Recommend me some engine oil

B21 said:
The 40 bit is how the oil flows at operating temperature…damage due to poor oil flow when cold is covered by the 5w…

So the 40 relates to hot engines..depends where you live, what the ambient temperatures are and how you drive..

Currently BMW recommends either 0w-30 or 5w-30 but many owners prefer 40 versions…

Good to see the frequent oil changes :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Daily driver in the UK, so based on recent UK summer temps, this could be max 40 degrees and sub zero in winter months.
 
I’d go for a 0w-30 or a 5w-30 personally….40 weight oils MAY reduce oil consumption a little on a high miler..
 
I think I'm doing something wrong. My 320d has had nothing but the cheapest 5w30 LL04 spec (usually Halfords or TRIPLE QX) for the last 150k miles (currently at 276k) and still fails to consume any, suffer from turbo failure or break anything that's lubricated. And I change it at the full 18k interval.

Please advise.
 
Think you're lucky, assuming you have an e46. My e46 320i used to guzzle oil. Around 1/2 a litre every 2k -ish miles.
Was a lovely super smooth M54, more so than the Zed. The Zed also has problems with oil consumption, but not as bad as the e46.
 
Yes, late E46. Backing off the turbo vane actuation after an EGR delete improved the oil consumption. It was never terrible but I barely have to think about checking it now.

Had a friend with an M54 530i and that was fairly thirsty until we changed all the PCV system. Seemed a common theme. I think part of it was that they came along just as there was a big switch to fully synth oil. Being super slippy the piston rings didn't get bedded in properly unless the engine was worked hard which resulted in high oil consumption. Vauxhall suffered this quite badly. And it's very easy to give a 6-pot an over easy time, particularly the 3.0s.

Not sure how N52 squares up yet. Not sure how many miles I've done since April.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom