BMW 1150RT

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 1, 2005
Messages
32
Location
Reno, Nv
I am buying an 04 BMW 1150 RT with three thousand miles on it. Some questions as to which oil?

1. I understand the beemer engines do not stop using oil for about twenty thousand miles (rings seating in). Would a synthetic be appropriate now?

2. Which oil?

Thanks Dave
 
use whatever you want. you have a dry clutch so you dont need to worry about fm's.


also these engines are kind of easy on oil. my dads r1100r has over 60 grand on the odo and runs like a champ using plain old passenger car oil. has no consumption issues at all. also if you look down the oil filler hole it is a nice golden colour.
 
I have a 04 RT and mine has never used oil, even before the 600mi service. I use Mobil 1 15-50 and a Mobil 1 filter. I use a 4k OCI and have not had to add any oil. 90% of my riding is freeway at 70+ MPH. I have been to other forums where most agreed that oil consumption level off at around 15k and to use dino until then. That was not my experience. I changed to M1 at 1500mi and use no oil between changes. Whatever you do, don't baby it! After you get used to the bike, ride it hard. Use a lot of RPM and don't lug the engine! I don't use 6th gear until over 65MPH.

When changing the oil, DO NOT OVERFILL! 3.75qts with filter, no more. If the sight glass is half full, thats good enough. If you overfil the crankcase, the excess oil will end up in the airbox. Not a good thing, and it makes a big mess.

Enjoy the bike. It has some quirks, but you will find them out in the first 100mi.
 
citabria,
The Mobil 1 part number is M1-102. You will need a filter wrench to match. The factory BMW filter wrench fits this filter, but save yourself some money and buy a aftermarket one. I paid $17 for a filter wrench, when a $3 one would of been just fine. You should also get a few drain plug gaskets from the dealer, along with some trans. and differential gaskets. If you buy BMW filters from the dealer, they come with the drain plug gasket. Enjoy the new bike!
 
Ditto on the M1 15-50. Great stuff. You are gonna love that bike too, once you get used to the German thinking. If you have ridden any of the Big 4's offerings, and are familiar with their handling, and relative smoothness, you will be surprised, and then delighted at the character, and life the RT has.
 
quote:

Originally posted by citabria:


1. I understand the beemer engines do not stop using oil for about twenty thousand miles (rings seating in). Would a synthetic be appropriate now?


Thanks Dave


Wow now they are saying 20,000 miles. A few years ago it was 10,000 miles. Mine virtually stopped at 7500 miles. I switched to Amsoil at 3,000.
I had a 99 R1100.
 
I have several oil analysis of Amsoil 10w40 and 20w50 from a few years ago. Mine was at 9400 miles interval the other 2 were over 12,000 miles on the oil. Both products held up great.
 
Redline oil has more ester based stock than other oils. The ester base allows Redline to transfer heat significantly better than other oils, a nice feature when you are running an air/oil cooled BMW. With 3000 miles, you can switch to synthetic right now.
 
carock, I wasn't aware that esters transferred heat better. Where can I learn more?

I know that esters hold up better under high heat, which is why they are popular with the air/oil-cooled crowd, but I hadn't heard about superior heat transfer when comparing within grade. (Obviously heavier grades are going to transfer less heat than lighter grades.)
 
have the same 1150,since new.after 1000 mi.,changed to motul 15w50 300v..eng runs smooth.
uses very little..3500mi. now..i use bmw filters
only.
 
Engines typically have a ring/bore relationship where one is hard and one is soft. This allows fast seating. The late model beemers (and many other bikes) use a very hard bore surface AND a very hard compression ring face. The machining is very accurate and the rings fit the bores fairly well out of the box. Any finish "break in" needed may vary bike to bike, thus the different owner results. It takes a lot of pressure to push the ring hard against the bore to cause the rings to give any break in wear, may take many miles of causual riding or less miles of real hard riding (prefered IMO). Because of the speeds involved with running these big boys hard it's pretty hard to push the rings hard against the bores and keep your licence, so it just takes time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top