BimmerFan52

It is hard to say how bad the knock-offs are. But you would hate to risk damaging an expensive engine because some third-rate dirt floor factory in China steals a company's good name.

Unfortunately in the case of Mann they were broadly distributed to National auto store chains before the situation was discovered.

https://www.mann-hummel.com/fileadmi...nformation.pdf

Steveh

I just wanted to second the fact that if you take it somewhere definitely double check real quick. Big one... Double check drain plug!!! Once they didn't tighten the drain plug and luckily it didn't come off but I noticed a leak after about 400 miles and the drain plug was about one and a half turns loose.. Needless to say they lost my business for all FOUR of my cars and heard a loud word or two from me.

K bye. :-)

image969

thanks guys.. All went fine yesterday at Sears.. They used Valvoline SynPower SAE 5W-30
Was 73 and plus I had 14 dollars left on my rewards card which was an exra surpise.. so I only paid 59.00 not to shabby..

ONE more question though. I have 20s on car. 245/35 on front and 285/30 on rear. He checked my air and put it to 38 for pressure.. Which is stamped on my door.. The person who installed my rims only had tires filled to 32. Should I leave it at 38?

It performs fine. Im just trying to determine if this changes the looks or if its safer etc. What is the norm for larger lo pro tires? Thanks again.

tpaxadpom

Looks like they have used BMW approved oil. Good deal! How many qts of oil does your car take?

As far as tire pressure, on my 550i with 172 rims (19") it is 36psi front and 44 psi rear.

7_rocket

Reading the owner's manual for a 545i it says you can use 5W-40 but not alot of people seem to use that.. Why?

BimmerFan52

One of the most widely available 40 grade oils is the Mobil 1 0W-40, which is BMW LL-01 approved.

Mobil also makes a 5W-40 full synthetic, but to my knowledge it is not LL-01 approved. That does not necessarily mean that it could not be approved if tested to the LL-01 specifications. It may just not have been tested because the 0W-40 already is approved. It is marketed as having been designed for turbocharged diesel engines. I have not investigated this oil. It may contain certain additives that best support diesel engines which have specific issues of soot, sludge formation and higher operating pressures. I am not aware of any LL-01 approved 5W-40 oil.

While the base stock of all Group IV synthetics offer very good viscosity indexes (the graph of viscosity vs temperature is fairly flat), the 0 grade designation of the 0W-40 suggests that the cold pour point is slightly lower for this oil than a 5W-40, which is advantageous for those in cold winter areas (not my problem in Scottsdale, AZ).

SAE grades are set after the kinematic viscosity of the oil is measured, typically at two points 40C and 100C. Each grade represents a range of viscosity. Some 40 grade oils are on the very low end of the 40 range and are for all intents and purposes the same as 30 grade oils that sit on the high end of the 30 grade range.

Most on this forum stick to a BMW LL-01 oil, and if you want the oil to be a 40 grade then the easiest, least expensive solution is the Mobil 1 0W-40 available at Walmart for $22.47 per 5 quart jug. It is considered a light 40W, but is heavy enough to give good high temperature resistance to shear-down (resistance to becoming so thin at 150C that it cannot maintain the correct film thickness at a few critical engine components).

But much more important than exactly which synthetic you use is that you change it while there are still enough additives in the oil to make sure it is still doing its intended job (suspending dirt, keeping the oil pH alkaline which resists metal etch and deterioration of gaskets, preventing deposits, inhibiting rust, inhibiting the formation of foam, etc.).

7_rocket

Thank you BimmerFan52.

I"ll check out Walmart for Mobil 1 0w-40. We dont have quarts thought just litres

BimmerFan52

You're right, my bad (I neglected to look at your location).

I did look at oil out of curiosity when I was at a Walmart in Montreal in June of this year.
There were some 4 litre and I think 5 litre jugs but I just don't remember if it was Mobil 1.

I do remember that the 4 litre synthetic jugs were over CAD40. Ouch!!!

Texas_Vol

Damn, the bastards at BMW North Houston charged me $163 for my last oil change. I'm taking it to Advanced BMW Repair in Spring for this one, they only charge $110.

7_rocket

I saw Mobil 1 5W 30 on sale for $24 bucks for 4 litres if I can remember. No Mobil 0W 40 though. In any event can I use the Mobil 1 5W 30 synthetic and that would be okay? I"ll try another Walmart as I have another one 5 mins away from my house.