Mobil 1 5W30 vs. GC for my BMW V8

[2KBMW]

Chefwong. First, what does your owners
manual specify what type of oil to use?
If it's an A3 rated oil, then GC is the
oil to use for warranty. Mobil 1 5w30
does not meet the ACEA A3 specs. Since
you bought this oil now, I would mix
25% to 30% of the 15w50 Mobil 1 to the
5w30 to thicken it up during summer use.

 

[chefwong]

It calls for *BMW APPROVED High Performance Synthetic Oil* which I believe is another word with oil that meets BMW Long Life specs?

Approved oils are 5W40 and 5W30.

I know of another X5 owner that uses 5W-50 or 15W-50 . His take is he'll take the hit on fule consumption for the tradeoff of greater engine protection.

 

[ruking77]

You might want to look at the spec for the Mobil One EP 5w30, they do meet the ACEA specs that you have mentioned, to see if it covers your particular application.

Also 0w40 might be the ticket or GOTO oil.

..."Mobil 1 0W-40 meets key industry and car builder specifications for:
Mercedes MB 229.5
BMW Longlife 01

Porsche Approval List 2002
VW 502.00/505.00/503.01

GM-LL-A-024 (gasoline)
GM-LL-B-025 (diesel)

ACEA A3, B3/B4
API SM/CF ..."...



I have been a long time user of Mobil One 5w30, (625k)less of Delvac One 5w40 (49k) and still lesser of 5w20-0w20.(6k)

I have been doing OCI's of between 15,000 - up to 25,000 (for Delvac One 5w40 AKA Truck & Suv) OCI's.

A Castrol GC (5w40) came factory filled with my VW Jetta TDI, but the Castrol is much more expensive than the Mobil Truck & SUV aka Delvac One 5w40. It is not available in as many places and does not go on sale, like Mobil One periodically does. So for example on a road trip in a Z06 Corvette, I pulled into an auto parts store (along my way) in Taos, NM. Got a qt or two of Mobil One 5w30, poured it in the engine in the parking lot, put the depleted container in the trash and was off again in less than 5 min. I think you would have had a much harder time with GC, or would have had to carry a stash of it.

[ February 19, 2005, 02:06 PM: Message edited by: ruking77 ]

 

[TooSlick]

Only the GC 0w-30 meets the BMW longlife spec for this engine...the Mobil 1, 5w-30 is much too thin in terms of HT/HS viscosity.

The valvetronic gear mechanism in these engines tend to shear the oil pretty badly. You'd be better off using a shear stable 5w-40:

Amsoil 5w-40 - meets the BMW LL spec
Redline 5w-40
Mobil Delvac 1, 5w-40

All of these would be much better than using the Mobil 1, 5w-30 in this application - specifically in terms of valvetrain wear. I think the GC 0w-30 will do much better than the M1 in hot weather, FWIW.

TS

 

[tdi jerry]

i use mobil 1 0w40 in my gas beetle [2003]& mobil 1 5w40 truck & suv in my tdi beetle [2000].

 

[chefwong]

Thanks TooSlick for the informative post.

Hmmmmm.....what am I going to do with these 3 cases of M1 5W30

Pepboys didn't have the 0W40 when I did the calender coupon and I figuered I'd take advantage of the oil before they changed their policy on the coupons....

 

[G-MAN]

quote:

---

Originally posted by chefwong:
Hmmmmm.....what am I going to do with these 3 cases of M1 5W30

Pepboys didn't have the 0W40 when I did the calender coupon and I figuered I'd take advantage of the oil before they changed their policy on the coupons....

---

Take it back when they have the 0w40 and tell them you want to exchange it.

 

[chefwong]

Any major *differences* between these 2 oils that would work better in the winter/summer season.

With the current promos/closeouts, I picked enough for 2 OCI of M1 5W30 and about 5 OCI intervals of the GC.

My BMW X5 4.4 v8 has had 3 OCI with RL 5W30 and in November, at 18K miles on the odometer, I did a oil change with GC. Spring is just around the corner. Should I just use the M1 for the late spring-fall use and the GC for the Nov - March/April interval ? Weather out here in NYC - we get the full range.

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ruking77:


A Castrol GC (5w40) came factory filled with my VW Jetta TDI, but the Castrol is much more expensive than the Mobil Truck & SUV aka Delvac One 5w40. It is not available in as many places and does not go on sale, like Mobil One periodically does. So for example on a road trip in a Z06 Corvette, I pulled into an auto parts store (along my way) in Taos, NM. Got a qt or two of Mobil One 5w30, poured it in the engine in the parking lot, put the depleted container in the trash and was off again in less than 5 min. I think you would have had a much harder time with GC, or would have had to carry a stash of it.

---

When you run GC in an LS1 or LS6 you might just find you don't need to add oil though. A friend of mine with a high mileage (125k plus) LS1 Camaro switched to GC and saw his oil consumption go from 1qt/3k down to almost nothing! I just finished up a 6100 mile run with GC in my 98 Corvette (look for my UOA results tomorrow or Tuesday), and did not need to add any oil at all, the dipstick level did not change one bit.

 

[JHZR2]

M1 5w-30 has a lot of good uses. I don't think that its good for use here.

GC is a really good oil, meets the specs, etc.

M1 0w-40 euro formula meets (I believe) the BMW spec, as well as ACEA. I liked its operation in my E30 BMW, though I think the 0w- part was a bit too thin for that engine in he summer. It is also on the thin end of a 40wt, and shears down to a high 30 during its normal service duty (nothing apparently bad about this). Its a great oil though, I use it in my saab.

Id say to use the GC, and youll always have the backup of using M1 down the line, should GC become unavailable.
I wouldnt use M1 though, unless you can find one higher than 10 cSt.

JMH

 

[chefwong]

Dr. T -

You're too kind. I'm not a seasoned veteran. I'm just an Enthusiast at best. With Mobil 1 being up there as far as a widely accepted OTC synthetic, I thought it would have been one of the *better* 5W30's out there. Thanks to TooSlicks post, I now know it should be should meet ACEA A3 specs...


I may just start another thread but with that said and all you BITOGERS reading in on this thread, what is THE best oil for my application - OCI 2X a year - average of 6K miles per OCI. Location - NYC - so I get the full range of season. I started with RL 5W30 and I did mention to Terry that at some point, I was going to switch to GC once my RL ran out and see how those UOA's looked.

 

[buster]

Chefwong, Mobil 1 10w-40 EP would be a good year round choice as with Amsoil 5w-40, or German Krautbergerscheivphoegen Castrol.

 

[silverz06vette]

quote:

---

Originally posted by G-Man II:

quote:

---

Originally posted by chefwong:
Hmmmmm.....what am I going to do with these 3 cases of M1 5W30

Pepboys didn't have the 0W40 when I did the calender coupon and I figuered I'd take advantage of the oil before they changed their policy on the coupons....

---

Take it back when they have the 0w40 and tell them you want to exchange it.

---

I was at pepboys the other day looking for some M1 0w-40 too, could not find any and they claimed that they could not order it. I have got like 10 of the coupons left for buy 3 get 3 for free M1.

Does anybody know if walmart carries the M1 0w-40? Could always just pick up about 24 qts from pepboys then exchange it at walmart to get the M1 0w-40 if they carry it.

I would really like to use the M1 0-40 in my Z06, but the 5w-30 has been showing good results. I guess I could go with the 10w-30 from now on.

 

[chefwong]

Don't get me wrong but the recent post really bothered me . Since I started this thread I guess I get to hijack my own thread. I hate $h1t like that when people abuse the return policies. I see it all the time when I was renovating the house at Home Depot. People bring in clearly used power tools, etc/ I can understand if you bought something wrong and returned it because it was inapplicable or it just would not fit but anything beyond that is just wrong. At the end of the day, it just SCREWS up the return policies for consumers who truely do need to make a return or exchange.

quote:

---

---

Does anybody know if walmart carries the M1 0w-40? Could always just pick up about 24 qts from pepboys then exchange it at walmart to get the M1 0w-40 if they carry it.

 

[silverz06vette]

quote:

---

Originally posted by chefwong:
Don't get me wrong but the recent post really bothered me . Since I started this thread I guess I get to hijack my own thread. I hate $h1t like that when people abuse the return policies. I see it all the time when I was renovating the house at Home Depot. People bring in clearly used power tools, etc/ I can understand if you bought something wrong and returned it because it was inapplicable or it just would not fit but anything beyond that is just wrong. At the end of the day, it just SCREWS up the return policies for consumers who truely do need to make a return or exchange.

quote:

---

---

Does anybody know if walmart carries the M1 0w-40? Could always just pick up about 24 qts from pepboys then exchange it at walmart to get the M1 0w-40 if they carry it.

---

Whats the problem? I'm returning mobil 1 oil in a sealed container and exchanging for another grade of mobil 1 oil?

I don't think my actions will change walmarts return policy. Be serious here, don't group me with someone that uses a product and returns it.

BTW if Home Depot was being hurt by people doing this they would change the policy. They make enough money by offering that policy so people will shop there.

Did you go and check each tool to see if it was defective in the return area? Please go back to the store and do that. Then let us know what you find.

 

[chefwong]

I'm not saying you're putting in old oil and then returning it. Whether the power tools were defective or they just bought a $400 hammerdrill to do what they needed to do and then return it, it's just wrong in my book. Then again, you know what they say, opinions are like - - - holes and everyone has them. It's still wrong in my book.

More to griping. How about big box supermarkets like Costco's, ** 's - Sams Club. They have a liberal return policy too. I've passed by and seen their return lines. People go back and return poultry, beef, etc. I can't think of any reason where I would return meat in any given scenario . Not exactly a apple-apples comparison but I just hate seeing people take advantage of liberal return policies.

okay...i'm getting off the soapbox.

 

[silverz06vette]

fair enough.

 

[nel]

BTW, you might just have to go to another PepBoys in your area--if that's feasible. The folks at the Santa Clara store wouldn't order it when I told them I wanted to use the coupons. In contrast, the manager in Sunnyvale was happy to take my order, so I'm buying from them nowadays. BTW, it helps to give them the SKU #. It's 9212671 (kudos to Rad for getting the scoop on this).

 

[pscholte]

If inside your BMdub
You do not wish the parts to rub
Don't spend your cash or write your checks
For anything but SLX

 

[Dr. T]

1. Why would a seasoned veteran on BITOG ever choose to run a 5-30 in their BMW when almost no Euro engines spec an A1 30 weight. ie. not all 30 weights are built alike.

2. Second, why would you question GC's seasonal use qualities when it has a higher range of use than M-1 5-30?

Answers...

1. Do not use 5-30 in your BMW (unless it's leased) or you mix it 50:50 with 15w50

2. GC has a better specs in both winter and summer so there really is no comparison with the 5-30.