alirzn

Hi,
I was wondering which of the following oil has better quality for my 2004 530I? Both of them have been recommended by BMW but which has better quality?

BMW High Performance SAE 5W-30 Synthetic Oil
OR
Pennzoil Platinum European Formula Ultra SAE 5W-30

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...ngineOils.aspx

AchtungE60

They're the same. Get whichever is cheaper

alirzn

I live in Omaha,Nebraska which is hot in summer and really cold in winter. I heard that 0W-40 is better for these kind of climates. Is it right and which oil is better for my condition?

luigi524td

Did you hear that from the pimply faced teen at Autozone

.... Seriously, here's BMW's word on the topic http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/conte...ngineoils.aspx Since the bottom number "0" is number to deal with cold of winter and the higher is for the torrid summers I'd go for the brands listed in the chart attached at this BMW USA Website.

Rushin5

whatcha got against pimply faced teens working at Autozone?
When i worked there, I already had my license in aircraft mechanics.. a little above the knowledge level of the average Autozoner.

korrosive

Whoa!! Howdy neighbor! 2nd member I've come across from the Big O!

I simply rock Mobil 1 SAE 0W-40 listed on BMW's website.

BimmerFan52

Whether that pimply faced kid at Autozone is a closet tribologist or just closed his eyes and pointed at the shelf until he touched a bottle, he was right.

Mobil 1 0W-40W is an excellent choice for an affordable, widely available BMW LL-01 approved oil for hot to cold environments.

Walmart has it for $6.47/qt in most places or it can be ordered.
It came out recently in a 5qt jug (UPC # 71924445208). Have only seen it on O'Reilly website, but once it hits Wally-world - abbondanza !

Some folks say they can find specials at local BMW dealership as low as $5/qt for the BMW 5W-30. If so go for it.

It really doesn't matter which one you use, just change it often (5K miles or 250 hours or 1 year).

Rushin5

+1

Persian_535i

Changing it every 5k miles might be a bit excessive, BMW recommends every 15k miles but obviously that is bogus. I just change mine at the mid point every 7500 miles and call it a day.
And yeah Castrol Syntec 5w30 is the same oil as the OEM BMW oil as far as I know.

BimmerFan52

5K mile drain intervals might be excessive, and they might not be.
I don't know what your driving habits are. If mostly highway then you might be fine at 7,500 mile drain intervals.

Obviously a big determiner of drain intervals is how long you wish to keep the car. If you are leasing a new BMW, and do not plan on purchasing it at lease end, then stay with the CBM intervals. Whether it builds sludge or not it is going to hold together for 50K miles. If you plan on driving it until it dies then you think differently.

Unfortunately oil doesn't age by the mile, but by the hour of operation. Some of the oil industry test standards (especially stress tests) that must be passed to certify an oil are tested in actual engines - all by the hour. Professional engineers today tasked with fleet maintenance determine drain intervals based upon hours, not miles.

Today's modern oils are fabulous, but the magic is largely driven by the additives. Once they are used up the oil starts to do bad things fast.

If you live just outside Manhattan and creep in a parking lot to work every day at 10mph average then 5000 miles takes 500 hours of operation. I would never leave an oil exposed to stop and go driving in a fine car for 500 hours.

If you average 60mph to work then 5000 miles is only 84 hours. Even 10,000 miles at 60 mph is only 168 hours. Both quite acceptable for a full synthetic base stock oil from a reputable oil company, all other things being equal.

We are all programmed to look at the odometer on our dash. BMW should allow us access to the computer so we could measure both distance traveled and hours of operation and program our own drain intervals in either miles or hours. However, that would upset the 15K mantra that BMW espouses (to reduce their cost of the free maintenance that makes their TCO look better).

My car is exposed to short trips where the 4.4L is not fully warmed up so I am more sensitive to contaminant buildup. Rather than try to pay attention to the details I typically change at 5K. The difference in cost between 5K and 7.5K drain intervals over the life of the engine is so nominal that I don't worry about it and would rather be conservative. If I had a fleet of 4,000 taxi cabs you better believe I would think differently.

On my rainy day to-do list is mounting an hour meter in the glove compartment so I can keep track of vehicle hours to see where I am. Another is after draining the oil at 5K miles sending a sample into Blackstone for testing to see what my total base number and contaminant levels are. TBN will probably still be pretty high (which I like). My fear is more finding water or coolant in an older engine (84K miles) than add pack reduction at 5K.

Best of luck with your ride !