ARX treatment #1 '95 BMW 325is

[bmwtechguy]

I would use a 10W or 15W-40 dino oil for summer ARX treatment(s) and use a 5W-30 or 10W-30 dino or PP during cold weather ARX treatments on this engine. The ARX oil change intervals are certainly short enough to safely do so. After you are done with the ARX treatments, I will chime in and second the opinion of using a 5W-40 HDEO synthetic for year-round use. 10k miles should not be a problem for any of these oils. I would not extend it much further without oil analysis. The RTS and Mobil 1 TDT are usually available at most WM's. Several other excellent choices would be Schaeffers 9000 5W-40, one of the Amsoil 5W-40's, or Redline 5W-40. Also to consider would be a synthetic 10W-40 such as Mobil 1 High Mileage full synthetic, or Amsoil or Redline in the same viscosity.

 

[Dr. T]

Even with post-98 BMW's.....I don't really like the BMW 5-30. In my `06 X3 it looks shot after about 7-8k...and that's with LC! So you can imagine 15k....

Goes to show that it's definately NOT engine design differences or clearances...

 

[bassman]

I'm 500 miles into the cleaning #1. I noticed some light, funky, wispy smoke coming out of the tailpipe at about 220 miles. I thought this was exhaust vapor from just being started and 60 degree ambient temp, but none of the other cars on the road had vapors. Perhaps some cleaning has started to take place at that point. At 500 miles into the clean and 165+ on the odo, the car seems to rev faster into its power band 3k rpm. The car runs a little quieter, but I need to run a 40 wt oil for the rinse and replace the primary timing chain tensioner.

When I ARXed my Expedition, I really started to notice a big difference at about the 750 mile mark. We'll see what happens next.