Identifying my engine

T

Tomsdad

Member
Hi everyone. Only had my Z for less than a day but I am planning on doing a basic service.
Please excuse some very basic questions
I think I have the N52B30 engine. It says this in the engine bay. However when I look at pictures of that engine online and on this forum "how to do a service on a 3.0Si" it always shows the engine cover as silver. Mine is black.
Be grateful if you could look at the pic I have included and confirm it is an N52.
Can't believe there is no dipstick! Technology just for the sake of technology to give you onboard oil level sensors.
Finally I like to use Castrol Edge 0W/30. Is this OK

image.jpeg
 
Hiya mate, welcome!
The engine is definitely a N52.
For oil I'm sure you can type you're reg into the Castrol website and it'll give you a long list of different oil types. 0W is a bit low for most Zeds, but it is what I run as mines a high miler. Generally I think 10w30 is used.
 
Not sure I agree with 'kis' ie using '0' oil as his is a high miler. 0 viscosity is as close to water that you can get or am I wrong. For a high miler I would be looking at '20' as the starting point . I use Petronas Syntium 5000 which I believe is recommended for Zeds ie long life rating and is also a reasonable price at Eurocarparts.
 
Okay yeah the w bit doesn't really have any correlation. I use 0w40. 0 is for the cold starts (05:30 every morning is still rather cold!) and 40 is cos of the high mileage.

Oil is very much a personal thing. May depend on the brand you've alway used, what someone has recommended, etc. Much like preference to tyres. What I'm sure everyone will agree on is that you change oil frequently (more than the 25k miles that I think BMW recommends) with a decent brand.
 
The first part of the oil number is the cold behaviour - 0W, 5W, 10W etc with W for Winter. The higher the number the thicker it is when cold. However all oil is too thick when cold (think butter in the fridge), that is one of the reasons you have to warm up an engine before really letting loose.
What really matters is the last number - this is an indication of the viscosity when at operating temperature. I prefer to use a 40 oil on an older engine as it is a bit thicker and therefore gives better protection. The main reason for the car manufacturers to move to 30 oils is it is a bit thinner so results in slightly better MPG - important when selling new cars to fleet operators who don't care if the engine lasts more than 3 years. The same motivation for 20,000 mile service intervals. Remember the recommendation in the user manual is what was applied to the cars when new, when trying to impress buyers with low running costs. The make of oil is whoever gave a good kickback on the marketing deal.
If you are running a race car you may want a 50 or a 60 as the oil gets so hot in race conditions.
A 0W won't be too thin unless you choose a 0W20, and then the problem is the 20, not the 0.
The only reason not to use a 0W oil is it costs more eg 0W40 costs more than 10W40. That's because it is harder to get an oil with both good hot and cold characteristics, and it has to use more expensive ingredients.
I use Mobil1 0W40 on all three of my BMWs.
 
"What really matters is the last number - this is an indication of the viscosity when at operating temperature"
Disagree with you there Nick, most engine wear is proven to take place from cold, so on that basis the first number is just as, if not more important than the second.
I wouldn't put a 20w50 oil in my zed if I cared for engine longevity :o
Rob
 
I use 5w 40 in my higher mileage engines, a it can prevent or reduce burning compared to the recommended 5w 30. I also switched the Zed to it at the last change as it was using a bit, since changing, it hasn't used a drop..

Mike
 
Smartbear said:
"What really matters is the last number - this is an indication of the viscosity when at operating temperature"
Disagree with you there Nick, most engine wear is proven to take place from cold, so on that basis the first number is just as, if not more important than the second.
I wouldn't put a 20w50 oil in my zed if I cared for engine longevity :o
Rob
Click to expand...

I agree with you that engine wear when cold is an issue. The first number represents viscosity when cold - a lower number means lower viscosity. So a 0W40 is thinner when cold than a 10W40. Remember that cold oils are too thick, so a cold 0W40 is closer to the viscosity that you need than a cold 10W40. Once hot both are 40 so nominally identical.
I also wouldn't run a 20W50 in my Zed. Too thick when cold, too thick when hot. But it might be good for a race car that gets very careful warming up before use.
 
As has been confirmed OP, you definitely have an N52 engine - probably good news as it is a bit more powerful! (Although the lack of a dip-stick is a PITA). :(

The N52s came with both colour cam covers, according to build date. My first one was built on 10/10/06 and had the black cover, my second was built on 18/09/06 and has the silver cover (and no AUX socket). Strangely my current one was registered exactly a week after my first one. :?

I've used Castrol Edge in both of mine for topping up as that is what BMW used to recommend (So long as you get the one that meets BMW LongLife 04 standard, but it will tell you on the back of the container)! Tesco is cheaper than any garage (or ECP) but Asda is cheaper still! (And if you get really lucky it may be on special offer).

But BMW now use Shell (as does my BMW Indy) so I will probably swap to that after it has it's next service. I am told the change was mainly because Shell would supply in a BMW branded container, whereas Castrol still wanted their logo to appear somewhere. :roll:
 
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