BMW 3-Series Oil Questions
Hello all, I'm a new BMW E46 330i owner. I bought my car used at a Ford dealership and I am concerned about if they put Castrol Synthetic oil in it or not. My service indicator says i still have about 2,000 miles left. Does the oil really last for 15,000 miles on the right oil? How often should I get the oil changed in this type of car?
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
0
Comments
Try to get a look at the filter and see what brand it is.. If it is Motorcraft, then head straight to the BMW dealer and pay for an oil change.
What year and how many miles?
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Thanks for the advice!
When reading an oil label, the first number means that when the oil is cold, it flows like a straight weight oil of the same number when it too is cold. The second number means that when the multi grade oil is warm, it will flow like a straight weight oil of the same number when it is also warm. Said another way, 0W-40 is still thicker when cold than when it is warm, it just doesn't thin out as much as it warms as a straight weight oil or another oil that starts with the same first number but has a lower second number.
Regarding fuel economy, the first number only affects the fuel economy for the first few minutes following a cold start. The real benefit of a lower first number is that since it is less thick when cold (especially when it's REAL cold), it pumps up into your engine faster during a cold start and as such, keeps engine wear to a minimum.
Relative to the oils that carry the BMW label, the 5W-30 is the Castrol oil made for BMW for their non-M cars while the 10W-60 is for the Ms.
As there is some question as to the true quality of the BMW/Castrol oil, it seems that the best choice for a certified BMW LL-01 oil is either Mobil 1 0W-40 or German (as in says "Made in Germany" on the label) Castrol Syntec 0W-30. As I prefer a spotless engine (on the inside at least), I lean toward Mobil 1 which seems to be unmatched at keeping the innards clean.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Why VANOS are better than air intake butterfly at low RPM?
Lehrer
If the intake system of an engine is too free breathing, then said engine will be gutless until the RPMs come up to speed. Why is turbulence so important? It aids in creating a uniform distribution of air and fuel within the combustion chamber. The better the air and fuel is mixed and the better said mixture is distributed around the combustion chamber, the greater the amount of power that can be derived when said mixture burns.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Div2, you run Mobil 1 0W-40 year-round?
Shipo, you know quite a bit about turbulence. Still flying that little Cessna?
Yes. That said, my 1995 318ti owners manual states that I can run conventional 15W-50 at ambient temps of 0F and above- and if the car was going to see significant track time I'd probably switch to M1 15W-50. FWIW, I used to run it year-round until the Mobil introduced the 0W-40 grade.
How's Brave Junior coming along? I'll bet he's getting big. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
Best Regards,
Shipo
BTW, good choice on the Mobil 1 0W-40, I've been using the stuff in all of our cars since 2001 and have had the odd UOA performed on it. It not only holds up very well (per the UOA results), it keeps the innards of our engines literally spotless as well.
Best Regards,
Shipo
BTW, I'd never heard of an Ercoupe before. I checked the web and it looks like a fun weekend runabout - kind of like a Miata for the sky (where the Piper Cub would be like an MGB)!
Someday, maybe I'll have the time and money for more toys like those...
Lehrer
Thanks and I appreciate any advice you can offer
Is this normal ? I added 1/2 qt.but it did not register on the I DRIVE. BMW forgot to put a simple dip stick in !!
could it be the oil sensor? I have never had a brand new car burn oil.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Many BMW engines will use a few quarts until they are broken in. It's no big deal; I've had some BMWs that didn't use oil and I've had some that did. In every case the engines have run past 100K with no problems.
You know how the odds go in mass production....there's always that .5 of 1%.......
Well, he's covered by the BMW warranty to 50,000 miles, so I wouldn't worry until there was at least @10,000 miles on the clock. At that point I'd be concerned if the oil consumption was greater than one quart every 2,000 miles.
so my concern for the owner is that they'll stall him past warranty if the oil consumption isn't "bad enough" (by their standards).
Rgards,
OW
Oil consumption of 800 miles/qt during the break-in period of a BMW is a bit on the high side, but it's certainly not that unusual. It's wise to report the matter to the dealer, but I'd run the sled several thousand more miles before I'd start to worry.
I think it's just like the plastic covers they put over the engine, so it's harder for us to service on our own and need to take it to the dealers.
Regards,
OW
I don't like it either. BMW's powerplant engineers just hate the thought of anyone laying a wrench upon one of their internal combustion masterpieces. Ever since the eighties I've heard that their ultimate goal was to be able to weld the hood shut.
Good that it's fixed now.
Regards,
OW
Service has offered a few unlikely explanations already, the MOST probable being that we've had the totally fluky two-bad-sensors-in-a-row experience -- "It can happen!" Just our bad luck. Only, now it's three. Whatever the cause may be, it seems highly unlikely that ours is the only car experiencing the problem. We love the car, but you can't just ignore its serious warning lights. I'm thinking: NHTSA Defect Report, and Lemon Law claim.
- EOM Mobil 1 0W-40 is certified to meet the BMW LL-01 oil specification.
- Castrol Syntec 0W-30 is certified to meet the BMW LL-01 oil specification.
- Which Royal Purple oil is certified to meet the BMW LL-01 oil specification?
Best Regards,
Shipo
NOT! It lasted about a week. Now I've had low oil warning,Max oil level,Halfway oil level.Been back and forth to dealer four times now. Not a nice way to use up your lease miles.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I think BMW did this to achieve the elusive "no maintenance required" summit that many automakers seem to be striving for. It seems they are designing cars so that you will never have to touch them someday. They'll be like TV sets in terms of maintenance. You use it for years and one day it goes PHZXXT! and you throw it away.
If I believed in conspiracy theories I'd also say things like no dipstick and no drain plug and proprietary diagnostics make the owner more dealer-dependent.
The shade tree mechanic is gradually going the way of the dodo bird.
I've seen some sales resistance, though, to this "no dipstick" thing.