oil question

[eljockvis]

last year i got a brand new 03 engine fitted under warranty due to very high oil consumption,i made sure i ran the new engine in properly and i get no oil useage
at all but i still change the oil every 5000 miles,i used 10w 60 in the old 2000 engine but now i use 0w 40 castrol rs in the new engine,i have some sitting in the garage at the moment but the date on the side of unopend 2x 4liter containers is 2004
is this ok to use or should i just get new oil??

[wiggis]

Originally Posted by eljockvis

last year i got a brand new 03 engine fitted under warranty due to very high oil consumption,i made sure i ran the new engine in properly and i get no oil useage
at all but i still change the oil every 5000 miles,i used 10w 60 in the old 2000 engine but now i use 0w 40 castrol rs in the new engine,i have some sitting in the garage at the moment but the date on the side of unopend 2x 4liter containers is 2004
is this ok to use or should i just get new oil??

I would not use 0w40 in my M5 - I believe it's too thin at high temperatures / high loads, and would not adequately protect the crank shaft bearings in that situation.

If you have your heart set on using 0w40 oil, then I see no reason why you wouldn't use oil manufactured 2 years ago, especially if kept in unopened containers, and if you intend to change it in 5,000 miles time.

I still reckon that 10w60 is the best oil for M5's and M3's, regardless of manufacturing date.

[M Macht]

Originally Posted by eljockvis

last year i got a brand new 03 engine fitted under warranty due to very high oil consumption,i made sure i ran the new engine in properly and i get no oil useage
at all but i still change the oil every 5000 miles,i used 10w 60 in the old 2000 engine but now i use 0w 40 castrol rs in the new engine,i have some sitting in the garage at the moment but the date on the side of unopend 2x 4liter containers is 2004
is this ok to use or should i just get new oil??

The unopened "old" oil should be Ok...after all it lasted oh about 300 million years in the ground. Hehe. Sorry, just being a smart alec.

[eljockvis]

hi

it seems there is some dispute between the oils required for s62 v8 engines,
after my running in inspection my dealer wollaston bmw in northampton filled it up with 10w60,i wanted to make sure this was correct so i chatted to a technical guy at bmw uk and he instructed bmw wollaston to drop the 10w60
and refil with 5w30 synth,so its a bit of a grey area!!

[wiggis]

Agree it's a grey area. I recall reading that BMW recently issued a service bulletin recommending that 2001 BMW M3's now be filled up with 10w60. I'm connecting that change with the fact that a number of M3's suffered premature wear on their crankshaft bearings, and that the thicker oil at high temperature (i.e. the 60 bit) protects more.

http://www.mbmw.com/e46_m3_engine_failure.htm
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/archi...p/t-48099.html
http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews...m3/index1.html

That said, for most drivers in most conditions for most of the time, 5w30 would probably protect enough that it wouldn't matter, and you may get a fraction more power than if you used 10w60.

I'm also told that the new V10 BMW M5 takes 10w60 oil ... and if it's good enough for that engine, then it's got to be good enough for mine.

My car is only getting 10w60, and I'd have no hesitation in using a 2 year old bottle of it ... !

[eljockvis]

thanks for posting the article regarding the m3,

when i got my new engine fitted
i was chatting to the stores guy at wollaston bmw while checking out the new s62 engine that was sitting outside coverd in clingfilm i was getting fitted... and next to it was a brand new e46 m3 engine,he told me that the early e46 m3s 2001 etc had big end bearing failures and many had to have new engines fitted under warranty! so beware buying one out of warranty in the future !

before i purchaced the m5 2 years ago i had a 1998 e36 m3 evo smg,this use to be filled with shell helix 5w 30 by my bmw dealer,

regarding this engine carbon buildup issue people keep talking about on this forum
has any one in the uk ever experienced this problem with the s62? i noticed many usa members run there cars on lower octane fuel.

[mottati]

Originally Posted by eljockvis

regarding this engine carbon buildup issue people keep talking about on this forum
has any one in the uk ever experienced this problem with the s62? i noticed many usa members run there cars on lower octane fuel.

Our octane ratings are calculated differently. Out "pump octane" is the average Research Octane (RON) and Motor Octane (MON). I believe in europe the pumps list RON, so 98 in europe equals about 93 in the US. If you go thru the entire carbon thread, i believe there are one or two UK members with the carbon build up problem.

As for oil, from what I have read, 0w40 is the recommended viscosity for a 'facelift' M5, here in the US we get 5/30 (which is supposedly thick for a 30w) under the lable of 'bmw longlife synthetic' and is likely very similar to rs 0w40.