Oil for the track

[edyvw]

You're going to have to compromise somewhere. Good luck finding LL01, because even BMW USA doesn't sell them anymore. There isn't anything special about additives for a LL-01 license.

Go find yourself a good Group 4/5 base oil, that can take the punishment on the track.

Since oil temperature is your concern, why not upgrade your oil cooler?

Racing cars is an expensive hobby, so changing your oil before and after track days is part of the expense, just like brake pads and rotors, eventually your street pads may not be sufficient, and you're going to want something that will hold up to the track, but you're not going to get both daily driving and track day pads in one pad, something has to give.

They actually do. BMW dealerships still carry LL01 and LL04.

 

[lowon]

You're going to have to compromise somewhere. Good luck finding LL01, because even BMW USA doesn't sell them anymore. There isn't anything special about additives for a LL-01 license.

Compromising and going to a 60 weight is called a bad idea not a compromise. Have you seen those needle injectors for the valvetronic system? They are extremely proned to clogging when crap oil is used, or oci's are too high.

Bmw switched to LL01FE which on their TPT which apparently is even worse because HTHS dropped to 3.0. But the LL01 spec is still more than alive as you have seen with the recent update and motul updating their oils in response.

Go find yourself a good Group 4/5 base oil, that can take the punishment on the track.

easier said than done.

Since oil temperature is your concern, why not upgrade your oil cooler?

Already in the works.

Racing cars is an expensive hobby, so changing your oil before and after track days is part of the expense, just like brake pads and rotors, eventually your street pads may not be sufficient, and you're going to want something that will hold up to the track, but you're not going to get both daily driving and track day pads in one pad, something has to give.

You don't need to tell me that, I used to go through EJ257's (built and stock) back in my sti days like they were socks.

It's not only the money for oil costs, it is the major inconvenience every single time. Between prepping the car, the suspension, the tire, brake fluid flush, the pads, reflashing the tune and datalogging, compression testing etc. I really do not want to flush the oil system as well because it would require me to drive the car for a bit, and if I want an accusump as well that just made everything a thousand times more annoying.

 

[robertcope]

You don't need to change your oil after every weekend. That's nonsense. I change the oil in my NSX once a year. Same in the S2K, really. The Lexus, well, I haven't decided yet, it gets tracked more, so probably more often than that, but not every weekend.

Flush the oil system? Seriously, you are out of your mind if that's what you think needs to happen even if you're changing oil every weekend. Even brake fluid... use decent fluid and you shouldn't have to flush it every weekend. My NSX is absolutely nuts on brake temps and with SRF I flush it once a year or so. Same with my other cars. Sure, SRF is a little more expensive than some other fluids, but the convenience and consistency is worth it.

You really need to talk to other folks that have done this with your car (or similar). You're not crossing into uncharted territory with what you're doing.

 

[sloinker]

BMW Longlife-01 - BMW Oil

BMW Longlife-01 oil from Ravenol Germany. Offer your BMW the best engine protections during your next BMW oil change serivice with Ravenol BMW Longlife-01 oils.

www.ravenolamerica.com

 

[lowon]

BMW Longlife-01 - BMW Oil

BMW Longlife-01 oil from Ravenol Germany. Offer your BMW the best engine protections during your next BMW oil change serivice with Ravenol BMW Longlife-01 oils.

www.ravenolamerica.com

Too hard to get in Canada, and I looked at shipping from the USA vendor and it was way too expensive, more do than 300v by a long shot. But if you know of any Canadian dealers let me know.

 

[lowon]

You don't need to change your oil after every weekend. That's nonsense. I change the oil in my NSX once a year. Same in the S2K, really. The Lexus, well, I haven't decided yet, it gets tracked more, so probably more often than that, but not every weekend.

Flush the oil system? Seriously, you are out of your mind if that's what you think needs to happen even if you're changing oil every weekend. Even brake fluid... use decent fluid and you shouldn't have to flush it every weekend. My NSX is absolutely nuts on brake temps and with SRF I flush it once a year or so. Same with my other cars. Sure, SRF is a little more expensive than some other fluids, but the convenience and consistency is worth it.

You really need to talk to other folks that have done this with your car (or similar). You're not crossing into uncharted territory with what you're doing.

Do you know what an accusump is? Then you would know why I need to flush out the oil system when I change oils. Or else when the accusump dumps it will dump oil that may not be able to handle the conditions that oil in the sump can and shear, it will also dilute the race oil down.

Brake fluid inspections on the track require it to be newer than 6 months old, but for me I tend to flush brake fluid every event to get the maximum boiling point possible. Sometimes I use srf sometimes I use rbf, with srf I can extend the life cycle since it has a really high wet boiling point.

I'm on this forum and not a bmw forum because I wanted oil advice, I've gotten what I came for and I will follow that plan and report back.

 

[benjy]

minus the approvals many Ester based oils will be best + remember oil specs @ 100C aka 212F will NOT be what your oil will be seeing at higher temps!! i would run a track specific oil + drain it into a clean container for future track days + then an approved street oil. check out SavageGeese.com oil the fine print

 

[kschachn]

I'm all for approvals and specs, but if I was tracking a nice car I wouldn't use anything but Redline. As for what grade I'd ask them for advice.