BMW N63TU V8, step up from 5w40 to 5w50?

[750IX]

Hi, i have a Bmw 750 with the N63TU engine, it has 92000 miles and still is running strong. I`m using 5w40 oil with LL04 and 5k miles oci. More people and even some indy shops are switching to 5w50 on these engines now and claim it give less chance for problems like seized engine and knock knock etc.

You guys think its trouble free to step up to 5w50 even if Bmw say 30 or 40 oil. Can i run into trouble with rod and main bearing clearance or is this just an issue with cold oil?

I guess the benefits may be higher HTHS and higher viscosity at 212 F°? Will this be better for the N63 platform?

Thanks
Bjornar

 

[kschachn]

You’re not noting to have any problems with engine clearances, neither hot nor cold.

 

[SR5]

5W50 will not in itself cause any bearing issues due to clearance.

The change in viscosity due temperature, from cold start to warm engine, is much greater than the change in viscosity in going from a 40 grade to a 50 grade in a running engine.

 

[edyvw]

No need. Reason why they are switching to 5W50 is potential issues that are known on N63 like turbo lines, valve stems. Thicker oil might reduce a bit consumption due to valve stem issues, but that is not solution in itself.
You own N63TU engine which means you have N63 version where BMW addressed those issues I mentioned. You will not gain anything. I would though run in that engine 5 or 0W40 oils.

 

[750IX]

Thank you guys, i have been using 5w40 Liqui Moly top tec 4100 LL04 for my last oc and the report from Blackstone looks fine. I guess i stick to that. Here is one report with Liqui Moly top tec 4100 5w40 with 6% Liqui Moly Ceratec, 5k miles. Next oc i`m planning to use Ravenol RUP 5w40 LL04

 

[alarmguy]

Hi, i have a Bmw 750 with the N63TU engine, it has 92000 miles and still is running strong. I`m using 5w40 oil with LL04 and 5k miles oci. More people and even some indy shops are switching to 5w50 on these engines now and claim it give less chance for problems like seized engine and knock knock etc.

You guys think its trouble free to step up to 5w50 even if Bmw say 30 or 40 oil. Can i run into trouble with rod and main bearing clearance or is this just an issue with cold oil?

I guess the benefits may be higher HTHS and higher viscosity at 212 F°? Will this be better for the N63 platform?

Thanks
Bjornar

I dont think it would harm anything but I would stick with the BMW recommended 5/40, in your really cold climate I just do not see any benefit, I doubt it will harm anything but the question is why would you?
Not for a second would I believe anyone who would tell me that going from a 5/40 to a 5/50 is going to solve problems that come about because of a BMW manufacturing issue.

 

[Audios]

It would cause no issues at all IMO, however the added cost of a 5/50 probably isnt worth it, especially seeing what the 5/40 did in the last analysis. Like AlarmGuy said, the thicker oil wont compensate for manufacturing issues, although at 145k youre doing better than most.

 

[edyvw]

I dont think it would harm anything but I would stick with the BMW recommended 5/40, in your really cold climate I just do not see any benefit, I doubt it will harm anything but the question is why would you?
Not for a second would I believe anyone who would tell me that going from a 5/40 to a 5/50 is going to solve problems that come about because of a BMW manufacturing issue.

He has N63TU, valve stems and turbo lines are resolved in TU version.

 

[slovake70]

Hello, my first post, but im long time lurker here.
I have found this thread and have somewhat similar question like OP had...

I have BMW X5 with N63 engine (the first version from 2010, non TU) and last oil change i switched from 5W-40 (Mobil Super) to Mobil 1 FS 5W-50 due to oil consumption issue my engine have (valve stem seals leaking). Well, after 4000 miles i seems that it didnt help much.
I am doing mostly short (less than 6 miles) trips arround town with lots of cold starts during the week and on the weekends i like to take it to the hills or on highways for some spirited driving. It also looks like on long highway trips it doesn't burt oil (I did total of 1500 mile trip recently and oil level just slightly moved on dipstick. If it was in town i would be 1l down for sure).
So soon i will be changing oil and i looking for an advice which oil to run considering my driving regime. It looks like i have 3 options:

1 - continue using M1 FS 5W-50 and not worry about cold starts and very short trips

2 - switch back to 5W-40, maybe this time use correct LL-01 oil (Ravenol VST, Motul X-CESS, etc..)

3 - use Mobil 1 FS 0W-40, because of cold starts and short trips and not worry about its preformace at 6000 rpm when reaching 150 mph

Thanks for any help.

 

[MCompact]

Hello, my first post, but im long time lurker here.
I have found this thread and have somewhat similar question like OP had...

I have BMW X5 with N63 engine (the first version from 2010, non TU) and last oil change i switched from 5W-40 (Mobil Super) to Mobil 1 FS 5W-50 due to oil consumption issue my engine have (valve stem seals leaking). Well, after 4000 miles i seems that it didnt help much.
I am doing mostly short (less than 6 miles) trips arround town with lots of cold starts during the week and on the weekends i like to take it to the hills or on highways for some spirited driving. It also looks like on long highway trips it doesn't burt oil (I did total of 1500 mile trip recently and oil level just slightly moved on dipstick. If it was in town i would be 1l down for sure).
So soon i will be changing oil and i looking for an advice which oil to run considering my driving regime. It looks like i have 3 options:

1 - continue using M1 FS 5W-50 and not worry about cold starts and very short trips

2 - switch back to 5W-40, maybe this time use correct LL-01 oil (Ravenol VST, Motul X-CESS, etc..)

3 - use Mobil 1 FS 0W-40, because of cold starts and short trips and not worry about its preformace at 6000 rpm when reaching 150 mph

Thanks for any help.

I know of a few techs that have suggested trying Liqui Moly Motor Oil Saver(even though their shops don't sell Liqui Moly products). I'd say it's worth a shot.

 

[slovake70]

I know of a few techs that have suggested trying Liqui Moly Motor Oil Saver(even though their shops don't sell Liqui Moly products). I'd say it's worth a shot.

Yeah, even my indy suggested that i "could" try Liqui Moly Oil Saver (i believe it's called Oil Leak Stop in here...), but i'm a little bit concerned about using that.
Will the Oil Saver thicken the oil ? Or it just swells the seals ? Thickening the oil could not be a good idea with this engine i quess, nor would i pour annything that could thicken the oil into the engine.

 

[MCompact]

Yeah, even my indy suggested that i "could" try Liqui Moly Oil Saver (i believe it's called Oil Leak Stop in here...), but i'm a little bit concerned about using that.
Will the Oil Saver thicken the oil ? Or it just swells the seals ? Thickening the oil could not be a good idea with this engine i quess, nor would i pour annything that could thicken the oil into the engine.

It softens the seals rather than swells them. My tech told me he put some hard N63 valve seals in a small bottle of motor oil saver and he said that the seals were much more pliable after a couple of days. He said nothing about them swelling. I intend to try it in my M42, N12, N20, and N55.

 

[slovake70]

It softens the seals rather than swells them. My tech told me he put some hard N63 valve seals in a small bottle of motor oil saver and he said that the seals were much more pliable after a couple of days. He said nothing about them swelling. I intend to try it in my M42, N12, N20, and N55.

That sounds good. Maybe i'm gonna pour some next oil change. Thank you

Extreme heat from 2 turbos inside V makes every plastic part in the engine bay hard. I'm not even surprise that those valve stem seals starts leaking after some time.

Still not sure which oil viscosity should i run...

 

[MCompact]

That sounds good. Maybe i'm gonna pour some next oil change. Thank you

Extreme heat from 2 turbos inside V makes every plastic part in the engine bay hard. I'm not even surprise that those valve stem seals starts leaking after some time.

Still not sure which oil viscosity should i run...

Yes, the "hot V" is more efficient from a performance standpoint, but the two turbos generate a tremendous amount of heat.

 

[propellerhead78]

The biggest concern I have for the hot vee engines like the N63 or S63 is the underhood heat and it’s long term effect on the plastic components as others have stated. I cannot believe how much heat they throw off and am beyond amazed at the engineering involved in keeping these things cool enough to perform as well as they do. In an attempt to mitigate this, I open the hood after arriving home to let it escape. Maybe I’ll get a bit more life out of the expansion tank or radiator...

 

[MCompact]

The biggest concern I have for the hot vee engines like the N63 or S63 is the underhood heat and it’s long term effect on the plastic components as others have stated. I cannot believe how much heat they throw off and am beyond amazed at the engineering involved in keeping these things cool enough to perform as well as they do. In an attempt to mitigate this, I open the hood after arriving home to let it escape. Maybe I’ll get a bit more life out of the expansion tank or radiator...

I have a friend who writes the tech question column for Roundel magazine. He recommends keeping the hot coolant level in the expansion tank halfway between the “Add” and “Full” marks.

 

[slovake70]

The biggest concern I have for the hot vee engines like the N63 or S63 is the underhood heat and it’s long term effect on the plastic components as others have stated. I cannot believe how much heat they throw off and am beyond amazed at the engineering involved in keeping these things cool enough to perform as well as they do. In an attempt to mitigate this, I open the hood after arriving home to let it escape. Maybe I’ll get a bit more life out of the expansion tank or radiator...

The engineering involved may be amazing, but I find it a bit ridiculous that we have to keep hood open after arriving home to help espace that heat that thing produced. Especially on a car that as new costed arround 100k €/$

 

[slovake70]

I have a friend who writes the tech question column for Roundel magazine. He recommends keeping the hot coolant level in the expansion tank halfway between the “Add” and “Full” marks.

Is this some "BMW" thing? But I always keeping my cooland level between Max and Min marks

 

[propellerhead78]

I have a friend who writes the tech question column for Roundel magazine. He recommends keeping the hot coolant level in the expansion tank halfway between the “Add” and “Full” marks.

I think I know who that is I wrote to him years ago asking about a few things for my ‘02 and got a nice response. Love the Old School Maintenance plan! I’d suspect that keeping the coolant level like that eases the load on the tank and other cooling system components since it’s under such pressure.

 

[MCompact]

I think I know who that is I wrote to him years ago asking about a few things for my ‘02 and got a nice response. Love the Old School Maintenance plan! I’d suspect that keeping the coolant level like that eases the load on the tank and other cooling system components since it’s under such pressure.

Yes, that’s how I understand it as well.