OIL Types Used

Just curious on what type of oil you guys use? Conventional High Mileage Fully Synthetic.....and Brand Castrol, Penzoil, Mobil 1....

Dino oil for the ol M20. Change on short intervals, about <5,000 miles.

Castrol Edge with Syntec, 10w-40 5k intervals.

My buddy with 91 525i does mobile 1 gold 10w-40. I personally like this oil better.

I'm a Castrol boy. Change it when the service indicator is half way down but only reset when serviced fully as indicated. I tend to use thicker grades as my engines are older 350k km +.

I run M1 0w-40 euro formula. I change at 5000 mi because it is easy for me to remember

Mobil 1or castrol syntec 5 w 30 , every 4500 miles . I have 183k miles on my engine.

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Mobil 1 Euro 0w-40, every 5K

Oh...does/has anyone used high mileage oil? Is it ok to switch from high mileage to fully synthetic or do i have to keep on using high mileage?? Heard Hm oil expands thing?? O.o

I don't trust any of the advertisements personally, fuel injectors cleaner, high mileage oil, etc. Good oil is good oil. I'm at 170k miles on mine, so mine falls into High mileage. Another buddy of mine has 350k+ miles on his jetta 5w-30 mobile 1 gold run in that thing for the past five years Atleast.

Originally Posted by BMWE34M20

Oh...does/has anyone used high mileage oil? Is it ok to switch from high mileage to fully synthetic or do i have to keep on using high mileage?? Heard Hm oil expands thing?? O.o

A. Only use fully synthetic engine oil (check the label to confirm). Prices are damn low, engine protection is greater, and drain intervals are doubled. What's the downside ? Mobil 1 retails at walmart for under $30 ! Its ridiculous.

B. High mileage oil is simply thicker oil. Thicker oil helps for older engines as older engines have worn piston rings which don't seal the combustion chamber as well as when new so your compression suffers. Thicker oil helps to compensate somewhat for this wear, and you get more power as a result, even factoring in the greater friction created by thicker oil.

C. There is thicker fully synthetic oil available in the market ! So, only use products labelled as high mileage oil if it also states that it is fully synthetic.

D. HM oil does not expand things, does not swell gaskets to compensate for ruptures, etc...all that stuff has been more or less proven to be false. HM oil reduces the amount of oil that escapes an existing leak, that's true, but its just because its thicker and thus flows out less easily both when hot and cold.



rgds,
Roberto

Oh and yeah i saw five quarts of high mileage oil for under $30 and want to switch to Fully Synthetic.

Conventional wisdom on oil type...

It matters not, as long as it's changed with regularity.

For reading enjoyment, go to the E39 forum, and search "oil".
Lively reading.
Passionate opinions, incredible scholarship, resulting in great facts (and some fiction, I'm sure) about oil, and lubrication in general.
Bottom line?
Search for "My car crapped out because I used the wrong oil".
Oh...No thread?
NS

In our business, we expect 750k, and many get 1m/miles out of our engines.
Delo 400.
Changed every 15k/m RELIGIOUSLY.
Best you can get for the $$$.

There.
The "Dumb Trucker" opinion.

T

This is a good question as I have no clue what the factory specifications are for oil weights. I simply used 20w-50 royal purple. (High performance fully synthetic oil) in my 1995 540i

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Originally Posted by nwilson44

This is a good question as I have no clue what the factory specifications are for oil weights. I simply used 20w-50 royal purple. (High performance fully synthetic oil) in my 1995 540i

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Have you ever tried anything else ? Switch to RP 10w40 and see if your car feels the same or better (test it at all speeds). If the performance feels the same, then monitor fuel economy over 2 tankfuls. If its better, then switch to this permanently. 20w50 helps high mileage vehicles better but being thicker, it generates more friction within the engine which results in power loss from that aspect alone.

How is royal purple?

Originally Posted by BMWE34M20

How is royal purple?

IMO its over rated !

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I will not use Royal Purple in my BMW. I used it for a few years in my 2003 Yukon XL, and developed a cracked cylinder head. The RP may have contributed to that, and perhaps it didn't, but I have refused to use anything that I used in my Yukon, in my BMW. I will stick with the Mobil 1 0W-40, the OEM BMW Synthetic, and now I may give the new Amsoil 5W-40 European Formula, Full SAP, a try. Thanks.

Originally Posted by johnniek

I will not use Royal Purple in my BMW. I used it for a few years in my 2003 Yukon XL, and developed a cracked cylinder head. The RP may have contributed to that, and perhaps it didn't, but I have refused to use anything that I used in my Yukon, in my BMW. I will stick with the Mobil 1 0W-40, the OEM BMW Synthetic, and now I may give the new Amsoil 5W-40 European Formula, Full SAP, a try. Thanks.

I believe that amsoil and RP are in the same class in terms of reliability. Considering how cheap mobil1 fully synthetic is, and considering that for under $30, you can even purchase a mobil1 fully synthetic product (extended life) that needs no change for 15k miles or 1 year, I don't see how there can be any doubt as to the way forward.

And your RP would not have caused any cracked cylinder heads.

I think Amsoil is quite a step above Royal Purple. I also have a 1999 SAAB 9-5 that was suffering from the dreaded "blue smoke" condition. I switched to Amsoil products, and used the engine/transmission flush before the first oil change to their Signature oil. After one treatment, the blue smoke stopped, and I felt a positive difference in performance. I have continued to use Amsoil in my Saab and Yukon, as well as my wife's Honda CRV with great results.

What was the rating on the rp product and the amsoil one you switched to layer, for the car with the blue smoke issue ?