Best engine oil for my car please 1.9 auto m43 block.
Is 5-30 the correct oil
Engine oil
Moderator: martauto
10W40 has been the oil for most old BMW engines. If it is a good synthetic oil you will be fine with 5W40.
https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.php?title=Oil
5W30 won't do it any harm but if it is an old engine that you don't really know the condition or history I would use something heavier as above.
Yeah I remember him saying that and I have no issue with cheap oils as such, but there has been a move in modern engines to use thinner oils because of tighter tolerances but also economy and emissions. Oils with 0w20, 0w30 have no place in an old engine no matter who makes it. Personally I wouldn't go less than 5w40 in any E30
The other thing is back when he said that E30s were cheap to buy and good replacement engines were plentiful. Now things are different. Good M20 325 engines are hard to find and My 2.7 is costing a good few thousand to rebuild the right way, the rest of the car a good few more.
When done it will be getting the best oil I can get, but I have always believed it is better to change it often than sweat the flavour of the oil. As they say oil is cheap, engines, gearboxes and diffs are not.
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
It's true that E30 engines were designed for oils that are inferior to the cheapest stuff available today, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't recommend a good full synthetic today. Not too thin though, and as said above, a bit of experimentation can quieten tappets on M40 engines.
