2001 bmw 530, auto rx and conventional oil.

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

gopeshs

Joined
Dec 14, 2006
Messages
23
Location
USA PA
I have this 2001 bmw 530i with 112 K miles (third owner). It burns oil, around 1/2 quart every 1k which is lot.It may need ccv change as well which may reduce the oil consumption. So far car had 10K oil changes on bmw 5w30 oil. . I am thinking of trying Auto Rx. So should I try it with conventional castrol magnatec 10w30 oil or similar or go with Synthetic Oil 5w30. I know that only commonly available LL01 oil available is Mobil 1 0w40.
Regards,
 
Excellent, OP asks about AutoRX and the very first response is "use Kreen instead". Where's the rest of the Kreen brigade?
lol.gif


OP, any regular 5w30 conventional should be fine for an AutoRX cycle. They specifically recommend against using a synthetic, and while there's a lot of caveats and whatnot around that recommendation the best advice is just to use conventional.

How many quarts does that car take? If it's a big sump (~8 quarts) may want to consider a two bottle dose, or perhaps two consecutive runs (or whatever they recommend for engines with 100k+ miles).

jeff
 
Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
For summer simply use hdeo 15w40.


This is what I did in my 528i and dad's 540i whenever ARX was used.

In appropriate weather it works great.

On a note of less good news, I've read about a lot of M54 engines which consume oil. ARX may do nothing for you. I have yet to see a conclusion, but suggestions have been made that it's sometimes valve guide seals.
 
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada
On a note of less good news, I've read about a lot of M54 engines which consume oil. ARX may do nothing for you. I have yet to see a conclusion, but suggestions have been made that it's sometimes valve guide seals.

Yeah, I wouldn't expect ARX to fix oil consumption on this engine. My M54 started consuming some oil at around 60K miles, despite having an ARX treatment done earlier in its life (which I'm not sure was even needed, but since I bought the car used with 30K miles and it only had 3 oil changes in 4 years, I thought it won't hurt).

However, mine only consumes about 1qt per 6K miles. I don't consider it excessive. Maybe it'll get worse with age. I'm at 76K miles right now.

The OP should definitely get that CCV replaced for starters.
 
If the CCV is damaged change it. Try the Mobil 1 0w-40 and leave the ARX alone. IMO it wont help with the oil consumption in this engine and the $50+ is better spent on a quality oil.

1/2 a qt/1000mi on these engines is not terrible
Some posters here have seen good cleaning effects with the Mobil 1 0w-40, the 0w-40 is also well suited to this engine.

With 10K oil changes on BMW 5w30 oil i doubt it has any sort of deposits or sticky ring issues.
Before running cleaners verify there is a real need for them. If it looks relatively clean under the valve cover that is a good indicator the rest of the engine is just as clean and nothing but engine oil is needed.


All cleaning type products are an attempt to cure some issue,
be it sludge, varnish, sticking parts or what have you. Identifying the issue you need to correct and determining if a cleaner has a least a chance to correct is is key to any product working to your expectations.
 
Another vote for running a 15w40 for the summer, with or without Auto-RX.

Auto-Rx is a good product, but I'd be inclined to use Kreen as well - seems to be delivering really good results, at about one-third the cost.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Some posters here have seen good cleaning effects with the Mobil 1 0w-40, the 0w-40 is also well suited to this engine


This is true, there is a thread back in this Oil Additive Section called MOBIL 1 BETTER CLEANER THAN AUTO-RX

Quote:
Before running cleaners verify there is a real need for them. If it looks relatively clean under the valve cover that is a good indicator the rest of the engine is just as clean and nothing but engine oil is needed.


+1

Quote:
All cleaning type products are an attempt to cure some issue,
be it sludge, varnish, sticking parts or what have you. Identifying the issue you need to correct and determining if a cleaner has a least a chance to correct is is key to any product working to your expectations.


+1
 
I did two treatments of ARX and then ran MMO in my oil at a later date. I thought there was some cleaning from ARX and possibly MMO but not a lot. For example I still have varnish. Also, I have some lifter noise and possibly vanos noises.

I have now started to try Kreen as an engine cleaner. Google for source and/or check posts on this forum. I am only 250 miles into a 1,000 mile clean before an oil change but i see no harm and my engine seems to be getting quieter.

I will be changing my valve cover gasket, with new plugs, later this summer so i will be able to see about varnish removal. BTW,at 200,000 miles the car does not seem to use oil between 4,500 mile oil changes. Just my expereices with cleaning a BMW engine.
 
Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
For summer simply use hdeo 15w40.

Which hdeo you recommend? Should I get Shell Rotella synthetic

Regards,
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Craig in Canada said:
On a note of less good news, I've read about a lot of M54 engines which consume oil. ARX may do nothing for you. ..................................................
..................................................

The OP should definitely get that CCV replaced for starters.

CCV definitely will be replaced. I have yet to check how much vacuume CCV pulls at dipstick. The engine , through valve cover does look like it has some varnish deposits (the oil cap bottom itself is not clean. I am thinking of going with Kreen, may be for 1k miles before changing to 0W40. I guess 8K miles will be a good OCI for 0w40.


Regards,
Click to expand...
 
Originally Posted By: gopeshs
Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
For summer simply use hdeo 15w40.

Which hdeo you recommend? Should I get Shell Rotella synthetic

Regards,

HDEO 15w40 would not be synthetic. It would be something like Shell Rotella T (mineral). If you want synthetic then you can try Shell Rotella T6 5w-40. But considering that Mobil 1 0w-40 cost about the same as T6 when on sale, then I'd probably just use Mobil 1 0w-40 since it at least carries the correct MFG approvals for your engine.
 
I always used, unless GC or Castrol 5w-40 was on sale, Mobil 1 0w-40. Even with 135,000 miles on the Z4.

Year round.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Trajan
2006 Mustang GT vert.

Uh, oh... what happened to the Z4?



Traded it for something cheaper to run/fix/get into-out of.

Costs a little more to insure though.
 
Very much so. Not quite as peppy, but 4.10 gears could change that.

But I do miss the Sport button......
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

L
Rationale for deviating from BMW recommended oil specs & service intervals
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
altaylar
P
Would you run Mobil 1 0W30 in a BMW E30 M20?
2
Replies
22
Views
733
Ptm121
K
What engine oil do i need for 2018 BMW 3 series 2 litre petrol (Twin power turbo engine)?
2
Replies
26
Views
1K
tired
L
LL01 or LL04 for a BMW X5 (B58)
2
Replies
27
Views
4K
svenson
B
Terrible picture inside oil pan (2001 Silverado)
Replies
8
Views
990
Blang
Back
Top Bottom