M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Engine + Driveline => Topic started by: AL GReeNeRy on November 13, 2006, 09:10:39 AM
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Juss wondering what people are using for oil in their m42s. I want brand names, weight, and type. I use Chevron 10w-40, I found a spare in the trunk when i bought the car, so its what I've used ever since. PLUS, its cheap and pretty good quality (my teachers family owned a Chevron for decades and he claims its up there with the good quality stuff)
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I only use castrol formula R, but i think it is now called castrol edge, or something similar. I use a 10w 60, probably a bit to heavy but good protection.
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Mobil One Synthetic 15/50
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For my M42: Supertech 5w30 Synthetic but I've also used the 10w40 High Mileage.
Check http://www.bobistheoilguy.com
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Valvoline VR1 10w60
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Mobile 1 5W30 for the winter.
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I use Castrol GTX 20W-50. Lozano Bros. in San Antonio (engine builders) have dyno'd oils and racing fuels for years. Mobil 1 Synthetic makes more power, but not much - .5% (201 vs 200 hp). Whether it's better is unknown. Racing fuels depend on too many variables to say one is the best. I would use synthetic if I was sarting new. My M42 had 120,000 on it when I got it.
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Castrol GTX3 15W-40
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So I just read a thread on bimmerforums not to use synthetic in an E30. Sure they were specced for older mineral oil b/c technologies were difft back then. Any thoughts? Any increased leaking/consumption? Guys were saying it was going to cause leaks all over the place. Sounds like BS to me.
I put in Mobil 1 a couple of weeks ago, and the car seems to like it. Although I haven't been able to drive it much. I checked it on Saturday though before firing it up after sitting 3 weeks or so, and it was as full as I left it. Also, my engine is fairly "low" mileage for a 91'. 74k on the clock. I feel ok with the synthetic.
Any arguments for or against out there?
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Castrol GTX 10W-40
Hands down the BEST non synthetic oil.
I don't get why you guys run synthetic, it's not needed in this car, waste of money imo.
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Amsoil (can't remember vis.)
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Castrol GTX 10W-40
Hands down the BEST non synthetic oil.
I don't get why you guys run synthetic, it's not needed in this car, waste of money imo.
I'm sure everyone will have their opinions and favorites. There's a lot of things we don't "need" and necessity is a relative term for car enthusiasts. Do we "need" euro ellipsoids? Do we "need" 15" or higher wheels/tires? Do we "need" --fill in the blank--? I'm sure our gf's or wives will think everything we spend on our car is a waste of money.
BTW, the stupid thread on BF like one of many stupid threads that just get recycled from week to week has to do with the M20 motor which is a dinasour compared to the M42 in terms of technology.
Arguing synthetic vs non is a futile argument that will only go in circles imo. Everyone should do what makes them sleep better(in terms of both protection and/or price). Does is make you feel better to use 2 condoms on a cheap hooker or 1 condom on a high priced call girl?:rolleyes:
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Castrol Syntec 5W40 cuz I live in the snow belt
The thing about synthetic oil is it's thinner when cold then mineral oil, so it's easier on the engine to start it, and it keeps it's properties at higher temperatures then mineral oil...so it's clearly better. For my part, it gives me peace of mind when I rev up to the limiter all day long at the track. Besides for the price I get it, I'd be stupid not to use it.
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True story. My friend has an Audi 4 Cylinder fuel injected motor. He changed the oil himself. One morning it was unseasonally cold in Dallas and he started the car to warm it up for his wife and went back in the house. When his wife went out it had died and wouldn't start. He tried a few things and since it was under warranty, had it towed to the dealer. They had about 15 cars die and not restart that morning. The culprit - the oil was too heavy weight. It's supposed to be 10W and anything thicker pumps up the lifters and the motor loses compression. All 15 got oil changes and had no further problems.
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Castrol Syntec 5W40 cuz I live in the snow belt
The thing about synthetic oil is it's thinner when cold then mineral oil, so it's easier on the engine to start it, and it keeps it's properties at higher temperatures then mineral oil...so it's clearly better. For my part, it gives me peace of mind when I rev up to the limiter all day long at the track. Besides for the price I get it, I'd be stupid not to use it.
For my personal situation, I use synthetic due to living in the snow belt too but also for the fact that I only drive about 3 minutes before I get on the highway and see sustained 4k+ rpms. With this short of a time, the engine hasn't fully warmed up yet and I feel guilty pushing the engine with a thicker heavier mineral oil. Of course I can always wait xx minutes until the engine is fully warmed up but we all know how long it takes the m42 to warm up in the cold if it's just idleing...
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I had the same inclinations, doing my first oil change coming up on winter. I went with the synthetic for the lighter weight protection. It's the first time I've put synthetic in an older engine, so I was leary and have been watching it very closely. So far so good and I definitely take BFC threads with a grain of salt =]
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Castrol GTX 20W-50. Been using this for quite sometime now.
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Castrol Syntech 10w30 year round.
Works quite well for me. If I ran conventional, I would be using GTX but probably 10w40.
One thing to keep in mind, in the last few years, they reformulated oil, some should not be used in cars older than 99. Old Chevy's are seeing massive cam wear because of it.
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Quartz 5W40 full synthetic
I am thinking on switching to semi-synthetic because it consumes more than 1L on 600 miles
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mobil1 5w-30 ...not like, loving loving it, prolly go to something a teeny bit heavier...
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I'm actually running Mobil1 0W-40 right now.
Mostly because I needed to change the oil after the timing chain change and other work and I happened to have 5 quarts of that sitting in the garage.
No real data on use yet vs. my regular Castrol 20W-50, as I only have maybe 40 miles on it since the change (yesterday), but I definitely noticed that the engine was MUCH quieter on start-up this morning than it has been, at an ambient temp of around 35 degrees or so. I may let this stuff run a little longer than I had intended, see what happens.