Oil for high mileage M54.

[Spriteracer]

Can I ask what is the current opinion on oil grade for a high mileage M54 engine please. I have just been given my father's 2005 E46 330i with190k on the clock to bring back to life as it has been rather neglected recently. I'm thinking maybe 10w60 but would value any advice. There are a few air and oil leaks in the usual places to sort but generally the engine seems fine, runs smoothly when warm and pulls well. No smoke that I can see. The restoration starts now ! Thanks.

 

[Zedebee]

As standard the M54 has 5W30. Most of the advice I have seen seems to be move up a grade to 5W40 as mileage goes up. 10W60 sounds a bit too thick to me.

 

[Spriteracer]

Many thanks. After a bit more research on the Opie oils site since posting, I found the same so will go with that. Opie have a 15% discount on everything at the moment.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

I would deffo not increase the lower grade. Clean up, check, fix any leaks, but if it isn't burning any oil, I'd stick to 5w30

 

[Spriteracer]

Thanks both. very helpful.

 

[Rockhopper]

Mines on 120k and I use 5W40.

 

[Joycey]

The M54 oil rings mostly clog up causing some oil burning, worth running some additive to clean these up along with some 5w40, I've had a previous M54 engine with over 300k miles, they go on for ever!

 

[Spriteracer]

Interesting. What additive do you use? All my previous BMWs have done 200-250k miles before I passed them on. Never had to put anything other than oil in, but I do long journeys quite frequently. The E46 will have done mostly short journeys for the last 3-4 years.

 

[feket663]

I have Z4 3.0i with M54 B30 engine. I bought with 154 k miles.
According to the label in the engine compartment, it was filled with 5W-40 Liqui Moly oil. Oil consumption was approximately 0.5 liters per 600 miles under dynamic use. Then Eni 5W-40 was added to the engine, and I performed the 02Pilot Mod. After that, oil consumption decreased to 0.3 liters/600 miles under the same conditions. Since last year, I have been using Mannol 10W-60 oil, which I change every 4-4500 miles. This year, approximately 0.1 liters of oil (1mm on dipstick) was consumed over 2000 miles. The car currently has 176,000 miles on it, and I'm using only good weather (above 10-15 degree of Celsius). Before changing the oil, I pour a metal can of Xado engine cleaner additive into the warm engine and drive the car in gentle mode for 40-50 miles.

 

[Mr Tidy]

I had a 100K mile E46ti with the M54 engine and I used 0W/40 Castrol Edge in it as I figured a wider range couldn't be a bad thing! It was only using 1 litre every 6,000 miles, unlike my later N52s.