i have a 02 BMW 530 with 95K mi that has Castrol Syntec 5W-30 now. previous to this the car has had nothing other than BMW 5W-30 high-performance syn oil. My Indy (Taylor's in Pomona) just recently switched to putting Castrol Syntec 5W-30 in all customer cars that call for the BMW 5W-30 syn oil. i was concerned about that since the BMW oil meets the A1 spec and the Syntec 5W-30 only the A4 (if i remember right). i concluded that spec was just about long-life and decided to change this oil ofcourse at 5-7,500 miles (then to just put more Syntec 5W-30 in again). Now i'll be bringing in my own bottles of Syntec 0W-30 ( GC ) from now on.
I was able to get 8 quarts of Green GC from local Auto Zones. Now it's just sitting in the garage. Should i put this stuff in now? there's about 2,500 miles on this oil. I thought i read somewhere it's not good to change syn oil so frequently.
Syntec 5W-30 to Green GC
- Thread starter MikeCTM2
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MikeCTM2:
I purchased a 2002 530i this past August. As you know the owner's manual recommends BMW synthetic oil. I'm not a fan of my dealership's parts dept., so I called the BMW customer service rep. He mentioned 3 "approved oils"--Castrol, Mobil1, Valvoline, but the only viscosities he knew for sure were the Castrol 5W-30 and Castrol 5W-40. I looked around for the 5W-40, but never found it. So, I put in a couple of short runs of the 5W-30 since oil was very, very black and smelly the first time I drained it (38,000 miles, last service 26,000 miles and perhaps more recent if one can believe the dealer). Anyway, after some research and discovering this site, Castrol 5W-30 does not meet the BMW LL-01 spec. (requires ACEA A3, synthetic oil) despite what the customer service rep. said. So, now I have GC in and the car is quieter and smoother.
You may want to let your mechanic know that his substitution does not meet the spec for some of the BMWs that he services.
I have never heard of any harm changing any oil (synthetic or dino) too frequently, other than it is a waste of money.
My suggestion would be to change to GC sometime before the summer heat starts or a max OCI of 7500 miles with your present oil, which ever comes first.
German Castrol 0w30 would be perfect for you. It meets all the BMW longlife requirements including that of Porsche.
You are right about normal Castrol 5w30. It is a group III oil with a ton of additives. I'm amazed that BMW dealerships out here run it for 15,000 miles. My friend's 2002 330ci has Castrol 5w30 and at 10,000 miles the stuff was thick as mud (smelled like burnt oil) and the oil cap was filthy. I'm convinced this oil can't go past 7,000 miles.
As for German Castrol - it is a true synthetic (group IV) and I'd feel confident taking it 10,000 miles IMO. I personally cannot take any synthetic past 10k.
There was an oil study done comparing Amsoil vs Mobil 1. They concluded that the most amount of "wear" occurs within the first 3k of an oil change as the oil is "breaking in." This wear is very small and hardly to worry about in my opinion. If you go +5k with your synthetic you are good. No worries!
Going 7,500 miles on German Castrol 0w30 is just about perfect though only a Used Oil Analysis will tell you that.
I use the Syntec 0w-30 in my 2003 BMW 330Ci between the free dealer oil changes. It is ACAE A3/B3 and meets the BMW LL-01 spec.
The Castrol 5w-30 is thinner than than GC and doesn't meet the ACAE A3/B3 or BMW LL-01 specs but I wouldn't dump it early unless I was running the car very hard like at a track event or AutoX. I would feel safe running it for at least 5000 miles.
I got the same Castrol / Mobil 1 5w-30 suggestion from BMW USA when I asked what oils to use. I ran 1 OCI with Mobil 1 5w-30 for about 6000 miles.
Oils that meet the BMW specs for the newer BMWs(2000+) except M3/M5 are:
Castrol Syntec 0w-30 meets BMW LL-01.
Castrol Syntec 5w-40 meets BMW LL-98.
Mobil 1 0w-40 meets the BMW LL-01.
Penzoil Platinum EURO 5w-40 meets BMW LL-01.
Also available:
Motul has a 5w-30 BMW LL-01 spec oil.
Lube-Moly 0w-40 / 5w-30
Many BMW autoxers and club racers use Redline and Royal Purple here in Texas.
Valvoline Maxlife synthetic (5W-30 and 10W-30) is labeled as "reccomended" for applications calling for BMW LL-01 spec. Also ACEA A3/B3, VW 502.00. I use it in my Passat 1.8T, topped w/Synpower 20w-50. My next three OC's will be with gold GC.
If its my car I would not use the valvoline maxlife synthetic 5w30 or 10w30 if it has not reached 75k miles yet. No, question its a good oil. Its ACEA A3/B3 rated and BMW LL98/01 approved long life oil. But according to the Valvoline customer service that they do not recommend it to be use on a new car or on an engine less than 75k miles. According to the guy that there is an extra formulation that they put that may harm or might not be healty on a new car seals or an engine less than 75k miles. Instead,they recommend their valvoline syntec 5w40 w/c is ACEA A3/B3 rated and also BMW LL98 approved that can be found only at PEPBOYS auto supply.
Good luck...
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shanneba i notice you're saying 'syntec 5W-30 is thinner' like it's a bad thing. i read this 8-page paper by a chemical engineer, with a Ferrari 550, talking about how 90% of engine wear is at cold start. apparently, this wear is due to the oil being just too thick at start-up. This is the idea of 'startup viscosity' i guess. Is GC still better at cold-starts than Syntec 5W-30, even though 5W-30 is thinner? I know on the GC bottles they say it has been engineered for cold start conditions.
well i've done more reading and realize i was making an assuption based on an over-generalization. GC is thicker than Syntec 5W-30 at <i>operating temperature</i> but thinner at <i>cold start temperature</i>. I base that on one of FD777's main points in his 'thin oil myth' thread and also AndyH's cold start viscosity table, respectively.
Glad to see my threads are being put to use.
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The syntec 5w-30 is only 9.7 cst at 100C.
The BMW 5w-30 is around 12.0 cst at 100c similar to the GC. Castrol UK suggests the Edge 0w-30 for the BMW 330Ci, Castrol Germany suggests the 0w-40 RS oil. Most people here seem to think the BMWs do better on a thicker 30w or a 40w oil. Castrol USA suggests the 5w30 Syntec and I am sure there wouldn't be any issues if you were using the Castrol 5w-30.
I don't worry to much about the cold starts here in Texas, my normal start up oil temp after being in the garage all night is around 80F.
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