86 | |
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10-12-2012, 09:43 AM | #87 |
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I just did an oil chanage myself on my 335i , i put Castrol Edge Full Synthetic 5W-40. What i dont understand and really bothers me is that when i went to purchase my oil filter from the BMW parts center, i had asked what oil they use and they said 5W-30 part synthetic. Now when i open my hood it clearly says to only use full synthetic oil only. Why would a the dealer go as far as putting crap oil in a a forced induction enginge which in my mind would require nothing less than full synthetic. I used to have a G35 and i only put full synthetic and i changed it every 4,000 as to the dealer which says every 10,000 which is f****** absurd! Im really big on quality and maintenance and this non-sense being done by the dealrs especially when you have paid for a warranty makes no sense. When i asked if i could do my oil change with synthetic even though i have warranty they said yes but that i need to pay extra
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