Changing Oil

I will be changing the oil in my 325xi and I was just curious Castrol Synthetic would be suitable choice? I just bought this for my first car and want to double check with every little detail to ensure proper maintenance.

There is a list somewhere on this site with all the BMW approved oils. I think it's in the general E46 section. That being said, I just go to the dealership and buy BMW synthetic. I find it to be about the same price as other brands and I don't have to worry if it's the right oil.

0W 40 for Castrol... Try to find the stuff made in Germany... So they say...

Originally Posted by Big Rick

0W 40 for Castrol... Try to find the stuff made in Germany... So they say...

Correction, for a Castrol product, you want

Castrol 0w-30 (autozone/pepboys only) this is GC or "German Castrol"

Mobil 1 0w-40

BMW 5w-30

These are the usual/most common choices. All work well.

Off the shelf Castrol edge with syntec 5w-30 (or whatever they are calling it) is not recomended, it does not meet specs.

Originally Posted by FCBuff

Correction, for a Castrol product, you want

Castrol 0w-30 (autozone/pepboys only) this is GC or "German Castrol"

Mobil 1 0w-40

BMW 5w-30

These are the usual/most common choices. All work well.

Off the shelf Castrol edge with syntec 5w-30 (or whatever they are calling it) is not recomended, it does not meet specs.

Castrol has a new oil 0W40.. Also BMW LL01 approved. This was as of recent do a search on here and you will see it talked about.

Options are;

Castrol 0w30 or 5w40
mobil 1 0w40

All three of these oils will say "European Formula" on the bottle, if it says that its BMW LL01 approved, if not it's technically not the recommended oil.

BMW 5w30

Originally Posted by jeepo23

Castrol has a new oil 0W40.. Also BMW LL01 approved. This was as of recent do a search on here and you will see it talked about.

Options are;

Castrol 5w30 or 0w40
mobil 1 0w40

All three of these oils will say "European Formula" on the bottle, if it says that its BMW LL01 approved, if not it's technically not the recommended oil.

BMW 5w30

There's a new formulation of Castrol 0w40 that meets LL01?

castrol 5w40 is LL01.

Originally Posted by SamDoe1

There's a new formulation of Castrol 0w40 that meets LL01?

Yah my typo, its 5w40.

Originally Posted by e46alfonso

castrol 5w40 is LL01.

yeah your right, I made a typo

use bmw brand. you will find it cheaper at the dealer than you will castrol at autozone....and hey, it's bmw

has anyone else ever used liqui moly? i ordered it or my E36 M3 but havent put it in my XI because i didnt want to wait for it to come in the mail and just changed the oil right when i got it

BMW oil from the dealership (Part #: 07 51 0 017 866) is usually cheaper (~$6.00/quart) than generic synthetic elsewhere, why risk it?

Look for sales, you can usually get M1 0W40 or Castrol 0W30 for ~$5.50 a quart if you buy at the right time. If not, go for the OEM oil at ~$6.00 a quart.