Oil for a new BMW R1200 motor?

[Foch]

Just bought a new R1200GSA. The recommended oil specifications in the owners manual calls for:

SAE 5W-40, 5W-50, 10W-40, 10W-50 and 15W-40
API SF / ACEA A2, or better

I'd like to use oil I can buy at WMart or a car parts store. I can't find any API SF oils on store shelves. Am I correct in assuming the SF rating is outdated and any of the newer car oils, in the right viscosity, would be acceptable?

Thanks!

 

[hate2work]

API SF is obsolete, hard to believe a new engine would call for it.

http://www.motorexbih.com/API-SAE Engine Oil Service.pdf

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Foch
I'd like to use oil I can buy at WMart or a car parts store. I can't find any API SF oils on store shelves. Am I correct in assuming the SF rating is outdated and any of the newer car oils, in the right viscosity, would be acceptable?

You just have to make sure that the oil you pick out is not "energy conserving" as it may negatively affect your clutch, if your bike has a shared sump.

To be on the safe side, stick with an oil that carries JASO MA spec. If you're at WalMart, that means Shell Rotella T6 5w-40, Shell Rotella T 15w-40, or M1 motorcycle oil. Most diesel oils should work well, too, such as Delo or Mobil Delvac.

 

[sunruh]

some car oils are much better than other car oils.

since you are in maine and i highly doubt you ride in the winter, SRT 15w40 would be very very high on my list. or the ST 15w40 for a few bucks less (11 vs 13gal). i would not concern yourself with anything else really.

steve

 

[Quattro Pete]

Oops... looks like this bike has a dry clutch. You can ignore my JASO MA/energy conserving comment then.

 

[Foch]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Oops... looks like this bike has a dry clutch. You can ignore my JASO MA/energy conserving comment then.


I forgot to mention that my owners manual also lists:

Castrol GPS SAE 10W-40 API / JASO MA as a recommended oil

But I think that's just some marketing agreement betweem BMW + Castrol.

And yes, the bikes got a dry clutch.

Do I need to pay attention to the ACEA A2 or better thing?

 

[Quattro Pete]

ACEA A2 is just as outdated as API SF. If I'm not mistaken, ACEA A2 got replaced by ACEA A3, which is a gasoline engine long drain spec with an HT/HS of at least 3.5cP. In my opinion, you only need to worry about it if you're planning to run extended oil change intervals. Are you?

Most modern synthetic oils in Xw-40 grade or higher would probably meet ACEA A3 spec.


Also, the wording "ACEA A2 or better" is very poor, too. It may lead someone to selecting an oil with ACEA A5 spec, for example, which would be wrong because A5 isn't necessarily better than A2. A5 is a completely different spec. It may be better, but it may also be worse, depending on application. The ACEA letters aren't like API letters where a high letter/number means better.

 

[JetStar]

I used the BMW conventional oil which is reasonably priced and blended by Spectro. There are some good papers out there concerning BMW's oil requirements. My 09 R1200R owners manual recommended 20W-50. Also said not to use synthetic for 20K miles IIRC. Mine was still the SOHC, which yours is probably the new DOHC. Check out some of the BMW 4Ms? Expect it to burn some oil until you get 20 to 30K on it.

http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/oilreport.html
take this for what it is.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Congrats on the new bike, you're gonna love it!

Check out this forum if you haven't already:
http://advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

Most of the guys there use Mobile 1 15w-50 and one bike has over 450,000 miles on the original engine!

Unfortunately, Walmart seems to have discontinued the 5qt. jugs of 15w-50 so it is now harder to find and more expensive.

 

[Qwiky]

Sounds to me that the people that specify the oil for their motors might be a bit lacking in the knowledge department.

I mean the fact that they specify a JASO MA oil when it has a dry clutch should set the alarm bells ringing.

The other one about not using a synthetic for break in is another.

Are you sure that is correct? I'd be embarrased by those two major blunders.

 

[CSM746]

I have two R1200s, a 2010 GS and a 2009 RT. I have run 15W40 Delvac in both since the first oil change. I ride a lot and a long season. I have ridden from MI to OR in the heat of summer and around Lake Superior in Nov where the hottest day was 38F and cold starts were in the 20sF. I find the low temperature specs on Delvac to be superb. Any HDEO mentioned in the earlier post would be fine. Plenty of folks have asserted that you should not be in any hurry to feed these engines synthetics, and based on my experience I would agree. I have over 20K on the RT and will consider synthetics, but am comfortable with the dino HDEOs. I have encountered no significant oil usage after 5K on either of these engines. I have ridden Beemers since 1973 and have had a number of new and used models. I am not claiming to be an expert, but have 46 years of riding and 38 on these bikes with over 400K logged on BMWs.

 

[bigbird_1]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Oops... looks like this bike has a dry clutch. You can ignore my JASO MA/energy conserving comment then.


Not necessarily.
JASO MA also specs more ZDDP for better valve train protection, which is not offered by energy conserving "car" oils.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: bigdreama


Unfortunately, Walmart seems to have discontinued the 5qt. jugs of 15w-50 so it is now harder to find and more expensive.

Apparently, I was mistaken.

linky

 

[car54]

While I'm glad to see they discovered the mistake they made and are correcting it by reintroducing the 15w-50, It inconvenienced me enough to go order a case of 5w-50 Schaeffers. If my UOA comes back good on the 5w-50, I'll never go back to the M1. It's too easy to order a case of 5w-50 at the same time I order multiple 5w-40 cases for my TDI's.

 

[Ken2]

Quote:
Just bought a new R1200GSA
Stick with either BMW branded oil or the recommended Castrol oil during the warranty period. BMWs are soooo expensive to get repaired that you don't want any hitches in case you have a warranty claim.