20w50 is 4.6
10w30 is 3.2
10w40 is 3.7
I think it was overkill that once said that Castrol might as well have a picture of a pony on their PDS.
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Conventional in bmw n54 for 60k kms
- Thread starter c4maro
- Start date
10w30 is 3.2
10w40 is 3.7
I think it was overkill that once said that Castrol might as well have a picture of a pony on their PDS.
Are you sure that is not just Min. HTHS. And not typical or Max. Strange table anyway.
It is just the minimum HTHS required by J300. Castrol does this all the time. Most of those specs for CCS, MRV, pour point, and flash point aren't real specs either.
These numbers admittedly make more sense then the ones I found.
but if anything, it supports my original point even better:
The oil might be Dino oil, but since it was on the thicker side it sitll protected comparable to some of next viscosity down in thickness synthetics.
Thicker also means better oxidation resistance, critical with turbos.
Back in the day when Dino oil were the standard, we would all run 20w-50 in any turboed application.
OVERKILL
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That's back before OE approvals were a thing and forced manufacturers to blend better oils. Since 20W-50 has no OE approvals, it's probably cheap Group I/II with a decent slug of VII polymer.
Mobil Delvac 1 0W-40 has an HTHS of 4.1cP if that provides some perspective.
Saw that earlier today and was amazed at that number!
The diesel BMW crowd would disagree.
Yep. Field reps that frequent mines and other industrial sites want the oil to be in grade at drain time to avoid lubricant warranty claims.
That’s why I plug that oil even though it’s out of my price range.
Add; Duckless, Those BMW and MB Diesels could probably use an EGR delete.
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edyvw
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Well, was thinking gasoline. Diesel (all brands) are different issue.
edyvw
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KV100 is 14.6. It is good HTHS, but nothing amazing. For example Motul X-Clean 5W40 GEN2 has HTS 3.9 and KV100 13.3.
Indeed. Weight loss makes for happy diesel!
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
The 335d was too light for M57 in the US, where you can’t properly exercise it. I had tbat engine in X5 here where it didn’t have as bad issue as in E90. I had also M57 in Europe where hitting 130-140mph was normal and never had CBU issues. Sold car with 425,000km.
Oof. I think you may have "gotten away" with it with the short intervals but it's surely not ideal. Check for sludge next time you pull the valve cover
Here the new version is a API SP A3/B4 Syn Blend, i assume Group 2/3.
But yeah, the data sheet and the description of the oil on the TDS is pretty lacking as expected from Castrol.
Price/performance wise you have to go syn.
Seems like it's getting harder and harder to find dino in my area. Syn-blend is the worst i can do. Out of curiosity, i was checking the "inferior" oil section (the very bottom left shelf that you have to bend at an angle to see) ... and only saw 1 qt bottles. Castrol dino was $8.50+/qt. I assume I can buy Amsoil or HPL for that price. lol
Not long ago I bought 5 qt jugs of Castrol Euro with bunch of fancy Euro approvals for $24.xx. Not paying $8.50/qt for dino with only "it's oil" approval.
FYI
I was checking the dino section recently for fun because my generator said to use Conventional 10W-30 for the break in period.
Seems like it's getting harder and harder to find dino in my area. Syn-blend is the worst i can do. Out of curiosity, i was checking the "inferior" oil section (the very bottom left shelf that you have to bend at an angle to see) ... and only saw 1 qt bottles. Castrol dino was $8.50+/qt. I assume I can buy Amsoil or HPL for that price. lol
Not long ago I bought 5 qt jugs of Castrol Euro with bunch of fancy Euro approvals for $24.xx. Not paying $8.50/qt for dino with only "it's oil" approval.
FYI
I was checking the dino section recently for fun because my generator said to use Conventional 10W-30 for the break in period.
I would agree for that particular engine synthetic is the best option.
Here it's still easy to find conventional 15W40 or 20W50 PCMOs and HDEOs.
But the price difference now is much narrower between conventional and Syn Blends.
Here it's still easy to find conventional 15W40 or 20W50 PCMOs and HDEOs.
But the price difference now is much narrower between conventional and Syn Blends.
I remember many thought the difference was due to the implementation of EGR. Yhe X5 had high and low pressure EGR. The e90 only had high pressure EGR. *Shrug*
The N54 is a big fuel diluter. I remember UOAs showing the oil falling dangerously out of grade in only 2k miles. 10w40 will meet the minimum HTHS of 3.5cP. I would not go longer than 3k miles (5k km) or 6mo. Don't mix with a 20 grade.
Best of luck with that old girl.
The N57 in my 535d begs to go that fast, but will never be able to, sadly. I sort of wish we had an Autobahn, but then again that would probably be a horror show in the USA.
I have a 5L jug of that I bought 4 months ago. The pds shows A3/B4, but there’s no mention of it on the container, just api/sp and no mention of it being a synthetic blend.
On sale with stacked savings it worked out to about $20 USD.
If it’s truly a3/b4 I’ll use in my lawn tractors which both have the 726cc Kawasaki engine.
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