1997 BMW M3, oil?

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Hello, as stated above, I have a 1997 BMW M3 and I have heard about people using diesel engine oil in there M3's.. how is that good? 10W40 Shell Rotella is what I've heard is used. I just bought oil. Mobil 1 15W50, but I want to try something new..

Any thoughts? Was using 5w40 Motul before.
 
Originally Posted By: tudorart
Motul is cheap and deceiving.
I think a 50 weight is too much for you unless is a 0W or a 5W....but it really depends on your engine's shape.


A tech where I work told me to get 15W50 actually, and Motul is a decent race oil, but to each their own.
 
Why not use diesel? if anything it has a more robust additive pack than other conventional oils.

I run 15w40 in my 88 325is, and it loves it. The PO ran it on M1 15w50.

Save your money OP, unless you actually take advantage of the longer OCI's.
 
Originally Posted By: stancyeze
Hello, as stated above, I have a 1997 BMW M3 and I have heard about people using diesel engine oil in there M3's.. how is that good? 10W40 Shell Rotella is what I've heard is used. I just bought oil. Mobil 1 15W50, but I want to try something new..

Any thoughts? Was using 5w40 Motul before.


most "diesel oil" is actually dual rated. and has a "stronger" additive pack

there is no 10w40 rotella,
there is 15w40, 5w40, 10w30, and 30wt
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: stancyeze
Hello, as stated above, I have a 1997 BMW M3 and I have heard about people using diesel engine oil in there M3's.. how is that good? 10W40 Shell Rotella is what I've heard is used. I just bought oil. Mobil 1 15W50, but I want to try something new..

Any thoughts? Was using 5w40 Motul before.


most "diesel oil" is actually dual rated. and has a "stronger" additive pack

there is no 10w40 rotella,
there is 15w40, 5w40, 10w30, and 30wt




Really?

So I must have hallucinated the t-5 10w-40 I saw,and the 0w-40 t-6 I almost bought yesterday doesn't exists.
And the 0w-40 t-5 right beside the t-6 was part of my dream too.

Dude. I suggest looking before posting false info.
Rotella can be found in pretty much every grade made. The only grade rotella I haven't seen are 50 grades,and 5w-30 grades,but I'm not saying they don't exist,just that I haven't personally seen them.
They've got pretty much everything else.
So your incorrect
 
Unless you're engine is worn (and an oil pressure test will tell your that), you shouldn't need to run anything heavier than the BMW 5W-30. In fact any 5W-30 should work just fine although they are a bit lower on ZDDP, not that that should be a problem if you don't push your oil change intervals.

So forget the diesel oils and anything heavier than M1 0W-40 without doing an OP test first. If you don't need a heavy oil your engine will run a lot better on something appropriately lighter.
 
even big truck are going to lighter oil ,so I doubt the oil thickness in your car will be an issue!just make sure its sn and gf-5
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Unless you're engine is worn (and an oil pressure test will tell your that), you shouldn't need to run anything heavier than the BMW 5W-30. In fact any 5W-30 should work just fine although they are a bit lower on ZDDP, not that that should be a problem if you don't push your oil change intervals.

So forget the diesel oils and anything heavier than M1 0W-40 without doing an OP test first. If you don't need a heavy oil your engine will run a lot better on something appropriately lighter.



Too light weight, those are more like winter weights for these older BMW's. When these cars came out they were requiring 10W-40 and 20W50 things of that natural, keep in mind these were conventional oils.
 
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: stancyeze
Hello, as stated above, I have a 1997 BMW M3 and I have heard about people using diesel engine oil in there M3's.. how is that good? 10W40 Shell Rotella is what I've heard is used. I just bought oil. Mobil 1 15W50, but I want to try something new..

Any thoughts? Was using 5w40 Motul before.


most "diesel oil" is actually dual rated. and has a "stronger" additive pack

there is no 10w40 rotella,
there is 15w40, 5w40, 10w30, and 30wt




Really?

So I must have hallucinated the t-5 10w-40 I saw,and the 0w-40 t-6 I almost bought yesterday doesn't exists.
And the 0w-40 t-5 right beside the t-6 was part of my dream too.

Dude. I suggest looking before posting false info.
Rotella can be found in pretty much every grade made. The only grade rotella I haven't seen are 50 grades,and 5w-30 grades,but I'm not saying they don't exist,just that I haven't personally seen them.
They've got pretty much everything else.
So your incorrect


So should I try out diesel oil on my car? I've always wanted to, my friends have had good luck with it in there high performance cars pushing higher torque and horsepower.
 
Mobil 1 0w-40 is by FAR the best bang-for-the-buck. It carries the correct approvals for your car (as well as approvals for a lot of really high-performance applications), and can be had for just over $5/qt at Wal Mart any day of the week.

BMW 5w-30 is a good choice, too.

I had great results in my '96 M3 with RLI engine oils. I used the 0w-30, 5w-40 HD, and 15w-40 Low Ash. The 0w-30 was my favorite, but I ended up with the 15w-40 Low Ash to help fight oil consumption and its bad effects.

Motul was underwhelming to me. I tried the old X-Max 5w-30, the old X-Cess 5w-40, and 300V 5w-40. All were exceptionally tough but seemed unremarkable otherwise.

Diesel oils having a "stronger" or "more robust" additive pack is a popular idea, but it's really only true if you compare the average diesel oil to the average passenger car oil. Anything with the right approval for your car (BMW LL-01) will be plenty "strong" and "robust," and it'll have been made for cars like yours in the first place (unlike diesel oils).
 
Just make sure you address the DISA intake variable valve issue before in takes your motor out like the one I had the pay for. Pretty dang costly to put a used motor in a Beemer.....
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Mobil 1 0w-40 is by FAR the best bang-for-the-buck. It carries the correct approvals for your car (as well as approvals for a lot of really high-performance applications), and can be had for just over $5/qt at Wal Mart any day of the week.

BMW 5w-30 is a good choice, too.

I had great results in my '96 M3 with RLI engine oils. I used the 0w-30, 5w-40 HD, and 15w-40 Low Ash. The 0w-30 was my favorite, but I ended up with the 15w-40 Low Ash to help fight oil consumption and its bad effects.

Motul was underwhelming to me. I tried the old X-Max 5w-30, the old X-Cess 5w-40, and 300V 5w-40. All were exceptionally tough but seemed unremarkable otherwise.

Diesel oils having a "stronger" or "more robust" additive pack is a popular idea, but it's really only true if you compare the average diesel oil to the average passenger car oil. Anything with the right approval for your car (BMW LL-01) will be plenty "strong" and "robust," and it'll have been made for cars like yours in the first place (unlike diesel oils).


Yes......what he said.
 
Originally Posted By: ddtmoto
Just make sure you address the DISA intake variable valve issue before in takes your motor out like the one I had the pay for. Pretty dang costly to put a used motor in a Beemer.....

No such thing in this car.

Also, installing a used engine in this car is not as expensive as you might think.
 
Originally Posted By: stancyeze
Hello, as stated above, I have a 1997 BMW M3 and I have heard about people using diesel engine oil in there M3's.. how is that good? 10W40 Shell Rotella is what I've heard is used. I just bought oil. Mobil 1 15W50, but I want to try something new..

Any thoughts? Was using 5w40 Motul before.



Stancy, I'd use whichever "Euro oil" (5w40/0w40) is on sale at the time of your next change. You have many good choices such as Mobil 1 0w40 and Pennzoil Ultra Euro 5w40, as others have said.
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d

No such thing in this car.


Exactly. My M54 had a DISA issue but it was easily repaired.

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Also, installing a used engine in this car is not as expensive as you might think.


I don't know, I'd think that installing an I6 in a BMW motorcycle would be on the expensive side.
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