Quick Guide to Oil in Your E36

I do take good care of all the BMW I have had since 1976 (2002tii) But this 318is it’s something special, It does remained me a lot my first BMW the 1976 2002tii I mentioned earlier. This 318is I’m planning to keep it forever. It is 15 years old and still strong and looking new.
Thank ya all for the complement, I do appreciate it.
Cheers

Back to the Castrol Syntec 5W-40, any of you had any experience with it, which can share it here.
I’m, still impressed with this oil outcome positive impact on my car engine.
Cheers

A few points of data to help your oil selection:
- Castrol syntec is based on a polyol ester which, by itself, has very good friction and wear properties when used with engines with ferrous metal components. The ester bonds to ferrous metal components, creating a wear barrier that can actually work even with the oil drained. Not that I suggest you do that! They then add antiwear, ep and other additives. Esters have better thermal/oxidative stability than mineral oils, but not as good as PAO's (see below).

- Mobil one and many other synthetics are polyalphaolefins (PAO's), these are specially manufactured mineral oils, with a very tight compositions. They have no affinity to metal and rely on additives for friction & wear properties. They perform better at high temp because they can maintain their viscosity (because of the special chemical structure). They tend to have excellent thermal/oxidative stability and can go 5000-10000 miles between changes.

- Conventional oils typically have broad viscosity ranges and are formulated to meet viscosity standards with additives called VI improvers. They also have additional additives for wear, friction, corrosion, etc. They tend to lack the thermal & oxidative stability and should be replaced every 3000 miles or so.

So depending on your engine construction, aluminum, cast iron, etc. you can select the best oil for long term performance. I hope this helps.

Whats the deal on

"high mileage" oil?


I always thought it was a load of ****... am i correct?

I use Castrol High Mileage. I believe it's part-sythetic.

Originally Posted by Eight Thirty

Whats the deal on

"high mileage" oil?


I always thought it was a load of ****... am i correct?

High mileage oil is partly synthetic (as cj says) and it has some additional additives that help swell seals. These are usually esters of some kind that will swell seals a bit more than normal oil to help old cars from leaking from the various seals. They also have a few more detergents to help trap sludge and have it come out during the next oil change.

Originally Posted by cj.surr

I use Castrol High Mileage. I believe it's part-sythetic.

Same

Ahhh i see.


What is considered high mileage? 116k?

Originally Posted by Eight Thirty

Ahhh i see.


What is considered high mileage? 116k?

I think anything after 75k is where they classify a car as high mileage

Sent from my HTC HD2 using Bimmer

^ what he said about mileage...

Originally Posted by OrionsGate

A few points of data to help your oil selection:
- Castrol syntec is based on a polyol ester which, by itself, has very good friction and wear properties when used with engines with ferrous metal components. The ester bonds to ferrous metal components, creating a wear barrier that can actually work even with the oil drained. Not that I suggest you do that! They then add antiwear, ep and other additives. Esters have better thermal/oxidative stability than mineral oils, but not as good as PAO's (see below).

- Mobil one and many other synthetics are polyalphaolefins (PAO's), these are specially manufactured mineral oils, with a very tight compositions. They have no affinity to metal and rely on additives for friction & wear properties. They perform better at high temp because they can maintain their viscosity (because of the special chemical structure). They tend to have excellent thermal/oxidative stability and can go 5000-10000 miles between changes.

- Conventional oils typically have broad viscosity ranges and are formulated to meet viscosity standards with additives called VI improvers. They also have additional additives for wear, friction, corrosion, etc. They tend to lack the thermal & oxidative stability and should be replaced every 3000 miles or so.

So depending on your engine construction, aluminum, cast iron, etc. you can select the best oil for long term performance. I hope this helps.

First, thx so much for the broad info.
One question comes to my mind. BMW recommend an oil y filter change every 15,000. Km (9,375 miles) on regular driving conditions, about the same time the oil change or inspection light turn on. That is when using the OEM BMW Super Power 5W-40 LL98 Year round oil. Since now I am using Castrol Syntec 5W-40 LL98, does this mean I can go for the same mileages as the OEM BMW oil I mentioned above?
In this scenario the Castrol Syntec 5W-40 LL98 is the direct recommended oil substitute by BMW and as we all know Castrol is responsible for making all BMW OEM Motor Oils. So I speculate these two mentioned motor oils are made under the same standards & formula. Could that be the case?
Thx,
Cheers

Where do you even get BMW Super Power oil? I haven't seen anything but BMW High Performance Synthetic (5w-40) and the conventional BMW Oil which is 15w-40.

I would not follow the BMW service intervals at all lol seems sketchy

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Originally Posted by ethereal45

Where do you even get BMW Super Power oil? I haven't seen anything but BMW High Performance Synthetic (5w-40) and the conventional BMW Oil which is 15w-40.

Local BMW Concessionary.
BMW SuperPower: ASE 5W-40 Leichtlaut- Motorenoil, ACE: A3/B3/B4, BMW Longlife-98,
Teile Nr. (part #) 81 22 0 407 547
Perhaps you don't get this German made Oil.
It is BMW special oil for gasoline & Diesel Engines. Same as the Castrol Syntec 5W-40 for euro engines

bro, it's not a special oil at all
Your ignorance is hilarious


Just because BMW makes it, doesn't mean it's special man.

I don't even know where you find that stuff, I don't even think they make Super Power oil anymore.

The best Castrol oil is "German Castrol" which is Syntec 0w-30. It's different from all of the other Syntec oils, in that it is made in germany and it has an entirely different additive package than the other Syntec oils. If you're going to use Castrol Syntec, 0w-30 is the one to use.

Originally Posted by ethereal45

I don't even know where you find that stuff, I don't even think they make Super Power oil anymore.

The best Castrol oil is "German Castrol" which is Syntec 0w-30. It's different from all of the other Syntec oils, in that it is made in germany and it has an entirely different additive package than the other Syntec oils. If you're going to use Castrol Syntec, 0w-30 is the one to use.

Except for the whole bit about 30 weight oil being too thin for our cars. This has been covered and recovered more than nearly any other single fact on this forum.

Originally Posted by jonesin

Except for the whole bit about 30 weight oil being too thin for our cars. This has been covered and recovered more than nearly any other single fact on this forum.

At 100C Castrol 0w-30 has a viscosity of 12.2 cSt, which is plenty thick. Mobil 1 0w-40 is only slightly thicker at 13.5. Plus, most used oil analysis shows that Mobil 1 will shear, reducing its high temp viscosity down into the 10-12 range after as little as a few thousand miles.

It's plenty thick.

Originally Posted by Moeman10

bro, it's not a special oil at all
Your ignorance is hilarious


Just because BMW makes it, doesn't mean it's special man.

The BMW sale it as special oil for all season and for diesel or gasoline cars Pehaps they don't know what they are saying!

Originally Posted by ethereal45

I don't even know where you find that stuff, I don't even think they make Super Power oil anymore.

The best Castrol oil is "German Castrol" which is Syntec 0w-30. It's different from all of the other Syntec oils, in that it is made in germany and it has an entirely different additive package than the other Syntec oils. If you're going to use Castrol Syntec, 0w-30 is the one to use.

The Castrol I show here it says it is special formulated for VW, BMW & MB not to be sale in USA the Castrol dealer here has another Castrol Syntec 5w-40 made in USA a blend of EURO & USA oils formula for VW. BMW & MB too. Only to be sell in America! Same case same bottle just a little singe marks the difference

Originally Posted by Moeman10

bro, it's not a special oil at all
Your ignorance is hilarious


Just because BMW makes it, doesn't mean it's special man.

It is Castrol that makes the oil for BMW. BMW don't make oils

I guess the BMW shop technician don't know what they are saying when they sale a product (Special Oils)

Originally Posted by ethereal45

I don't even know where you find that stuff, I don't even think they make Super Power oil anymore.

The best Castrol oil is "German Castrol" which is Syntec 0w-30. It's different from all of the other Syntec oils, in that it is made in germany and it has an entirely different additive package than the other Syntec oils. If you're going to use Castrol Syntec, 0w-30 is the one to use.

Yes they still have it in stock for sale but now come only as BMW Super Power 0W-40 LL-04 that's why I changed for Castrol Syntec 5W-40 LL98 recommended by the BMW technician supervisor that attended me. He say that if I have been running 5W-40 LL98 I should keep using it and that Castrol syntec 5w-40 LL98 would be the direct replacement. He mentioned to buy the Castrol German made for EURO market not the one for USA market. I guess that's because my car is German build as all BMWs here.

No, BMW know's what they're saying.


People like you are stupid enough to believe it.

Someone is in a cranky mood

Just to make you all think a little I have a friend who works at an oil refinery and they pkg lube oil (non synthetic) but anyway he tells me that they pkg 5w 30 pensoil, castrol, quarker state and some other brands off of the same line. I was surprised and asked him if the different brands had different additives he laughed and said yeah the color of the container haha.
This is just food for thought. I personally use only true group IV based synthetic oils in my BMWs . Dont forget the Germans have been making synthetic oils since the early 1940s
many oils labeled synthetic in North America could not be sold as synthetic in Europe their labeling laws are much stricter and require that only true synthetic base stocks are used in oil listed as such.