E60Speed

Castrol just doesn't have a good reputation among the oil "junkies" in this country. However, the German made 0-W30 is something of a cult status here among the oil freaks. The stores that stock it have it hoarded as soon as it hits the shelf, but the US 5W-30 collects dust until they offer it at a sale price.
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We get the european stuff here, but some of the lower specs are made here

E60Speed

I wouldn't buy a BMW if it wasn't made in Germany. And I won't keep buying German cars if they don't keep the quality up.
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Hey Bangle Box, it,s ,what, 11:40, or so, in the UK. Have I missed anything in the next 6 hours?
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Im a hour ahead of him , and 7 ahead of you

You have missed driving your BMW

MaxBuck

As a likely 2005-06 BMW purchaser, this oil thread interests me. I see the Castrol recommendation, but I have always used Penn-grade oils (Kendall, Quaker State, Pennzoil or Wolf's Head) because testing shows their lubricity to be superior to non-Penn oils. What exactly is it about Castrol that BMW likes?

Note that oils used for racing have a very different set of design parameters than oils for transportation use. A racing engine lasts a few hundred miles; I hope my new BMW lasts more like 250,000!

E60Speed

The castrol here in SA and in europe is speciffically formulated for BMW by castrol. So it meets all requirements set by BMW

The ones here that are made specially fo BMW are

"Castrol TXT LL01 5W-30"
"Castrol SLX LL01 0W-30"
"Castrol TWS Motorsport 10W-60"

and soon TXT LL04 and SLX LL04


BMW reccomesnds castrol, but there is a large list of approved oils for each engine

JDN

BMW Oil = Castrol

niktee

The car should have no trouble lasting 250,000 miles. The electronics, on the other hand...............

rollee

i have used both castrol and mobil 1, though both syntheic and same specs, i find castrol does not burn out as fast as any other (i insistantly rev my car). i will stick with castrol which BMW recommends.

i have my doubts on the 0W-30, the benefit is more for winter driving/startup in sub zero weather conditions. when summer/ hotter climate comes around i will switch to 10W-50 or something thicker.
i am sure bmw r&d takes into account where the particular vehicle is being used to recommend its usage. the bottom line is they have to honour warranty issues, if it works for them it works for me2.

i have been to pretoria where SA builds their BMW 3 series, i driven one for a few weeks, the car feels very solid and handles perfectly, i tested it at the cape of good hope (you know what i mean) and through he garden route.
to my knowledge, when the pretoria plant first open there were indeed some quality isses and cars were only made to sell locally, but over time that has been improved and proven to be successful.
i also know they only make the 4 door e46 325i only, if you buy the 330i or any couple/convertilble they are all from germany.

the new bmw 3 series e90 plant is built in the brand new facility in Leipzig, i am not sure if SA have changed to produce the e90 325i, e60speed can you give us a heads up?

it is true that when we purchase our bmw, it feel better if its made in germany, but from the production quality and bmw standards throughout its universe, only time can tell if your investement on foreign made bmw will be worth its badge. in the mean time you may ignore all the happy x5, x3, z4 owners around the world year after year...
OR
you may buy the 5 / 6 / 7 series >$100k, your call.

Iceman

I wouldn't buy a BMW if it wasn't made in Germany. And I won't keep buying German cars if they don't keep the quality up.
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Thenn you shouldnt buy a X5, X3, Z4 or a lot of USA 325i, or most RHD E46 Saloons
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Yeah, that's real funny.
All the X5's are made in the US. So everybody buying one over here gets an import!
Makes me think... Can we do "US delivery" when we buy an X5?

rollee

good one ice man!