Hey guys. Long time lurker and have been reading a ton lately. So much info here it is a bit overwhelming! Looking for some recommendations for my car.
Car is a 2011 BMW 335is. N54 inline-6, direct injection, twin turbo. 42k miles. Lots of tuning modifications with nearly double the boost and hp/tq vs stock. I also run a mix of E85 which works out to around E65 with plans of switching to full E85 in the next few months. I don't drive it daily. Maybe 600-800 miles/month. Lots of short trips mixed with some moderate ones of 20+ miles. Usually on the longer ones i do WOT pulls. I track my car mostly in roll racing or drag racing situations. No road course racing. Car has auxiliary oil cooler and low temp oil thermostat which kicks in the oil cooler sooner. I typically see oil temps 210-220F cruising and WOT with 230-240F if in stop and go traffic. The temps drop back down quickly once cruising. This is with the recent 100F ambient temps here in the Carolinas. In the cooler months Oil temps were around 200. I do not go WOT unless oil temp is >180F. With the type of hard driving I do, I really don't see the oil temp go up much. I am not sure what the oil pressure is as I do not have a gauge to monitor it. The engine does run a lot cooler overall with E85 fuel.
BMW recommends LL-01 oils. I have always used the dealer free Castrol 5w30 with OCIs around 7500 (no dealer oil changes since they switched to Pennzoil). The car doesn't consume any oil. I upgraded the PCV valve and added an oil catch can and shortly afterwards had to add 1 qt, but other than that, no oil has been added. I have about 5500 miles on current fill and plan on sending off a sample to Blackstone to see what it says. Now that I am doing my own oil I was looking at 5,000 mile OCIs but can stretch that if reasonable or do it more often if necessary.
I have seen all kinds of recommendations and I know there is no right answer or 'best' oil. I have an extended warranty so not sure if I should stick to an LL-01. Given my modifications I doubt I would be covered in a catastrophic engine failure so I would rather have an oil that is going to provide excellent protection. Some of the oils I have been considering are Mobil 1 0w40, Motul X-cess 5w40, Motul 300v 0w-40 or 5w40, German Castrol. Just looking for some input. My concern would be how much of an impact running E85 is having and should that be a concern when choosing an oil. Cost isn't a big issue but with 300v about $18/liter, I would want to make sure it was worthwhile. Any performance (hp) gain would be great as well.
Thanks for any input!
Car is a 2011 BMW 335is. N54 inline-6, direct injection, twin turbo. 42k miles. Lots of tuning modifications with nearly double the boost and hp/tq vs stock. I also run a mix of E85 which works out to around E65 with plans of switching to full E85 in the next few months. I don't drive it daily. Maybe 600-800 miles/month. Lots of short trips mixed with some moderate ones of 20+ miles. Usually on the longer ones i do WOT pulls. I track my car mostly in roll racing or drag racing situations. No road course racing. Car has auxiliary oil cooler and low temp oil thermostat which kicks in the oil cooler sooner. I typically see oil temps 210-220F cruising and WOT with 230-240F if in stop and go traffic. The temps drop back down quickly once cruising. This is with the recent 100F ambient temps here in the Carolinas. In the cooler months Oil temps were around 200. I do not go WOT unless oil temp is >180F. With the type of hard driving I do, I really don't see the oil temp go up much. I am not sure what the oil pressure is as I do not have a gauge to monitor it. The engine does run a lot cooler overall with E85 fuel.
BMW recommends LL-01 oils. I have always used the dealer free Castrol 5w30 with OCIs around 7500 (no dealer oil changes since they switched to Pennzoil). The car doesn't consume any oil. I upgraded the PCV valve and added an oil catch can and shortly afterwards had to add 1 qt, but other than that, no oil has been added. I have about 5500 miles on current fill and plan on sending off a sample to Blackstone to see what it says. Now that I am doing my own oil I was looking at 5,000 mile OCIs but can stretch that if reasonable or do it more often if necessary.
I have seen all kinds of recommendations and I know there is no right answer or 'best' oil. I have an extended warranty so not sure if I should stick to an LL-01. Given my modifications I doubt I would be covered in a catastrophic engine failure so I would rather have an oil that is going to provide excellent protection. Some of the oils I have been considering are Mobil 1 0w40, Motul X-cess 5w40, Motul 300v 0w-40 or 5w40, German Castrol. Just looking for some input. My concern would be how much of an impact running E85 is having and should that be a concern when choosing an oil. Cost isn't a big issue but with 300v about $18/liter, I would want to make sure it was worthwhile. Any performance (hp) gain would be great as well.
Thanks for any input!
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