 » Site Navigation | | | | » Recent Threads | | | | | |  |  |  |  10-09-2011, 09:37 PM | #1 | | Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Philly Posts: 605 |  15w-50 oil
I know there's quite a few of people on here who use 15w-50 oil. I've been using that and have now switched to mobil1 5w-30 high mileage. I noticed a pretty nice difference in performance. Overall, things felt way smoother and easier. The startup also seemed to turn way smoother.
Just my 2¢ I thought I'd share.
**update: my gas milage went from 22mpg city to 30-32mpg city! wow!
Last edited by geetarspaz; 10-12-2011 at 02:08 PM. |  |  | | 10-12-2011, 06:57 AM | #2 | | Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Riverside ,So-Cal Posts: 725 |
Damn really? Thats pretty cool  __________________
EURO FRESH | | | | | 10-12-2011, 08:55 AM | #3 | | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bremerhaven, Germany Posts: 977 |
With gasoline over $8 a gallon, some here are big fans of 0W-40 full synthetic oil, especially in the colder months.  | | | | | 10-12-2011, 02:08 PM | #4 | | Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Philly Posts: 605 |
$8 a gallon? man thats crazy. | | | | | 10-12-2011, 02:29 PM | #5 | | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bremerhaven, Germany Posts: 977 |
It makes you appreciate the wonders BMW wrings out of modest displacement engines.
Fuel prices have actually been going down a little. | | | | | 10-12-2011, 02:35 PM | #6 | | Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Philly Posts: 605 |
I was going to use a 0w oil but I've heard from a lot saying it's too thin. So i went with 5-30 for the fall/winter. You hear a lot of mixed opinions for oil. | | | | | 10-12-2011, 03:15 PM | #7 | | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Elizabeth City, NC Posts: 3,877 |
How long did you go in between oil changes? I'd imagine a fresh filter makes a big difference too. __________________ ~Dave~
98 328ti Morea Grun slicktop
11 128i space gray slicktop
13 JGC WK2 Deep Cherry
Search | RealOEM | | | | | 10-12-2011, 03:21 PM | #8 | | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Halethorpe, MD Posts: 1,028 |
Why would anyone use 15w50? BMW never specified that for the M44 did they? Mine's had 5w30 in it since it was brand new. | | | | | 10-12-2011, 03:25 PM | #9 | | Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Philly Posts: 605 |
I only got my ti in may. Changed it twice since then. 109,000 miles when I got it. 116,000 now. | | | | | 10-12-2011, 03:59 PM | #10 | | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bremerhaven, Germany Posts: 977 |
Quote: Originally Posted by geetarspaz  I was going to use a 0w oil but I've heard from a lot saying it's too thin. So i went with 5-30 for the fall/winter. You hear a lot of mixed opinions for oil. | The last time I checked, Castrol Syntec 0W-40 was the house oil, on tap, at German BMW dealers. Granted, they don't oil many superannuated cars like ours. | | | | | 10-12-2011, 04:02 PM | #11 | | Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Philly Posts: 605 |
Ok thanks. My summers get real hot here so I'd probably stay in the 5w range and if this winter gets cold enough I'll get 0w. I just changed it the 5w so I think I should be okay? | | | | | 10-13-2011, 08:51 PM | #12 | | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bremerhaven, Germany Posts: 977 |
It appears Castrol has discontinued their Syntec brand in Europe. My dealer's oil is now Castrol Edge Professional SAE 0W-30, with the additional specifications of API SM/CF; ACEA C3 and BMW Longlife-04. The American and German owner's manuals are out of date to different degrees with respect to motor oils. The German manual at least shows a range for "Special - Oils 5W-X" spanning at least -30 °C (-22 °F) to +30 °C (86 °F). Hang on a minute, why is that chart in English?! It's spelled Öl, Ööööööööl, not Oil. What's your 5W oil's second number for those hot American summers?
Last edited by John Firestone; 10-13-2011 at 09:07 PM. | | | | | 10-13-2011, 10:55 PM | #13 | | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 1,587 |
Technically 15w-50 is the most appropriate oil according to my 1996 owner's manual for anything above 0F. They suggest 15w-50 for an "average seasonal air temperature" down as low as 0F and up over 90F. No other oil they suggest has that large of a recommended range. This is in addition to 15w-40 and 10w-40 are the largest range oils. But then again this was probably spec'd in 1995 using the API SH spec, so who knows if these are really the best. Modern API SN oils are way better. I just stick with BMW LL-01 oils: Mobil1 0w-40 and Castrol Syntec 0w-30 (or BMW branded 5w-30). 0w-XX makes it appropriate for very cold starts, but they also have a HTHS (High Temp High Shear) of ≥3.5, so they stay stout enough in the heat to protect well. Bottom line is that it seems like MANY different grades work well with these engines. It's my opinion that modern engine oils are so good that you'll probably never have any issue with most any oil.   | | | | |
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