Recommendation for 1994 325i

[htuekn]

The car is a 1994 BMW 325i with 180K miles on it. I bought it about six years ago with 100K on it. I know the previous owner took great care of it. I know he used Mobil 1, but I don't know the grade.

For the first three years I had the car, I had it serviced at a local BMW shop with a solid reputation. I know they used the BMW factory 5W30 oil. After that, I went back to school and, to be honest, let the maintenance slide because I really didn't have the time or money to stay on top of it.

Sadly, I must confess that it got to the point where I've just been taking it to the local quick lube and running whatever they had. Its had dino oil in it for probably the last 20K or so. At the most recent change, about 4K ago, they put in Havoline High Mileage 10W30.

Now that I'm about to graduate, I realize the car has a lot of life left in it. I've recommitted myself to taking care of it, and would like to go back to a full synthetic oil.

The car is driven in Louisiana, so it stays pretty warm. My typical commute is short distance, city driving, but may change to a longer highway commute depending on where I find work. I don't drive particularly hard day to day, but every once in a while I do like to open it up.

The 1994 owner's manual indicates that a !5W50 oil would be best for my climate, but I believe this pre-dates the rise of synthetic oils. Most of the other charts I see indicate that a 40W oil is probably appropriate.

I am partial to Mobil 1 because its been used in the car before and its readily available. I frequent some BMW forums and a lot of guys rave about Mobil 1 0W40. It's similar to the BMW factory oil and meets both BMW Long Life and ACEA/A3 standards.

I am leaning toward going with that, but I see there is also a 10W40 High Mileage version that (A) comes in gallon jugs and (B) supposedly offers additional protection for high mileage engines. The HM version is also ACEA/A3 but doesn't have the BMW approval. Besides that, the oils look pretty similar on paper.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of the "high mileage" variant? Is this just a marketing scheme or would my car benefit?

Any other suggestions?

 

[addyguy]

Go with M1 0W-40 - it is an EXCELLENT oil.

 

[Trajan]

What addguy said.

If you don't run long drains, you don't need LL-01.

 

[htuekn]

So... the "high mileage" deal is just a gimmick?

 

[bodeh6]

Mobil 1 0W-40 or German Castrol 0W-30.

 

[oliveoil]

Originally Posted By: bodeh6
Mobil 1 0W-40 or German Castrol 0W-30.
+1 or BMW 5-30

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: htuekn
So... the "high mileage" deal is just a gimmick?


Pretty well. It is a stout oil, but the 0W-40 is more suited to your application.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I'm not fond of synth in old cars. Dino oil runs so long anyway, and has few, if any, drawbacks.

 

[mechtech2]

High mileage oils have seal conditioners - they can stop seal leaks and prevent them somewhat.
They are usually thicker in their grade than similar oils.
They often have more additives that are regulated out of normal oils.

I don't know that a full synthetic oil is going to help your engine at all, except for letting you have longer oil change intervals.

 

[Nozze492]

You should run whatever grade the owner's manual indicates for whatever temperature it is. I have a '96 328is, and the manual says to use 15w-40 all the time, except if it very often gets below 15F. Where I live, that means 15w-40 all year except December, January, and February. During those months, I use 5w-30, as the manual says.

I use non-synthetic oil (Rotella T 15w-40 or Castrol GTX 5w-30) and change it every 3,000 miles. The car has 148,000 miles on it, and has no problems.

I think that in the summer you could probably use 20w-50, and that would be OK too. That grade is recommended in the e36 oil change DIY on the Pelican Parts website, which is very good.

I think there is a lot of confusion about oil for the e36 because it's old, but I think the best thing to do is to go with whatever weight the manual says and change it regularly. In my own case, I was somewhat like you -- not committed to maintaining the car, then changing my mind -- and so I started researching this a little bit. I had been running 5w-30 synthetic all the time, either BMW or Mobil 1. The car ran a bit rough, lifters ticking, and so on. When I started using Rotella T 15w-40, the difference was night and day. I drove to the oil change with the annoying ticking/chugging sound, and on the way home it was completely gone and never came back. I was kicking myself for not having simply read the owner's manual -- simplest thing in the world, yet people don't do it.