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What is the heaviest oil I can run in my BMW? m54

46K views 40 replies 23 participants last post by  BimmerFool1 
#1 · (Edited)
I need to know what is the heaviest oil I can run in my bmw. My car is using a ton of oil. I am replacing the ccv valve and hopefully that fixes the problem. If it does not I need to know a back up plan before I even think about replacing the valve stem seals. I have my eye on this oil



This oil is 5w-40. I currently use it in my motorcycle. Im sure you guys have hear of it before. They also make a 15w-40 version which I think will be way too thick,

I am willing to try this oil on my car. Please let me know of any side affects that may occur as a result.

95k miles 01 330ci

I am losing as much as a quart every 500 miles. maybe less. No visible smoke out of the exhaust.
 
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#3 ·
Well royal purple has come out with 5w-40 for our cars. I dont beleive it is long life approved. Which does not concern me because I would never wait for 15k miles to change my oil anyway.
here is the royal purple. it is the same viscosity as the rotella

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197033 Royal purple

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework...html/iwgen/products/product_rotellasynth.html Rotella

I searched but could not find anything. I found a stray post of someone using it in their 325 with no problems. I am just trying to figure out why it would be bad to run this oil
 
#7 ·
I use the same oil in my 2001 325ci and I haven't had any problems at all. When I read the manual for my car it mentions 5w30 and 5w40 synthetic oil (BMW LL01.) I wanted to go with a heavier weight. Anyway, the only 5w40 oil that I can regularly find is Shell Rotella T Synthetic. I pick it up at Walmart. It isn't BMW LL01. If you want BMW LL01 oils that are heavier than 5w30, then perform a search for a listing. Off the top of my head there's Mobil 1 0w40, Valvoline 5w40 synthetic, and Castrol 10w60 (the expensive stuff used by E46 M3s.) Good luck.
 
#8 ·
maybe you should look into the cause of the oil burning problem. My car was burning lots of oil around 90000 miles, turned out to be the Valve Cover Gasket leaking oil into the engine bay. I could see white smoke when i stopped moving (like at a stop light) and could smell a problem with the car. Replaced the VCG and spark plugs, havent used a drop of oil to this day...
 
#19 ·
This is definitely the wrong weight oil. I do not suggest you follow this.
 
#10 ·
I need to know what is the heaviest oil I can run in my bmw. My car is using a ton of oil. I am replacing the ccv valve and hopefully that fixes the problem. If it does not I need to know a back up plan before I even think about replacing the valve stem seals.

This oil is 5w-40. I currently use it in my motorcycle. Im sure you guys have hear of it before. They also make a 15w-40 version which I think will be way too thick,

I am willing to try this oil on my car. Please let me know of any side affects that may occur as a result.

95k miles 01 330ci

I am losing as much as a quart every 500 miles. maybe less. No visible smoke out of the exhaust.
As pointed, look for the cause of oil burn. If you burn as much as you say then a thicker oil will probably not do anything and it will put more stress on the engine specially on the VANOS which works with oil. I was burning as much oil as you and I went up to 15W50 Mobil 1 nascar edition. The only thing that happened was to make the car more sluggish (like I had 2 extra passengers inside all the time).
 
#12 ·
I know this is a REALLY old thread, but I'd like to add that I'm having this problem too....
my engine (from a 330ci) burns a quart every 500-600 miles. I've been using only BMW oil 5w30 but now I started topping off with Castrol 5w40

did you ever fix the problem?
 
#15 ·
#31 ·
Upon what do you base this opinion? Those oil's are definitely too heavy for any turbocharged application. Oil flow is the only thing that is cooling that turbocharger, so when you start up the vehicle until it heats up and starts flowing the turbocharger will be getting too hot and will GREATLY reduce its life, if not kill it very soon. The bearings can't handle that kind of heat!

All due respect, the fact that you were able to get 5 years out of a mazda motor doesn't necessarily mean that your suggestions are good ideas.
 
#30 ·
First, there are other qualities of oil besides the weight...and evidently, according to people who know far more than me, the other specs bmw gives for our cars matter too. Look in your manual...there are other specs (forget all the names) but it's not just weight.

Also, there's a benefit that having a long life oil in the car for a long time that you do not get with non-synthetic, or even with synthetic of incorrect spec changed more often coz you're old school and believe in the 3000 mile change interval of old.

There's a film that builds up over time...not if you change frequently.

There's also, I've heard, an issue with heat capacity. As oil breaks down, it develops a greater capacity to pull heat from engine. So like everything, there are trade offs. But me, I think my car is pretty amazing as designed and am quite sure the BMW engineers thought a lot about what's the best oil for it...going thicker to decrease leaking is putting the cart ahead of the horse. The oil thickness isn't causing the leak or curing it. You've got a leak, or your burning more than you should...fix it and use the right oil

BTW, my 200K mile 328i doesn't burn any oil...and only dripped about 3 drops/day at most. Now, after my fixing it over a long three-day diy...better not drip anything...

But, drips are good...they tell you you need to fix something!

Doug
 
#34 ·
fibonaccio best you stick to what you know about. As a founding member of BITOG that has over 30,000 worldwide members I know a bit about oil. You are using U.S references and you have CAFE which affects oil viscosity, nowhere else has CAFE. Most turbo engines here run 25W70 or 5W50,
0/5W20 doeswn't exist and XW30 is rarer than rocking horse shite.
 
#36 ·
Was going to comment more, but OP closed his account! This thread is useless!
 
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