[mcinnes]

Curious what oil you guys use in your beasts?
My 335i is telling me the oil level is below minimum (which is awesome because it was apparently serviced before I bought it). I'm wanting to drop the oil and put new stuff in this arvo.

[Mayuri Krab]

Any BMW LL-01 approved oil would do the job.

I use Penrite HPR 5 (5w40), as you can find it on special at Repco/SCA at ~$40 per bottle reguarly.

[waterbottle1]

Castrol Full synthetic 5w-30 +1

[waterbottle1]

[Socket]

I use this
18 bucks for 4L at Aldi
Also makes good chips

[Flex68]

Just did the switch to Mobil 1 0-40w .... Running smooth atm no complaints yet

[Flex68]

Just did the switch to Mobil 1 0-40w .... Running smooth atm no complaints yet

[Flex68]

Originally Posted by waterbottle1

I thought Oem bmw oil was castrol oil ??

[waterbottle1]

Originally Posted by Flex68

I thought Oem bmw oil was castrol oil ??

thats what i thought.. until i watched this.
confused me too. lol

[DR-JEKL]

BMW oil is manufactured by castrol, but it's most likely manufactured to bmw specifications (i.e slightly different chemistry to the run of the mill castrol edge that is sold in retail outlets)

FWIW I've never seen the bmw branded oil in Australia, my local dealer just has the castrol edge..

Its common for car manufacturers to do this with car tyres etc also

[twenza]

Coming from a BMW dealer, we have the BMW Castrol Edge Professional LL01 For Petrol, LL04 for Diesel, and TWS 10w60 for M models. BMW WILL NOT sell 5L containers to the public and this is why BMW only sell it in 1L Containers.
However it has been released that SHELL will become BMW's new supplier of oil in the next coming months.

[Flex68]

i dont get why bmw would opt for a poorer quality oil if it chooses its own spec??? lol

[Kiwi Peter]

We are now offering LIQUI MOLY as well as CASTROL with many of our modded cars now using E85 it is very important to select the correct oil.
Liqui Moly is made in Germany and is a top shelf oil.

[kOncept]

Originally Posted by Peter@Advan

We are now offering LIQUI MOLY as well as CASTROL with many of our modded cars now using E85 it is very important to select the correct oil.
Liqui Moly is made in Germany and is a top shelf oil.

Good to know you recommend Liqui Moly, I've used it in my car since day 1 but there isn't much information about it.

Would you say it's better than Castrol?

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by kOncept

Good to know you recommend Liqui Moly, I've used it in my car since day 1 but there isn't much information about it.

Would you say it's better than Castrol?

Engine oil has many functions and each product has it's own advantages and disadvantages. To accurately determine which is a better oil depends on what the application and environment is and unfortunately a quick simple test cannot be done to compare the oils to determine a clear and concise conclusion of which is the superior oil.

One might conduct a dyno test and find that oil x produces more power than oil y, but what about the long term affects such as how well is the oil protecting the engine components against wear (shear stress of the oil), fuel consumption, oil dilution, time taken to reach lubrication on cold starts etc etc

As Pete mentioned re the E85, E85 has a detrimental affect of dilution on some oil types. Basically the engine oil is diluted so that it loses it's lubricating & corrosion resistance properties which obviously is a bad thing.

Some oil manufacturers have additives in their oil to combat the E85 diluting the oil (which I think Pete was alluding to with the Liqui moly that it perhaps has E85 resistant properties - unsure if castrol edge is E85 compatiable...) Racing oils for years have been facing this issue (methonal/nitro fuels in speedway drag applications) and thus race oils had been formulated to prevent this dilution but AFAIK not all retail consumer grade oils.

In my view, in fullness of time since the majority of the world is using ethanol blended fuels all engine oils would be able resist dilution from E85 (I believe in Europe their premium fuel has a % of ethanol)

I've always run castrol, mainly because its the factory fill oil and I buy it in bulk when SCA have their bathurst day specials and its only $28 or so for 5L but have used liqui moly in the past.

I've recently started using E85 and having all the gear at home to do my own oil changes, I would prefer to do more frequent oil changes (say every 4-5k kays) with the cheaper castrol oil rather than leaving a more expensive oil in the sump longer such as the liqui moly for (7-10k kays)

At the end of the day the liqui moly oil should be a better product as I believe it's produced from a ester base (thus it costs more than the castrol - and a ester base is far superior) and you can't go wrong with Liqui moly

[kOncept]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Engine oil has many functions and each product has it's own advantages and disadvantages. To accurately determine which is a better oil depends on what the application and environment is and unfortunately a quick simple test cannot be done to compare the oils to determine a clear and concise conclusion of which is the superior oil.

One might conduct a dyno test and find that oil x produces more power than oil y, but what about the long term affects such as how well is the oil protecting the engine components against wear (shear stress of the oil), fuel consumption, oil dilution, time taken to reach lubrication on cold starts etc etc

As Pete mentioned re the E85, E85 has a detrimental affect of dilution on some oil types. Basically the engine oil is diluted so that it loses it's lubricating & corrosion resistance properties which obviously is a bad thing.

Some oil manufacturers have additives in their oil to combat the E85 diluting the oil (which I think Pete was alluding to with the Liqui moly that it perhaps has E85 resistant properties - unsure if castrol edge is E85 compatiable...) Racing oils for years have been facing this issue (methonal/nitro fuels in speedway drag applications) and thus race oils had been formulated to prevent this dilution but AFAIK not all retail consumer grade oils.

In my view, in fullness of time since the majority of the world is using ethanol blended fuels all engine oils would be able resist dilution from E85 (I believe in Europe their premium fuel has a % of ethanol)

I've always run castrol, mainly because its the factory fill oil and I buy it in bulk when SCA have their bathurst day specials and its only $28 or so for 5L but have used liqui moly in the past.

I've recently started using E85 and having all the gear at home to do my own oil changes, I would prefer to do more frequent oil changes (say every 4-5k kays) with the cheaper castrol oil rather than leaving a more expensive oil in the sump longer such as the liqui moly for (7-10k kays)

At the end of the day the liqui moly oil should be a better product as I believe it's produced from a ester base (thus it costs more than the castrol - and a ester base is far superior) and you can't go wrong with Liqui moly

Thanks for the info I usually change every 5k kms.

What do you think about the penrite 10 tenths range? They state that it's suitable for race fuels and ethanol blends.

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by kOncept

Thanks for the info I usually change every 5k kms.

What do you think about the penrite 10 tenths range? They state that it's suitable for race fuels and ethanol blends.

I'm not familiar with the Penrite range TBH.

A lot of guys use it, but it seems more popular with the old school guys. Looking at the spec of the 10 tenths that wouldnt be suitable for use, its a bmw LL98 spec oil (an older bmw spec to suit E31 E39 spec motors) if you were to use a penrite oil for E85 it would be their 5W30 from their enviro range (without E85 the HPR 5W-30 would be the appropriate choice)

TBH I would just stick with the liqui moly

[1cut808]

Penrite is on special at Supercheap rite now in 6ltrs.. Just serviced mine today.

Shame you need 6.5ltrs lol

[Pete.J]

I use Royal Purple HPS 5W-30, I drive a 325i though (N52 engine), but this oil should suit your N54 engine as well.

After switching to Royal Purple, engine runs butter-smooth Can't hear any valve or cam or lifters noise at all. The engine runs significantly quieter, it purrs like a kitten when it's idling in traffic lights. RPM needle seems to rev a bit more freely as well

I don't have an oil temperature gauge on my car, but other 335i owners on this forums claim lower temperatures using Royal Purple.

Royal Purple HPS is expensive though, $92 for a 5L bottle off eBay.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321612459...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Not many people would want to put that kind of money in an engine oil, but being a car enthusiast I don't mind obviously. I've used this oil on my Honda Civic, VW Jetta 2.0 FSI Turbo (same engine as a MK5 Golf GTI) and lately used it in my 325i and all three cars ran much quieter and smoother so it's definitely not placebo.

Join a forum called BITOG "Bob Is The Oil Guy", all what they talk about there is engine oil. Over there, we love Royal Purple and Redline (used oil analysis results proved these two provide the best wear protection). Sadly though, we don't get Redline in Australia. So, I stick with Royal Purple

Originally Posted by Flex68

Just did the switch to Mobil 1 0-40w .... Running smooth atm no complaints yet

Mobil 1 0W-40 in the gold bottle is not a fully synthetic oil (regardless of what is written on the bottle), I think it's group III. While Royal Purple (ester-based oil) and Castrol LL-01 are Group IV/V. The old Mobil 1 Formula from the nineties and early 2000's used to be fully synthetic but not any more.

Two things to remember if you put Royal purple in your car:

1- Do 10,000kms oil changes as Royal Purple doesn't have BMW's longlife certifications that Castrol has and won't last 25,000km in your engine.

2- Royal Purple is officially not on BMW's recommended list of oils to use for BMW cars. But you gotta realise that part of this is marketing as well. Castrol paid BMW millions to only recommend Castrol and to stick that Castrol badge on our engine oil lids. In mid 2015 BMW is going to switch to SHELL and all the OEM oils that BMW dealers will be stocking will be SHELL brand only! (The guy working at Doncaster BMW parts department told me this last week).

Other oils to consider:

1- Motul 8100
2- German Castrol (buy off eBay, not available in stores in Australia. Comes in green bottle I think)
3- BMW LL-01 OEM oil from the dealer
4- Liqui-Moly is pretty good too

[Pete.J]

As for oil weight, I use 5W-30 in winter and 5W-40 or 10W-40 in summer.

Oil tends to shear faster at higher temps, and knowing how hot BMW engines run, and how hot weather can get in Melbourne during summer I like to use a bit thicker oil in summer so I can feel comfortable when I get stuck in peak hour traffic in summer for 2 hours at 42 degrees while blasting the aircon on max

my 2 cents about engine oil..

[fructus]

It seems odd to me that not many people use Amsoil. They make one of the best if not the best oil out there. It was virtually a consensus on forums with all the previous cars I've owned. Doesn't seem to be the case here.

[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by fructus

It seems odd to me that not many people use Amsoil. They make one of the best if not the best oil out there. It was virtually a consensus on forums with all the previous cars I've owned. Doesn't seem to be the case here.

We don't have Amsoil in Australia, I heard it's a top shelf product as well. But I can't say much about it from personal experience as I can say about Royal Purple HPS