Oil Choice

J

junglist

Member
It's coming upto service time on my 2003 Roadster and I'm wondering what to go for.

I'd always used Castrol Edge 0w30 on my last one however I'm wondering if I'd be better going for a 0w40 or 5w40 as this one has done 153,000 miles. I've also been reading bad things about the Castrol, a lot of people mentioning noisier engines.

I've only had the car a week or so, so I haven't had the chance to see whether it's burning oil or not.

I'll probably service it every 5k rather than the 15k / 2 years it's been on up to now, so perhaps in the grand scheme of things it won't make much difference what I go for?
 
Must say I'm tempted by Gulf Formula CX 5w30 - it's to LL04 spec and I can get 8 litres and a Mann filter for £36 from good old Euro Car Parts.
 
Oil is a very subjective and emotive topic so you'll get many different answers. My general advice would be to go for a 5W40 that meets LL04 and change it frequently (as you say you plan to) though my aim is 1y/7500 miles.
Personally I'm not convinced brand matters as long as the frequency is more regular than the book says and use BMW switching from Castrol to Shell as an example of why brand may not matter.
You could also do some oil analysis if you wanted more data.
I've just switched to Millers CFS in prep for a track day but for road use this is probably overkill.

Don't forget your gearbox! Mike Miller provides a good guide that is worth a read and easily found via google.
 
Scooba_Steve said:
Oil is a very subjective and emotive topic so you'll get many different answers. My general advice would be to go for a 5W40 that meets LL04 and change it frequently (as you say you plan to) though my aim is 1y/7500 miles.
Personally I'm not convinced brand matters as long as the frequency is more regular than the book says and use BMW switching from Castrol to Shell as an example of why brand may not matter.
You could also do some oil analysis if you wanted more data.
I've just switched to Millers CFS in prep for a track day but for road use this is probably overkill.

Don't forget your gearbox! Mike Miller provides a good guide that is worth a read and easily found via google.
Click to expand...

Your gearbox comment - was looking to get mine changed but during the buying ramp inspection my //M has a ‘lifetime oil’ sticker on it & thought the diff was sealed to.

What are your thoughts?
 
Jembo said:
Scooba_Steve said:
Oil is a very subjective and emotive topic so you'll get many different answers. My general advice would be to go for a 5W40 that meets LL04 and change it frequently (as you say you plan to) though my aim is 1y/7500 miles.
Personally I'm not convinced brand matters as long as the frequency is more regular than the book says and use BMW switching from Castrol to Shell as an example of why brand may not matter.
You could also do some oil analysis if you wanted more data.
I've just switched to Millers CFS in prep for a track day but for road use this is probably overkill.

Don't forget your gearbox! Mike Miller provides a good guide that is worth a read and easily found via google.
Click to expand...

Your gearbox comment - was looking to get mine changed but during the buying ramp inspection my //M has a ‘lifetime oil’ sticker on it & thought the diff was sealed to.

What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Ins2 should include gearbox oil & diff oil with the ZM so very much a consumable on the M cars & far from "lifetime oil " .
 
What's so different about the M box compared to the allegedly indestructible others that never need a change :lol:

Jembo said:
What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...


Change them both. Also read Mike Miller's guide :thumbsup:
 
Scooba_Steve said:
What's so different about the M box compared to the allegedly indestructible others that never need a change :lol:

Jembo said:
What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...


Change them both. Also read Mike Miller's guide :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Lifetime oil is just the lifetime of the warranty, it's worth changing on all cars.
 
I had a Jag XJ Sovereign a few years ago, ZF auto box with 'Lifetime' seal on it. I asked someone at Jaguar what 'lifetime' meant in their world "100k miles or 10 years". So I had the oil & filter changed at 75k, ended up doing 256k with only a replacement torque converter.
If you change the gearbox & diff oil now, it'll see you ok for the next few years. It's a piece of mind thing as well.
As for oil, as other bods have said, we all have our favourites. I favour Millers or Morris' but you pays your money you takes your choice!
 
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