Originally Posted By: bmwpowere36m3
I wouldn't run a "winter" oil, not in NJ. Just run 5W-30, 5W-40 or 0W-40 all-year round. Not special about an M54... Likely it'll die from other causes than oil choice.
I'm just concerned about this winter. If I mentioned running different oils for summer and winter earlier in the thread that was my own stupid mistake. Ideally, the car would get LL-01 Castrol Edge 0w40 year-round, with 7.5k changes. Unlike some other bizarre BMW owners, I wholeheartedly agree with you about the generally unremarkable nature of the M54. It's a pretty great inline 6, but it's not a Ferrari motor. It also tends to burn oil for no good reason. I'm almost at 2k miles without the oil light coming on. 150 miles to go. I went through 4 quarts of M1HM 10w40, with another quart of Amsoil 10w40 (on sale for $6.50 at NAPA when I needed oil) on the last change. So I really, truly, seriously doubt that the HM oil has anything at all to do with the consumption. I'm 99% positive it was the PCV mod, with a 1% chance that it could, if the wind blew in the right direction and the stars were aligned, have had something to do with the LM MoS2. So I don't think there's any real reason to continue on with this oil.
The most reasonable choice right now, on account of the rebate, seems to be M1TDT before winter hits. It's not all the way to a 0w, so it probably won't do any worse than the 10w40HM consumption wise, and is supposed to be a pretty good oil all around. I've used it in the past, in other cars, without issue. It's basically Mobil's version of Rotella T6, from what I understand.