Why all of a sudden 10W-60?

[beachbuggy]

A response from bmwusa about approved motor oils for my '01 M Roadster concerns me. I had asked them to e-mail me a list of motor oils I could choose from for my '01. They came back with Castrol Synthetic in the 10W-60 weight. Why? My vehicle has a 8/01 build date, is this prelude to a bearing problem I've been hearing about? Why the switch from 5W-30? They say once you change you shouldn't return to it. The vehicle has only 8600 miles on it.

[firedwg1]

A response from bmwusa about approved motor oils for my '01 M Roadster concerns me. I had asked them to e-mail me a list of motor oils I could choose from for my '01. They came back with Castrol Synthetic in the 10W-60 weight. Why? My vehicle has a 8/01 build date, is this prelude to a bearing problem I've been hearing about? Why the switch from 5W-30? They say once you change you shouldn't return to it. The vehicle has only 8600 miles on it.

I would use what the owners manual states. "5w-30w" Full synthetic any name brand

in cars with 100k + it might be better to go to 10w-60w

[fpa1974]

All S54s are prone to having bearing problems especially since BMWNA decided to ignore the M roadster/coupe crowd. If you want to keep your engine 6 years/100K warranty extension I would only use 10W60.

Also do a search since this subject (bearings problems) was debated at large in the past.

Florian

[dwm]

Castrol 10w60 is the right oil for the S54.

I hope this isn't your first oil change; it should be done at least annually, regardless of mileage.

[Randy Forbes]

I would use what the owners manual states. "5w-30w" Full synthetic any name brand

in cars with 100k + it might be better to go to 10w-60w
The owner's manual for the S-54 does state 10w/60.

Only the very first S-54s came (from the factory) with 5w/30 oil.

It was upgraded to 10w/60 prior to production of our 08/01 M Rdstr

[luciano136]

How about the 99 2.8? I used 5w-40 for my last oil change...

[Thrlls]

Mine is a 5/01 build and it came with the 5W - 30, but they immediately called me to say there was a campaign to change out the oil to 10W - 60. This was done right after they did the 1200 oil change. So I had 2 oil changes within a 100 miles of each other. Ever since then it's only been 10W - 60 Castrol TSW...I want my 100K 6yr warranty.

[6i9]

Is using 0w-40 bad per se then? Should I only be using 5w-30/10w-60?

[Sands]

How about the 99 2.8? I used 5w-40 for my last oil change...

5w30 is just fine for non S motors. I've used 10w40 for hot summers and track events and 0w30 for frigid winters though.

[Pinecone]

Any full synthetic that meets ACEA A3/B3 specs is fine in any engine EXCPET S-54s and early S-62s. Those two engines use ONLY Castril TWS or RS 10W-60 oil.

BTW few -30 oils meet ACEA A3/B3 specs. Read the bottle carefully. I run BMW 5W-30 synthetic in our M Raodster (S52) and Mobil 0W-40 in the my LTW.

[Sands]

Not only that, but BMW's branded 5w30 is the least expensive synthetic I've seen. Especially with the CCA discount.

No reason NOT to use it.