Need Oil Recommendation: 2004 BMW 530 (3.0 225 hp)

[HEV]

Can you guys help me out hear. My brother-in-law just bought a used 04 530 with 18,000 miles on it. I need to give him a recommendation on an appropriate oil (warrantee compliant). Of course BMW says to only use their synthetic 5W-30 oil. What else is there to use??? Thanks.

Hev

 

[PFP]

Use the BMW oil. Really good oil, made by Castrol, at quite a reasonable price. OK for the long oil change interval specified by BMW.

Can also use Castrol Syntec 0W30, with bottle saying "made in germany", not the made in US stuff.

I'd avoid others, unless they specifically have ACEA A3 certification.

 

[y_p_w]

I dunno. Basically an oil claiming to meet BMW LL-01 or LL-04.

Mobil 1 0W-40.
Valvoline SynPower 5W-40. Although the current list only claims to meet LL-98, I believe this is what BMW uses at the factory.
Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30 or 5W-40 Euro.
Kendall GT-1 Full Synthetic 5W-40.

I'm sure there are others, but those (and the other recs) may be the easiest to find.

 

[2KBMW]

HEV. I'm using Castrol Syntec 5w40 which
is made in Belgium. I't meets my cars specs.
What does it say in your brother-in-law's
owners manual. That year may require a low
viscosity 5w30 or 0w30 LL-01 rated oil.

 

[shortyb]

The M54 engine does indeed spec the LL-01 rating. The M52 (2.8l) was good with the LL-98 but when BMW decided to stretch the interval out to 15K, they upped the spec.

I would recommend a few. First, use the BMW "High-Performance" 5W-30 synth from the dealer. Its shown good numbers on analysis, is readily available, and is reasonably priced. In fact, if your B-I-L is a BMW CCA (Car club of America) member, he can get a discount. Second, if you can still find the "German" Castrol Syntec 0W-30 in the 04 batches, I would recommend that also (its what I currently use). Third, I like what I've seen from others using the Mobil1 0W-40. Its good for LL-01 and is ACEA 03. Whichever he goes with, I would also recommend to go to 7500 miles. Do an analysis and go further if he feels comfortable, otherwise dump at that time. Alot of Bimmer folks are doing this with the "free" maintenance BMW offers. Fits nicely in between the 15K interval and puts some fears to rest about going that far on the oil.

 

[The Critic]

HEV:

BMW uses the Service Interval Indicator to determine service intervals for the newer BMWs. The service intervals are typically 15K under MOST driving conditions. Your buddy's car probably had its first oil/filter change and inspection at 15K.

I disagree with what PFP said, the BMW HP Syn 5w-30 rarely lasts the full 15,000 miles, the maximum for that oil is about 10,000 miles under most driving conditions. A good practice would be to change the oil/filter once in between the dealer freebie, at 7500 miles. So, do the next oil/filter change on your buddy's car at 22,500 miles.

y_p_w: BMW does NOT use Synpower 5w-40 at factory! They use a different version of the Castrol produced BMW HP Syn 5w-30!

Good oil for this car would be Amsoil AFL 5w-40. Although Mobil 1 0w-40 has a tendency to shear out of grade, it will work fine @ 7500 mi. OCIs in this particular application. Recently, there was a good report posted on a 02 325i running M1 0w-40 at 7500 mi. OCI, looks like the 0w-40 could go 10K in that particular application.

Mobil 1 Truck & SUV 5w-40 is also a good choice if you need a VERY shear stable 40wt, but I think a mid-upper 30wt is sufficient for this application.

Michael

 

[tarheelbmw]

As an owner of a '98 528i, I like either GC or Mobil-1 0W-40. The BMW synthetic was used in my vehicle prior to me owning it and left some build up in the engine. Some on here say that it is a group III oil. I think the key here is the 7,500 mile OCI. I personally do 5k which is probably overkill but better safe than sorry. These are expensive vehicles and an extra $40 per year for an extra oil change is cheap preventative maintance.

 

[Islandvic]

Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic 5-30 meets the following specs listed on the bottle from my AZ stash.

API SL/SJ
ACEA A3/B3/B4
BMW LL01/98
VW502.00/505.00
MB229.3/229.1

I think this oil meets the '04 530i's needed juice.

When I switched to this and added a new PCV valve, I went from 1qt/800 mile consumption to 1qt/1200 mile consumption in a '96 Crown Vic with 140k miles.

I have seen this at about $4.00-$4.50 / qt at Wally and O'Riely Auto.

Keep us posted on hs decision.

 

[joatmon]

I'd just use the BMW 5W30 every 7 - 8k. BTW, BMW uses fuel consumption for oil change indications. Some, if not most, of the in-line 6s are set at 3250 liters of fuel. You can actually query the computer to tell you number of liters of fuel remaining until oil change is needed.

Happy Motoring,

Jack

 

[Dr. T]

Having owned the same BMW for 215k miles I will recommend a 40 weight as a minimum (eg. Castrol 5-40) over the BMW 5-30 for the duration of the factory spec'd OCI any day (after seeing what it did to my engine after 10k OCI's).

I'm currently using Syntec 5-50....also a very good choice for 10k OCI's.

 

[Russell]

I have the older 2.5 litre M50 version of this engine. I now use Mobil 1 5w40 Truck and SUV oil. I was using Mobil 1 0w40 to stop cold start valve rattle. No rattle with the truck and suv oil. Engine just may be cleaner.

BTW, I ignore the BMW indicator system and change the oil/filter twice as often at about 4-5,000 miles per oci.

 

[MIAMI-DADE]

I would use ONLY what the dealer recomends.Which in your case in 5w30 syn.I would say it dosen't have to be their oil but any good brand should do.

Why on earth would you want to put in anything else on such on nice car.I would not put in 5w40 or anything else if BMW dosen't recomend it.

 

[Cary]

The BMW 5w-30 is a decent oil, but it is not up to spec for the long intervals it is being used. I have discussed the issue with my local BMW mechanic and he has said that their experience has been that cars that followed the 15k or so interval have had serious valvtrain noise at 100k miles. Their recommendation to their customers is to change the oil once between the factory recommended interval. For cars that have followed that advice, they have had no issues.

BTW, they use the BMW oil because it costs far less than any other synthetic that they could buy and meets the specs. It is also convienent to have the dealer deliver it with part orders.

 

[HEV]

Thank you everybody for the recommendations!

 

[Cary]

I should have added, my first choice would be to use Mobil 1 0w-40.

 

[Alan]

I also highly endorse using the robust M1 0W40 in your BMW engine.It's easily meets the LL01 specs, has excellent TBN retention and cleaning properties unlike the group III based BMW OEM oil (which is really a 40W anyways).Cheap and easily avalible too.

M1 0W40 also provides excellent fuel economy and can make 15K intervals with the large BMW sump no problema.It also meets MB's demanding 229.5 spec which also invloves 15K intervals and is the factory fill for AMG vehicles.

 

[segfault]

quote:

---

Originally posted by joatmon:
Some, if not most, of the in-line 6s are set at 3250 liters of fuel.

---

Doing some math, I get:
3250 liters = 858.56 US gallons
858.56 * 20 MPG = 17176 miles between changes
858.56 * 25 MPG = 21464 miles
858.56 * 30 MPG = 25756 miles

Is the 3250 liter figure used on European models for longer changes, or could an all-highway car see 25,000 between changes? The highest I've heard of in practice is 17-18,000 miles on US cars. Or, maybe my math is wrong...

 

[jaj]

Gents

I can say with certainty that my 2003 M5 (400HP BMW V8 S62 engine) runs 3250 litres consumed between indicated changes with a sump holding 6.5 litres of oil.

In mostly city driving I get 18,500 KM between changes (around 11,000 miles).

I change the oil more often than the Service Indicator calls for.

Cheers
JJ

 

[y_p_w]

quote:

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Originally posted by jaj:
Gents

I can say with certainty that my 2003 M5 (400HP BMW V8 S62 engine) runs 3250 litres consumed between indicated changes with a sump holding 6.5 litres of oil.

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Dang! I've never heard of a car that consumes more motor oil than fuel.

 

[shortyb]

quote:

---

Originally posted by MIAMI-DADE:
I would use ONLY what the dealer recomends.Which in your case in 5w30 syn.I would say it dosen't have to be their oil but any good brand should do.

Why on earth would you want to put in anything else on such on nice car.I would not put in 5w40 or anything else if BMW dosen't recomend it.

---

BMW also recommends 15K (via the service interval indicator) on a "synthetic" grp III

(albeit one that has a HT/HS of 3.5 and meets ACEA A3)

Just pointing out that there are several oils that will do a fine job in such a nice car. Ultimately, an analysis should help in determining which oil is right for this car/driver/enviroment.