Belgium GC

[MolaKule]

I apologize if this has been discussed before since I don't often visit this forum, but has anyone else seen the "Made in Belgium" Castrol? That's all Autzone carries here in Doo-Dah land. No GC spotted to-date!

 

[glxpassat]

Yes, it just appeared at all of the AZ's here a few weeks ago.

 

[novadude]

It smells like waffles and brussel sprouts. Wouldn't that be Belgium BC, not GC?

 

[medic]

That is the 5w-40 stuff that has been made for VW. It has been reported to be a grp III base oil.

 

[Brikhead]

BC 5W40 VOA & discussion..... here MolaKule, you had some harsh words about BC on that post. Care to elaborate? [ April 01, 2005, 03:49 PM: Message edited by: Brikhead ]

 

[bigpaulo]

Molakule, Don't know about around you, but in the Greater Boston area, I saw BC Made in Belgium Syntec 5W-40 at the Medford and Everett AutoZone stores in the Greater Boston area.

 

[B00SS]

MolaKule, it's been seen all the way down here in Texas.

 

[1maniac]

I'm going back to Autozone today to check but I was there yesterday and they had new Castrol 5w40 and the back said "made in Canada." whats with that??

 

[MolaKule]

quote:

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MolaKule, you had some harsh words about BC on that post. Care to elaborate?

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Yes, assuming we could believe MotorBikes report (never said which lab or date tested or batch code or ?) I was referring to the Magnesium at the time and the amount of Mg additive as being unreasonable. Too much hard deposit potential. I have yet to see the 5W40 here in Doo-Dah but the BC stuff I have personally seen and touched is all grades from 5W30 to 10W40 to 20W50. Like Vetteman said, you have to realize who you're dealing with here; these guys are just full of suprizes.

 

[buster]

quote:

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Too much hard deposit potential

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Well thats not good. That oil had quite a bit of Mg too.

 

[MolaKule]

Right, for a mineral HDEO that might be ok. IMHO, the Mg level for a PCMO should be down around 120 ppm or less.

 

[LarryL]

Is the new GC or it's replacement an improvement in the product or an improvement in the marketing? Can we expect most improvements in oil formulations to be marketing changes, beyond the required changes for a new regulation?

 

[pscholte]

quote:

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Originally posted by nel: ...it does seem that GC is the better oil for newer BMW applications.

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nel, You and I are in complete agreement on that one. Buster, I believe that the track is the perfect place to experiment with new anti-wear formulations that will meet changing and more demanding (and artificially imposed) requirements.

 

[Chimay]

IS this BGC.

 

[Fabmanrich]

Local AZ had German, Belgian, and American made Syntec. GC was #A02, BC was #A05, didn't check the American. Richie

 

[pscholte]

LarryL, I firmly believe that motor oils marketed by companies that have racing programmes (I just got back from Vancouver BC and am a Europhile so you get the "CanaEurospelling" ) tweak their street formulas regularly whether or not requirements have changed. We are the better for that as long as they make a wise call regarding what translates favorably from the track to the street.

 

[buster]

quote:

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We are the better for that as long as they make a wise call regarding what translates favorably from the track to the street

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However, I firmly believe that synthetics are taking a hit with GF-4. They are having to reduce the amount of anti-wear additives and make that up with other more costly additives.

 

[nel]

I went to the local AZ and found both the new M05 GC and the BC that is the topic of this thread. One thing I found interesting is that BC only meets BMW's LongLife-98 spec while GC meets BMW's LongLife-01 spec. I'm not sure what this means, but it does seem that GC is the better oil for newer BMW applications.