BMW B58 Engine Oil Recommendation

Sorry to revive this but wanted state what I ended up choosing. Went with Motul 5W-40 X-Cess Gen 2. Shall see how it works out. While its not cheaper than most OTF options, its about the same price for the "GR Supra C5 oil" from the stealership.

Thanks for advise and the wealth of knowledge everyone.

Actually a highly respected member from bimmerpost put up a vid not too long ago detailing our B58 dilemma:



I'm due for a change in May, and I'm thinking to just go with the OE Shell 0w-20 or Liqui Moly Top Tec 6600.
 
Actually a highly respected member from bimmerpost put up a vid not too long ago detailing our B58 dilemma:



I'm due for a change in May, and I'm thinking to just go with the OE Shell 0w-20 or Liqui Moly Top Tec 6600.


There is a middle ground (well two actually) as well...

LL-01FE is 30 grade only available at the dealer, HTHS about 3.1
LL-04 is 30 grade readily available, HTHS about 3.5-3.7, should be slightly thinner than going all the way to 40

With that said unless driving the car very hard with high oil temps I believe the 0w20 is fine. If it was my car for my usage case I would strongly consider LL-01FE because I like some back road jaunts for an hour or two on weekends.
 
Yeah, I definitely considered going the 0w-30 TPT 01FE route - but the $12/litre price didn't really do it for me.

The LM 6600 is available at $38/5L and $8.50/1L, with returns from FCP euro - so the choice was pretty clear.


I skimmed this thread, and the B58 Supras' UOAs showed that there was virtually no wear at all on 0w-20 OE fluid.
I'm not sure 0w-30 will make a difference with the advanced level of engineering present in the B58.
 
There is a middle ground (well two actually) as well...

LL-01FE is 30 grade only available at the dealer, HTHS about 3.1
LL-04 is 30 grade readily available, HTHS about 3.5-3.7, should be slightly thinner than going all the way to 40

With that said unless driving the car very hard with high oil temps I believe the 0w20 is fine. If it was my car for my usage case I would strongly consider LL-01FE because I like some back road jaunts for an hour or two on weekends.
BMW engines in the regular regime are running at minimum 113c. The more economically you drive, the higher the temperature to increase efficiency.
 
BMW engines in the regular regime are running at minimum 113c. The more economically you drive, the higher the temperature to increase efficiency.

Yeah that is very high. My car only runs around 92-97°C usually. It will hit triple digits when romping on it but only once have I ever seen 110+.
 
Yeah that is very high. My car only runs around 92-97°C usually. It will hit triple digits when romping on it but only once have I ever seen 110+.
So, B58 has different mapping since it has a regular water pump, but the temperature is still manipulated with a thermostat. Older N generation engines have an electric water pump with 4 different temperature regimes. On track, water pump tries to keep coolant temperature at 80c, but if you cruise on hwy, it will keep coolant around 110c, while oil bcs. inline 6 configurations might go higher.
As for VW engines, yes they run cooler, but they will heat up in no time. For example, my BMW during hard climb on Pikes Peak will manage to keep oil temperature around 120, and coolant around 90-100c. Take into consideration peak is at 4,112m altitude and cooling is a serious issue. My Tiguan is going to heat up dangerously high unless I turn on heat and ventilation to the maximum, and even then coolant temperature is not comfortably low. I think BMW has a much better system when it comes to manipulating temperature, but it is complex and electric pumps are not an example of longevity. On B58 they put regular pump, but plumbing is seriously complex bcs. DME is still capable to do several different temperature modes.
 
Between driving in Colorado and Texas during Arctic blasts (2*F) or August in Austin (106*F), I don't think I've ever seen my oil temp move much beyond the range of 190-210*F in either BMW B58 or VW EA888 gen 3.

The air to water cooling on the B58, and especially those with the M-Sport auxiliary radiator, should have no problem going up and down mountains in summer - as I did blasting up 36 to Estes.

 
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Between driving in Colorado and Texas during Arctic blasts (2*F) or August in Austin (106*F), I don't think I've ever seen my oil temp move much beyond the range of 190-210*F in either BMW B58 or VW EA888 gen 3.

The air to water cooling on the B58, and especially those with the M-Sport auxiliary radiator, should have no problem going up and down mountains in summer - as I did blasting up 36 to Estes.

Oh but it will go up in the mountains. Once you are above 8,000ft things get really strenuous for the engine. I have on my 328 oil cooler that I installed for a track purpose, and driving over passes when I got to ski, I can get oil temperature over 250f in no time. Bcs. oil cooler is from 335 it is bit an overkill for N52 engine, so oil temperature usually stops around 250f.
Ambient temperature is not that big of a deal, as long as altitude is not involved.
 
Oh but it will go up in the mountains. Once you are above 8,000ft things get really strenuous for the engine. I have on my 328 oil cooler that I installed for a track purpose, and driving over passes when I got to ski, I can get oil temperature over 250f in no time. Bcs. oil cooler is from 335 it is bit an overkill for N52 engine, so oil temperature usually stops around 250f.
Ambient temperature is not that big of a deal, as long as altitude is not involved.

For sure, and BMW specifically addressed the heat soak characteristics noted in the N5x series and N20 engine with the improved cooling system found in the B58. I'm not worried about zipping up Pikes Peak, Trail Ridge Road, or flat out 140mph on I-70W in August :)

The Supra UOAs have guys running 0w-20 in track conditions and showing little to no degradation:

1618599290789.jpg
 
For sure, and BMW specifically addressed the heat soak characteristics noted in the N5x series and N20 engine with the improved cooling system found in the B58. I'm not worried about zipping up Pikes Peak, Trail Ridge Road, or flat out 140mph on I-70W in August :)

The Supra UOAs have guys running 0w-20 in track conditions and showing little to no degradation:

View attachment 54360
I would not take this seriously. In 1,000 miles oil did lose KV100.
 
So, B58 has different mapping since it has a regular water pump, but the temperature is still manipulated with a thermostat. Older N generation engines have an electric water pump with 4 different temperature regimes. On track, water pump tries to keep coolant temperature at 80c, but if you cruise on hwy, it will keep coolant around 110c, while oil bcs. inline 6 configurations might go higher.
As for VW engines, yes they run cooler, but they will heat up in no time. For example, my BMW during hard climb on Pikes Peak will manage to keep oil temperature around 120, and coolant around 90-100c. Take into consideration peak is at 4,112m altitude and cooling is a serious issue. My Tiguan is going to heat up dangerously high unless I turn on heat and ventilation to the maximum, and even then coolant temperature is not comfortably low. I think BMW has a much better system when it comes to manipulating temperature, but it is complex and electric pumps are not an example of longevity. On B58 they put regular pump, but plumbing is seriously complex bcs. DME is still capable to do several different temperature modes.
B-series water pump.
 
Well, it is BMW there has to be issue around cooling :)

I wouldn't take this seriously. The law of averages deems that 0.0x% of water pumps fail.

I doubt BMW made the conscious decision to sabotage the engine they put in their entire fleet, along with having Toyota evaluate their engine and finding no difference in quality standards.

This is about the same as the uninformed VW crowd kicking and screaming about plastic impellers.
 
I wouldn't take this seriously. The law of averages deems that 0.0x% of water pumps fail.

I doubt BMW made the conscious decision to sabotage the engine they put in their entire fleet, along with having Toyota evaluate their engine and finding no difference in quality standards.

This is about the same as the uninformed VW crowd kicking and screaming about plastic impellers.
I am being sarcastic. I owned numerous BMW’s, and there is always something around cooling. It is not quality but consequences of performance and efficiency at the same time.
 
So, B58 has different mapping since it has a regular water pump, but the temperature is still manipulated with a thermostat. Older N generation engines have an electric water pump with 4 different temperature regimes. On track, water pump tries to keep coolant temperature at 80c, but if you cruise on hwy, it will keep coolant around 110c, while oil bcs. inline 6 configurations might go higher.
As for VW engines, yes they run cooler, but they will heat up in no time. For example, my BMW during hard climb on Pikes Peak will manage to keep oil temperature around 120, and coolant around 90-100c. Take into consideration peak is at 4,112m altitude and cooling is a serious issue. My Tiguan is going to heat up dangerously high unless I turn on heat and ventilation to the maximum, and even then coolant temperature is not comfortably low. I think BMW has a much better system when it comes to manipulating temperature, but it is complex and electric pumps are not an example of longevity. On B58 they put regular pump, but plumbing is seriously complex bcs. DME is still capable to do several different temperature modes.
Mechanical pump, yes, but it’s flow rate is still controlled by the DME.
 
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