Engine oil

[JMT4071]

Hello all, New to the site and to my Z4 having just swapped from a motorbike. I need some help choosing the correct oil. I have a 2006 2.0L, an oil light has come on, when checking the oil level it states that I need to add 1 litre if oil. I am struggling to find an oil which matches the description in the handbook. IE BMW longlife 1. When searching on line some sites have suggested 5W30 and others 0W30. Some advice would be very much appreciated. The service history shows last service completed by BMW in April distance travelled about 1500 miles. I have had the car approximately 3 weeks. I assume that a BMW service would fill the oil to maximum. Is oil usage at that level typical.

[A2KVU]

Go for Valvoline Synpower 5W30.
Not the cheapest, but probably the best and due to its viscosity improvers, it will reduce the oil usage.

[SonnyA85]

I use Petronas and 5w30.

The Petronas one I use is a high spec one they have lots of different ones but I usually go for the most expensive recommend for the car and the reason why I pick Petronas is it's good enough for Lewis Hamilton and many other racing teams. That tech filters down.

[Zedebee]

You will get as many different answers as there are oils. I am not sure what the 2.0l spec is but the 6-cyl engines take 5w30 and some people find 5w40 to be better in higher mileage engines. Go for a good brand, fully synthetic oil of the correct spec and you won’t go wrong. I use Millers Nano. Opie Oils offer very good price / service, if you are shopping for oil, in my experience.

[B21]

The N46 engine has a 1,500 miles per litre oil consumption posted..so yours is not abnormal..

Most modern oils will be ok..0w30 5w30…

Most important thing is to change oils n filters regularly..every 8k max, ideally 5k or every year which ever does first

The oils posted are ‘class 3’ there are better oils..classes 4 n 5 but for a ‘cooking pot’ motor in normal conditions any ‘synthetic’ should suffice..

Frequency of oil n filter change is much much more crucial than an exotic oil at extended intervals…

FWIW I use a class 5 oil at 5k intervals but I’m making 400 bhp and 650nm torque…

[Mr Tidy]

FWIW BMW use Shell Helix Ultra that is to their later LL04 specification.

[SonnyA85]

FWIW BMW use Shell Helix Ultra that is to their later LL04 specification.

I used this on the previous oil change as it was on offer at a ridiculously low price so felt it was worth a change for the savings. Shell are a well trusted brand who spend billions on research and development within the space to improve their oil and fuels.

[skelters]

Put any of the recommendations in and see how it goes.

After you get fed up topping up the oil when it's asking do another oil change and put Millers Performance in it.

[tug]

I put Mobil 1 5W 30 in my N46 that is fast approaching 150k. But i have never had to "add a litre"

[SonnyA85]

Put any of the recommendations in and see how it goes.

After you get fed up topping up the oil when it's asking do another oil change and put Millers Performance in it.

Is that because it sludges up quicker filling up the cracks and holes the oil leaks from?

[SonnyA85]

I put Mobil 1 5W 30 in my N46 that is fast approaching 150k. But i have never had to "add a litre"

Same I've never topped mine up. I also didn't bother switching to thicker oils either I use what BMW recommends. A trusted toyota technician says if you want your engine to last you should be changing the oil every 6 months. He says the difference is between an engine doing 400K miles down to only 180K if only changed yearly.

Yet there's folk out there going 5-6 years between changes.

[Davz]

You need to use bmw long life oil LL04 in a 5w30 grade. However there are 2 grades of LL04, if you look at the spec of the oil it will also be rated for use by vag cars, the oil be be rated VW503 or VW504. The better quality oil is the 504 which has an improvement of wear characteristics of 3% over the 503 and is also better at reducing carbon build up. The 504 grade is slightly more expensive.
Don’t get hung up on make of oil they all have to meet the LL04 and VW504 spec, paying for overpriced makes is a waste of money.

[Sticks]

I always go for a minimum 40SAE, and here's why https://services.totalenergies.uk/diffe ... engine-oil

[PDJ]

Some of the above makes me smile
Use long life oil and change it every 5000 miles
If you change it after a few thousand miles and under 6 months why would you need long life oil
Long life oil must have additives to make it last longer but almost certainly not make it a better lubricant

This is what I do in my Z4M
Change the oil every 4 to 5 thousand miles and change the oil filter between the oil change as it is on the top of the engine
I use Shell Helix Ultra 10/60w Racing

CD64CE18-96C9-4813-8DF4-BE0A1D922F0C.jpeg (157.01 KiB) Viewed 589 times

[B21]

Some of the above makes me smile
Use long life oil and change it every 5000 miles
If you change it after a few thousand miles and under 6 months why would you need long life oil
Long life oil must have additives to make it last longer but almost certainly not make it a better lubricant

This is what I do in my Z4M
Change the oil every 4 to 5 thousand miles and change the oil filter between the oil change as it is on the top of the engine
I use Shell Helix Ultra 10/60w Racing
CD64CE18-96C9-4813-8DF4-BE0A1D922F0C.jpeg

It’s not illogical to have a long life spec oil and change it frequently….

The additives that make it long life are generally beneficial to engines irrespective of service interval..keeping acids at bay and keeping solids in suspension are good at all times..

Conversely putting a 60w oil in a 20i would be a crime against humanity..

Racing oils are great providing you drain them out after each race..