Which grade of Oil?

M

Marco

Member
 Hampshire
My oil light came on (and beeped) when I turned the ignition off this evening. I then turned the car on and off again and nothing happened. I know I checked the oil not too long ago and it seemed fine, but I'm assuming that it might be getting low and needs a topup. I have been through a number of other posts discussing this topic and it seems to be low oil (predominantly) or perhaps faulty sensor.

My question is that (from what I read on this Forum) Castrol Edge 5W30 seems to be the one to go for but when I put my car details in on the Castrol Website they recommend Castrol Edge 0W30 - which is correct?

Oh I have a 2003 2.5i Roadster...

Thanks guys,
Marco
 
Depends on mileage, dealers sometimes go for a thicker oil when mileage is higher... for example, I changed mine to 10w60 when it reached 80k, previously it was on 00w30. 2alpsade uses a mix on his roadster - obviously these are different engines, but principle stands. Give your dealer a ring?
 
I shall be useing Asda's own brand 5-40 fully synthetic.....obviously Asda only market a major brand's oil under their own name and its fully spec'ed £20 for 5 litres........That'l do nicely sir 8)

As an aside its suitable for extended drain ( longlife) but I change my oil every 6000 or every year anyway
 
i had the same light come on a few months ago, assumed mine was low so went out and got 1ltr to top it up! a few weeks later the car went in for a service and the garage said there was WAY too much oil in!!
 
I've used Comma products in my 4x4s for years, including LSD oil which gets a pasting but works just fine. They were an Exxon company until recently but have been bought by a big Brazilian fuels company called Cosan.

If you want reasonably priced oil that does the business, go here http://www.commaoil.com/motorists/ and stick in your reg and postcode and it will even tell you where to go and get it. Interestingly they man up to not having products for transmission or the BMW LSD, even though they stock such oils for other applications.


Oh and they too quote 5w-30.
 
Actually it depends on where and how you are using the car... Oil types of 0W40 are very liquid and better for use in very cold periods or countries. At more normal temperatures, it is better to have 5W40 which becomes more liquid with a hotter engine. In racing conditions, or hot countries you better take 10W40 as the engine can get quite hot.

In general, I would NOT recommend anything lower than 5W40 (full syntethic of course). If your engine oil is too liquid (because of hot engine), it will be too liquid for your oil pump. When driving "sporty" your oil pump could consume more oil in bends when it suddenly gets a higher oil pressure due to high temparature, high RPM and higher pressure when taking a fast turn or bend (all oil goes to one side). As a result you might blow your oil pump and suddenly get a big cloud of white-blue smoke... I've been there witha 911 and it's not a pretty sight!
 
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