Recent content by Ptm121

Ok, I’ll save the 0W-30 for the newer cars. I picked up some Mobil 1 15W50 from Wal-Mart for the E30. Thanks again!

Thank you. I dug in and see you are correct - their marketing copy puts a different spin on it, but it seems both are relatively low-detergent oils with around 1300ppm Zinc. The VR1 is a lot thicker, although they do have a 10W40.

What do you specifically mean by "not correct"? It's outdated, for sure, but that's what the Germans thought in 1985 or so. I'm a little confused by their refusal to line up oils of the same grade at the same temps... but perhaps that was an assumption at the time that any 10W40 was going to be...

Thanks all; great discussion. It seems like the Mobil 1 ESP 0w30 is probably not going to cause excessive wear, but also isn't likely to be optimal. I could run it, listen to the valvetrain, do UOA... but I'll probably just run something thicker. I don't want to do separate summer/winter oils...

This is from the owner’s manual. Oil specs were the same for the eta and the “i” engines, which were only internally different in stroke length, valve springs, and cam profile. A good modern oil could fall into the “special oils” bar on the right side. This chart raises more questions than...

Me too!

I am currently using Mobil 1 ESP 0W30 as a fleet oil in BMW M54 BMW M57 (diesel) Toyota 3RZ-FE Toyota T24A-FTS (turbo DI) Honda J35A6 The last holdout is my E30 M20. I’ve been running Rotella T4 15W40, which is almost certainly sub-optimal compared to a more modern oil. It doesn’t ever get...

Thanks all! Great info as always.

The M54s call for LL-01. The ESP is LL-04, which is basically the low-SAPS version. My understanding is that LL-04 superceeded LL-01 at some point, although it’s not what’s in my 20-year-old owners manuals because it didn’t exist then. So… yes, I think?

Hey all, I’m running Mobil 1 ESP 5W30 in my tuned M57 X5. Any reason other than cost that this wouldn’t be a great oil for my M54 BMW gassers? I’m currently running Mobil 1 Euro 5W40. No track use or anything, just normal daily driver duty. How about my wife’s new Toyota Grand Highlander with...

Makes sense. This engine has 97k on it now and appears to be in great shape. I’d love to get 300k out of it, but honestly the rest of the vehicle will probably be a mess by 200-250k given the dirt roads and salt around here. I would like to not have a filthy engine which needs the intake ports...

Gotcha, that’s a good, clear explanation. I was missing the move to ULSD with the (related) roll-out of DPFs, and hadn’t thought of the other oil changes which might be beneficial to an engine running ULSD. My impression - which it sounds like was wrong - is that LL04 oils might be marginally...

I can’t find much information on the differences between ESP and European Formula, other than the ESP is “designed for particulate filters” and is much more expensive. What is the advantage of running ESP in the M57? Less carbon on the intake and valves? Is it actually a better oil...

I am not concerned about a low-SAPs oil to save the DPF.

All, I have recently acquired a BMW X5 with the M57 diesel. It makes north of 350/500 on the current (mild) tune. It’s a family car and gets only moderate abuse of the skinny pedal. I do tow occasionally, usually pretty heavy. I live in the northeast US and see ambient temps from -10F to +90F...