oil brand/weight for '04 330i - specifc needs

[wolfestone]

I've been trying to research this on my own for a couple of weeks, but have been going round in circles. I am hoping I can get some advice on what brand & weight of oil to use that meets my specific criteria - all the factors have made it impossible for me to figure this out on my own without seeking further advice.

The car is a 2004 BMW 330i, M54 engine with 40k miles. The previous owner had the oil changed at 15k, 30k, and 37k at the dealer, with BMW synthetic oil.

I intend to keep this car a long time, and so will be changing the oil more regularly (around 7k intervals).

I've seen photos of these engines with ~60k that have followed only the 15k bmw interval, and the valvetrain/vanos units were quite sludgy. This is something I'd definitely like to prevent or possibly even clean up in my car, given that it's first two changes were done at 15k intervals.

My dilemma is this: I've heard redline is a very good oil and can help clean up sludge deposits. This sounds good to me in theory, but the flip side is that I've heard it is not always a good idea to change oil brands on an engine with some miles on it (seal leaks?).

I only have a basic knowledge of this, but I believe the BMW dealer oil is a castrol group III, and seems to not be as highly regarded as the better quality synthetics.

'German castrol' is the third one I've considered, but I'm a little wary about potential future availability of this - if I change oils to that now, then it becomes impossible to find in the future, I will be forced to change again.

The other relevant specifics - and from my limited knowledge I believe this may affect the weight - are:

- The car is in Florida, so the oil's performance in cold temperatures is pretty much irrelevant.

- It's driven mostly short trips, sub-15 miles each way.

- It's not tracked, but the occasional track day, autocross, or 'spirited driving' isn't out of the question.

My own research has me flip-flopping between these three oils for the reasons listed above. Redline synthetic is ok as far as ballpark price goes, I'm happy paying that for a good oil but wouldn't want to go much higher unless there's proven benefits. I do really like this car, so it's worth it to me.

In short, I'm looking for the best oil that might help clean up any existing sludge from the car having the long oil change intervals previously, and good engine protection/longevity. If switching brands now won't be a horrible idea, I'd like to pick a reputable brand and stick with it.

If redline does sound like the way to go, how would I pick between 5w30 and 5w40? From what I understand, the difference is in how thin they get at temperature. I have no idea how and if the climate (Florida) affects this decision though. Failing that, how should I determine the best weight to be using?

I would really appreciate any advice on this, I haven't been able to figure this out based on all the factors at play here.

Thanks very much.

 

[Craig in Canada]

I respect Redline but I've seen a number of weak UOAs from it. Considering its cost, I haven't bothered with it for motor oil. Gear/Trans oil yes, motor oil no.

GC is an excellent match for the M54. I believe Terry Dyson is quoted somewhere stating this is "THE" oil for a customers M52TU or M54. I can't find the reference at the moment.

Since you are in Florida, I'd throw serious consideration to Amsoil Euro 5W40.

My advice to you would also include being less paranoid about switching oils. Don't pass on GC now just because it "might" not be available in the future. Switching oils isn't that big a deal particularly for OCD-maintained vehicles. It is extremely unlikely that you'll have any leaks now or in the future due to switching oil. Even with dealer scheduled oil changes, 40kmi is pretty young and BMW synthetic is still a lot better than some [censored] that other car owners abuse their cars with.

There's a good chance that you'd see some benefit from a single course of ARX. I did at around 60kmi in my M52, much to my surprise. My M52 has had 5000km oil changes since birth (until recently they've been more like 8000km after UOAs). There's no sludge and light varnishing through the filler but the ring pack and HLA cleaning was worth the ARX treatment. Again, for Florida, I personally wouldn't hesitate to grab Rotella-T 15W40 (not 5W40) and use it as an ARX clean and rinse oil. After the rinse phase, I would (again, personally) grab GC or Amsoil Euro.

Watch out for your VANOS seals - they wear prematurely and cause poor cold running and a gradual loss of power as the miles go on because the VANOS mechanism cannot operate properly due to worn oil seals. There are now re-designed seal kits made from better materials available for doing the rebuild. BMW refuses to acknowledge or address the problem other than to sell you a new, unimproved complete VANOS unit that will wear out in the same way. I believe both M52TU and M54 are affected. M52 and earlier, and post-M54 engines aren't affected to my knowledge.

Enjoy...

 

[wolfestone]

Thanks for the advice, I will certainly check into the ARX.

How much of an issue would you think sludge currently is in this motor at this milage, given the oil change history?

The more I'm searching on this, the more I'm getting paranoid it's going to be horribly caked up in there.

Is anything I do now going to only slow the onset of damage which has already been done (or will be done due to possible existing sludge) or have I 'caught' it early enough to have a clean motor when the miles are up over 100k?

The amsoil euro looks good to me too, I see that seems to have many of the approvals redline doesn't. What would be the deciding factor between this and GC?

thanks again, the advice is much appreciated.

 

[jpr]

Personally, I wouldn't sweat the sludge so much. While of course much depends upon the details of the usage conditions, over the span of multiple auto forums with probably 100k+ members, I think I've seen less than 5 threads on sludged up BMW engines. Take away the ones that were clearly abused, and you're only left with a couple examples at most. If the problem were as epidemic as some make it out to be, that would not be the case.

It's still worth being aware of it as a potential issue, and you may want to do the ARX thing for your own piece of mind. But absent any specific evidence or indication of a problem, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

 

[Craig in Canada]

I agree. I don't think you'll have a huge sludge issue. You might have some sludge, you may more likely have some varnish, but I don't think you're going to have a horrible mess.

My ARX suggestion was more because even if you don't have sludge, I bet you'll see some positive benefit just like I did.

 

[Eddie]

I believe one of the greatest benefits of the Auto-Rx cleaning is its ability to clean the ring packs. Varnish on the head surfaces is nothing but,an irritation. Varnish in the ring lands means sticking rings = blow-by, power loss and extra dirty oil.

 

[wolfestone]

Just wanted to check I have the correct ARX, it's this product right? http://www.auto-rx.com/

and that I should follow the 'basic application' of oil + filter, add autoRX, 2500 miles, oil + filter, 3000 miles, change?

Or should I go for the heavy sludge application? (even though I probably don't have heavy sludge).

What would be the best non-synthetic to use for the clean and rinse cycles in this engine?

Craig - I'd be interested to hear the benefits you saw from doing the ARX treatment; did you notice a lot of gunk come out or was it noticable in how the engine ran?

thanks again for all the advice.

 

[Craig in Canada]

You have the correct ARX.

While Frank's instructions don't mandate it, I personally would use "dino" oil for the ARX cycle for top effectiveness. Since you're going to the trouble, you might as well make sure you get the most out of it. Castrol GTX 10W40 has some EXCELLENT BMW UOAs in the UOA forum from people using it for full OCI intervals. Rotella-T 15W40 should also be easy to obtain and works well. I've used both in BMWs for ARX.

I noticed nothing in the filter except a couple of weird-looking curly-Qs of carbon which are not usually in there. This was probably [censored] off of the ring packs. The application instructions were shorter when I did my ARX run (1500+2000 I think). I had one noisy HLA which was very noticeably improved by the run of ARX. I also noticed a noticeable increase in power about 400km after starting the ARX clean phase. There were also more subjective things like smoothness, some fuel economy improvement etc...

Generally my vehicles are extremely well cared for and I didn't expect a lot from ARX because I didn't have huge build up problems. I was pleased by the results I saw.

My "log" thread is here

I'm sure that you don't need ARX, but I'm suggesting it based on the experiences of many, including myself. Particularly since you're in this for the long haul and obviously care for the car.

Craig.

 

[wolfestone]

Thanks for the extra info. Sounds like the benefits were obviously noticable.

Should I be using synthetic or dino for the rinse phase?

At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I'm still not sure on how to choose between the amsoil euro 5w40 and the german castrol for when it's all cleaned out. Having narrowed it down to these brands, since they're different weights I don't fully understand how this should influence my choice.

 

[Craig in Canada]

You definitely should use dino for the rinse phase. In the clean phase it is optional by the book, but I still recommend dino for both phases.

You'll be fine with either oil, you're already giving it way more thought than 95% of other BMW owners. Either will perform well, and Dyson has personally endorsed GC in M54 engines - not sure you can get much better than that.

In your climate, you need not be afraid of the Amsoil being too thick for year-round use, for example. Similarly, the extreme low temp properties of GC needn't be a major part of your decision either.

Your major concern earlier in the thread was that GC would become unavailable after you started using it. If, other than that, GC was your choice - go with it. Cross the availability bridge if and when you come to it. You should have no issues switching from GC to Amsoil AFL (for example) if you need to down the road.

Do some searches in the UOA forum too, if you like, for engines and intervals like yours with GC and AFL.

One possible reason I might consider AFL instead of GC is if you intend to continue using the ARX maintenance dose on an ongoing basis. GC does contain esters (reportedly), and it is *possible* that the esters in ARX and GC may get in each other's way. Frank has indicated that there are is nothing to worry about but if I was grasping at straws I might use this as a tie-breaker in AFL's favour. As far as I know AFL is PAO with no esters but feel free to correct me.

In my case and in my climate, I want the cold weather characteristics of GC and don't wish to change oil brands between seasons so at the moment I live with the slight *possibility* that ARX and GC affect one another and still sleep well at night. UOAs from my M52 are great.

Craig.

 

[MiddleBay3]

Wolfestone, WFIF I have a '99 528i w/ M52TU bought with 113k. Ran two cycles of ARX. The first cycle produced heavy sediment in the used oil and my final rinse at 130K is clean. This engine exhibited Vanos seal failure and would stumble at idle and sometimes die. Post ARX, I might get a blip even when setting out
overnight in the teens. The throttle response is much improved also post ARX. I used dino for the ARX treatment and currently
using Amsoil 5w-40.

 

[cosynthetics]

Wolfestone

Read here for my thread on BMW LL oils.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=12130329

Don't let the sludge thing scare you. It is not as wide spread as some would like to believe. Both of my 540's were maintained on the 15k interval and neither have any sign of sludge whatsoever. I've only seen one or two pictures of serious sludge. If they were truly 15k intervals these cars must have been driven less than 15k a year.

 

[wolfestone]

Thanks for the replies & info.

MiddleBay3 - could you elaborate on the vanos seal failure please - Are you saying that the ARX helped with the seal failure or contributed to it? I've read about this problem but would be interested in how the ARX affected it.

My car was driven on average 10k a year, so that probably isn't good news.

Since I'm going to be changing the oil 3 times in relatively short succession, I thought I'd also run a bottle of techron concentrate or similar through the fuel system to hopefully help with any carbon deposits.

I've read you should do this before an oil change because of residue getting past the rings and into the oil, but which change does it make most sense to do this at? I'm thinking of doing it before I drain the existing BMW synthetic out so there's no chance of it reacting with the ARX, does that make sense?

 

[Chris71]

Have you tried Mobil 1 0w-40 and changing it every 5,000 miles?

 

[Chris71]

I would try Mobil 1 0w-40 and change it every 5,000 miles.

 

[Scuderia]

Try Motul BMW specific LL-01 5W30 (also called X-Max). I've been using Motul for about a year now, and I've been very happy with their products.

http://www.turbofrogperformance.com/PDF_files/Specific_LL-01_5W-30.pdf