Which oil in M52!

[BMW528iA]

I drive a 1997 BMW 528i, with 145 000 miles. The engine runs great.
At this moment it runs on Mobil 10-40, and I can hear some valve ticking when the engine is cold. When it warms up, everything is back to normal.
Not it's time to do an oil change, and I like to try this Mobil 1 0-40.
Any advice?

 

[Ibrahim]

GC!

 

[Ken E.]

I am running M1 0w40 in my 1992 535 and it performs very well. It's probably the wrong oil for the 60s technology M30 engine and I will switch to 5w40 TDT next change for that reason, but I would not hesitate to use it in the 528.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
BMW528iA - Welcome to BITOG - I'm sure that you will find it an interesting and informative Forum

I had a Z3 2.8 and tried two lubricants in it - M1 0W-40 and Delvac 1 5W-40, the latter was a good choice. The car had been on M1 0W-40 for most of its life

IME these engines do run with quite high oil temperatures (>100C) in most operations and a SAE40 lubricant seems the best choice

They all make a little valve noise at cold start-up and this has to do with the Vanos (and etc) valve components

 

[MCompact]

I run either M1 0W-40 or M1 5W-40 TDT in my wife's X3.

 

[rg200amp]

Originally Posted By: Ibrahim
GC!


+1 German Castrol Syntec 0w30.

 

[sprintman]

XW40.

 

[BMW528iA]

I wasn't happy with GC. A lot of valve clatter on cold start up.

 

[BMW528iA]

Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,
BMW528iA - Welcome to BITOG - I'm sure that you will find it an interesting and informative Forum



Thank You for welcome.

I see, You guys are the best.

 

[Ibrahim]

Originally Posted By: BMW528iA
I wasn't happy with GC. A lot of valve clatter on cold start up.


what are the possible things that suggests?

did you tried that in ur BMW528i?

 

[BMW528iA]

Yes.
I dont know. After that I used M1 0-40 and everything was OK.

 

[PT1]

QHorsepower 5w40 but you have to find a distributor to get it. It is what Ferrari uses as FF

 

[BMW528iA]

I cant find it.

 

[Ibrahim]

BMW28iA, valve is ticking, you oughta find out all the possible reasons for it to happen...who knows if there is a mechanical problem there...

GC 0W-30 is almost as thick as Mobil 1 0W-40....if you looking for thick oils...i know few my self..which are excellent

5W-40 Shell Rotella T
5W-40 Amsoil
5W-40 Castrol Syntec
5W-40 Valvoline SynPower MST

often best way to find a product (which are not available at local retail stores) is to directly contact the manufacturer, so get their addy from the website...call them and they will guide you to the place from where u can get it!

whenever possible try to buy it from a distributor or dealer...more likely to get it for a wholesale price!

 

[gtx510]

Originally Posted By: PT1
QHorsepower 5w40 but you have to find a distributor to get it. It is what Ferrari uses as FF
I thought Ferrari used Shell Helix? Is QHP really that similar?
I know Shell owns Pennzoil and Quaker State, and that their oils are similar, but I thought We didn't get a Helix equilavent.

BMW LL-98 oils are 5W-40. Rotella and Mobil 1 TDT would be the easiest to find.
GC 0W-30 was LL-01 (now LL-04?) and it's a bit too thin for your M52

 

[sprintman]

Castrol Edge 0W40 (dealer oil here now replacing M1 0W40)

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: gtx510
Originally Posted By: PT1
QHorsepower 5w40 but you have to find a distributor to get it. It is what Ferrari uses as FF
I thought Ferrari used Shell Helix? Is QHP really that similar?
I know Shell owns Pennzoil and Quaker State, and that their oils are similar, but I thought We didn't get a Helix equilavent.

BMW LL-98 oils are 5W-40. Rotella and Mobil 1 TDT would be the easiest to find.
GC 0W-30 was LL-01 (now LL-04?) and it's a bit too thin for your M52


Quaker State synthetics in the (rare and hard to find

) 5W-40 and 10W-60 weights were essentially just re-badged Shell Helix in the states. I don't know if they're continuing to do this however with the new "Premium" syn oils coming out...

 

[mrybczyn]

I ran 15w40 royal purple synth, on a '92 M50, the weight specified by the manual... Similar engine (minus vanos), ran fine, but I don't have oil analysis data.

It was one of the few synths available in that weird old german specified weight.

 

[gtx510]

imho, the newer/thinner LL-01/04 oils are a bit too thin for the pre-01 BMW's.
The LL-98 oils are more of a "real 5W-40". The newer oils are more like thick 30wt oils, M1 0W-40 shears to a thick 30wt.
iirc, Castrol Syntec 5W-40 is LL-98 but it doesn't use uber-baseoils like GC and Edge.
Motul, Elf/Total, Liqui-Moly/Lubro-Moly, and Pentosin would be some great oils if you can find them. I think they have LL-98 5W-40's? Redline and Amsoil should also work well...


It's too bad the "euro" Quaker State it so tough to find, I'd like to try some in the GTX.