E30 318iS Engine Oil Help

[jon-m42]

Hi there guys just a quick question here...

I normally use

Castrol Magnatec 15W-40 Semi-Synthetic Engine Oil meets ACEA A3/B3

but alot of garages are telling me now to use

Castrol GTX 15w-40 High Mileage for engines over 75,000 miles

as my car has 160k on the clock all genuine.

Im a little confused guys all help will be greatly appreciated

Regards
Jon.

[Security2U]

15w-40 is to thick.

Id put in 10w-40 magnatec if i was you.

[jon-m42]

hey buddy damm i have been using 15w-40 for the past year or so now..... It has felt smooth and very quiet on the odd occasional cold morning starts she will be a bit loud but give it 2 minutes and it will quieten down...

Guys does this mean I would have caused any damage to the engine????

[jon-m42]

anybody??

[asmith88]

you wont have caused damage but too thick an oil for an extended period of time will result in wear, change it over and you should be fine a nice 10w 40 semi syn

[Brianmoooore]

"Garages" are judging a BMW engine by the standards and their experience of other makes!
BMW are not as other makes.
I agree that the 15W 40 is too thick when cold - use a 10W 40 semi or fully synthetic.

[jon-m42]

applogies for the late reply guys

and many thanks for all the help and advice

i shall now get

Castrol GTX 10w-40 High Mileage for engines over 75,000 miles.

Is this ok ?

[no1_jazz]

Hi there mate i have been using

Castrol Magnatec 15W-40 Semi-Synthetic Engine Oil meets ACEA A3/B3

from day 1 and my car has around 150k on the clock it works fine for me smooth cold start up's and really quite when warm.

[Security2U]

I heard that there is no difference in Castrol GTX High Mileage oil over any other castrol oil.

There is Castrol magnatec or Mobil1 also Texaco Halovine sumthing shield which ill be usein next time any of my motors need a oil change

[Cyman]

Hi,

I've just been down to Allparts and their system says that I should use 15W 40 semi synthetic oil in my 318is (174K miles).

I'm sure they sold me 10W 40 last time, but the guy insisted and gave me the "computer says..." schtik.

Shall I take it back and swap it?

Also, how long is this oil supposed to last for? It still looks pretty clean, and i've only done 7500 miles since the last change 12 months ago.

Cheers

[Alex]

15w-40 and 10w-40 are both fine

i used to have 15w now ive got 10w both seemed fine

[Dave_M3]

I use 10-40 on mine too. Some oils make it better than others too it seems like the time my mom brought back some average stuff from the motorfactors that was still 10-40 but the car ticked abit and as soon as I put in it's favorite oil again it was back to nice smooth running and never a tick or tap from start up to coming back from a hoon


might just be mine as it's bloody fusy on petrol too

[jon-m42]

Guys instead of starting a new topic re same thing I found this one back out.

After speaking to a fair few main dealers they all have baffled me a little. I asked them what is the best oil to use for my car and they replied we here would use

Mobil 1 0W ”“ 30 / they also mentioned that this oil could be to slim for the engine and could cause potential leaks having done an honest 183k on the clock.

I than rang up opi oils and they gave me a list of the following oils to use:
1. Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 5W-40 Ester Synthetic Engine Oil
2. Castrol Magnatec 5W-40 C3 Fully Synthetic Engine Oil
3. Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 Fully Synthetic Engine Oil
4. Castrol Edge 5W-40 FST advanced synthetic engine oil

They are all 5w-40 ever since this topic was started I moved over to 10w-40 as most of you guys mentioned.

The car has been running sweet however time has come for a service and for better protection and performance I thought the time has come shall I carry on with the 10w-40 or switch it up a gear.

The guy at opi oils strongly recommended Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 5W-40 Ester Synthetic Engine Oil ..Has anybody had any experience with this oil ?

I understand performance might be very minimal and most likely not noticeable however internal protection and general running of the engine by changing a notch down from 10w-40 to 5w-40 oil ”“ could this have a positive effect in any way shape or form ?

Kind regards
jon

[TPS]

I've got a 170k M40 318i, I use Mobil Semi-Synthetic 10-40 I think, works for me! I wouldn't use anything thinner.

[gurj247]

The guy at opi oils strongly recommended Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 5W-40 Ester Synthetic Engine Oil ..Has anybody had any experience with this oil ?

Jon,

I have used Fuchs Titan Semi Synthetic 10W-40 and found it to be a pretty decent oil. (although i cannot remeber if this was what was used the last time the car was serviced)

with regard to thier Race Pro oil i'm afraid i cannot help.

[jon-m42]

cheers guys

does anybody know the difference between the different oil types ?


Part Synthetic Engine Oil
Ester Synthetic Engine Oil
Fully Synthetic Engine Oil

is there any real gain from using the above oil types ?

regards
Jon

[Grrrmachine]

This saves typing it all out:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Oil_FAQ

[jon-m42]

Cheers Bud

good stuff there

[Brianmoooore]

but alot of garages are telling me now to use

Castrol GTX 15w-40 High Mileage for engines over 75,000 miles

as my car has 160k on the clock all genuine.

Ignore whoever is telling you this, since they are clearly not familiar with the quality of BMW engineering. A M20 or M40 engine with 75k miles should have no discernible wear at all (hydraulic tappets on the M40 excepted), and at 150k the wear should still be minimal.
As for 15W-40 being too thick, this is the grade originally recommended by BMW for use in the ambient temperature range of -20 to +30 degrees Celsius (=UK), but, like the engine design, this recommendation is now twenty five years old, and oil design has advanced in the meantime, so we can now get adequate protection with an oil that is thinner when cold.

[jon-m42]

I jsut about found this using the search section of the form. I did not want to start a new thread on this as I knew I had alread spoke on this topic before. Finally found it....

Right, Its that time again another oil service is now needed.

I have done I have completed around 13k since the last oil change.

It currently has as advised at the time by you all: Castrol Magnatec 10w-40 oil. Which looks fairly runny and a slightly darker shade of gold. This is where its picked up and rubbed against the big end bearings dirt and grit im guessing.

This using this oil for the first time I noticed that the car was slightly louder on cold mornings and took a slightly longer time to warm up.

I am comparing this to the Castrol Magnatec 15w-40 I used previously. I found that the 15w-40 heated quicker and sounded a lot more quieter. I am not sure if this is a factual difference or my old ears playing games on me.

I also found that the 15w-40 lasted longer and just felt smoother especially on long motorway cruises.

Should I switch back to 15w-40 or should I carry on with the 10w-40?

Have any of you felt a noticeable difference between the two ?

For me I felt that the 15w-40 felt much smoother and comfortable, very hard to explain. but with the 10w-40 it felt more quicker on acceleration and more nosier.

[Mitchen]

I personally think that's all in your head

[no1_jazz]

To me personally it sounds like you've lost the plot.

It seems as if you are in the choices of your thoughts, id say go with whichever oil gave you the better drive.

Either way both are good and will do no harm.

[jon-m42]

Thanks again guys,

Castrol Magnatec 15W-40 it is then.

Jon