BMW E60 Oil Recs

[Benjihana]

Hey there everyone!

I need help picking an oil. First, the basics:

2008 BMW 550i (N62B48 engine)
150,000 miles
Just had valve covers and timing covers replaced. Expensive job.
Have run Mobil 1 0W-40 Euro for the life of the car.
I am in Dallas, TX. I tend to drive 50/50 highway and city, and sometimes run it hard (what's the point of having the car otherwise?)

Am I okay on this? I have noticed that BMW pulled Mobil 1 from its LL01 marketing and has switched to Pennzoil/Shell. Is it worth switching to the Euro 5w30 or 5W-40 over the Mobil 1? If so, any weight preference or reasoning?

I'm admittedly a rookie with all this...

Thank you in advance.

 

[toneydoc]

Any job is expensive on a BMW. Even having air put into tires.
I think folks think if you can afford a BMW, then you can afford way overpriced maintenance

 

[drtyler]

Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W40 and Castrol 0W30/0W40 are available and rated for BMW LL-01. Any of these three will work well for your car.

The Castrol 0W40 can be found at WalMart in 5 quart jugs, while you have to buy from Amazon or Advance Auto Parts for the Pennzoil or Castrol 0W30.

The LL-01 approval carries more significance than the weight variations between the various Euro oils.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Castrol 0w40 would be my pick, unless you have some oil leaks.

 

[B320i]

Originally Posted By: toneydoc
Any job is expensive on a BMW. Even having air put into tires.
I think folks think if you can afford a BMW, then you can afford way overpriced maintenance

Any job is expensive on any car these days. Labour costs are what kills - go beyond "minor" services on any car, and those hours (and the cost of them) add up fast. Suspension work, brake jobs, heads. All those are relatively labour-intensive jobs.

VCG is easy enough to DIY - on an E36, cost me AU$47.83 worth of parts. Okay, yours truly didn't quite get it right (its weeping a tiny bit), but I learned something and a little weep isn't the end of the world anyway. Cheap rust protection, if anything

My recommendation is find a good Indy for the better pricing, or learn to DIY.

OP, if you are running the factory "by the lights" interval, stick with the approved oils. A shorter interval will be fine for M1, however. M1 is great - but the Pennzoil/Shell and Castrol alternatives are just as great, plus they carry the LL-01 cert., so evidently they are marginally better.

 

[FCD]

+1 on the Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W-40, you are in Dallas so a 5w oil will be perfectly fine.
It's rebottled Shell Helix Ultra , used by Ferrari for example.

 

[jeepman3071]

Different engines, but the e90 and e46 I service run butter smooth on the Castrol 0w40. Oil consumption has also been down since switching to this oil.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: B320i

Any job is expensive on any car these days. Labour costs are what kills - go beyond "minor" services on any car, and those hours (and the cost of them) add up fast. Suspension work, brake jobs, heads. All those are relatively labour-intensive jobs.

VCG is easy enough to DIY - on an E36, cost me AU$47.83 worth of parts. Okay, yours truly didn't quite get it right (its weeping a tiny bit), but I learned something and a little weep isn't the end of the world anyway. Cheap rust protection, if anything

My recommendation is find a good Indy for the better pricing, or learn to DIY.

OP, if you are running the factory "by the lights" interval, stick with the approved oils. A shorter interval will be fine for M1, however. M1 is great - but the Pennzoil/Shell and Castrol alternatives are just as great, plus they carry the LL-01 cert., so evidently they are marginally better.


And a lot of the "BMW's are expensive to maintain." sour grapes mantra is based on hearsay. That said, the V8 and V12 can be problematic. Stick with a BMW I4 or I6 and maintain it by the book.
Of the BMWs in my garage, only the 2 Series and i3 have less than 100,000 miles on them; the 328i has 100,000 miles, the ti has 144,000 miles, and the X3 has 190,000. All look and drive like new.

 

[Benjihana]

Thanks to everyone! I think I'm going to give the Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W-40 a go. Amazon has it available on subscribe and save, and ends up not being terribly more expensive than what I had been doing on my Walmart 5qt jugs. I'll monitor, then might try the Castrol next change.

 

[BrocLuno]

It's got 150,000 on the clock, so it's into its second half of engine life. Way past warranty. I'd put Rotella T6 in it and drive on. Oh wait a minute, that's what I did with my last Beemer (out to 227K and sold it)

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
I'd put Rotella T6 in it and drive on.

What exactly are you gaining by running Rotella T6 in it? It's not like it's cheaper than an approved lubricant.

 

[BrocLuno]

Yeah it is unless you are a rebate hound ... And it's easier to get

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Yeah it is unless you are a rebate hound ... And it's easier to get

Castrol 0W-40 is quite a bit cheaper per quart than T6 at my local, ubiquitous and easy to find Walmart. No rebate required, plus it meets Longlife-01 which T6 does not.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Yeah it is unless you are a rebate hound ... And it's easier to get

How much do you pay for T6?