I'm looking into selecting a new motor oil for my 97 M3. The car currently has about 151k miles on it. I've had it since 2003 and 105k miles, and have tried Mobile 1 5W-30, 10W-30, and 10W-40 in the past. Currently it has M1 10W-30 in it. I never go longer than a 5k/6-mo OCI, but in reality, I only put about 3-4k miles on the car per year.
My driving style is much more relaxed now in the M3 than when I first bought it. I wouldn't call it "granny", but certainly a lot less spirited than I was when I was younger; I would say I have a "medium-to-fast" driving style whereas before it was more like "maniacal/a$$hole". No racing whatsoever; this is a daily driver to/from work and 90%+ highway driving. I typically drive 30 miles to/from work (60 miles round-trip) on the freeway doing 70-80mph for a 2-3 day/week work commute with occasional bursts of 90-95mph maybe. Never really let the engine rev over 5k rpms (redline=6500), and I'm installing a 6-speed getrag from an E46 M3 next spring to further reduce highway rpms by an estimated 500rpm or so by using the 6th speed curising gear.
The S52 engine in my M3 specs 5W-30 for temps of 50F down to -20F. In warmer climates (never less than 10F), 15W-40 is recommended. Here in Colorado, I've typically used the M1 10W-30 or 10W-40 in the summer and 5W-30 in winter (or just drained the oil in November and let it sit empty in my garage until May, when I put in a new filter and 10W-30 or 10W-40 for the summer when I actually drive the car.
I'm looking at either M1 0W-40 Euro spec or GC 0W-30. I'm pretty new here, but from what I've read on this site so far, either of these oils would be a good choice for my car. Just wondering if any other BITOG E-36 M3 owners have any advice or opinions in selecting between the two. Another oil that interests me is Pennzoil Ultra, but the winters here get pretty cold, and although I don't drive this car when there's snow on the ground, I'd still feel better using a 0W oil rather than 5W, which is all that PU is presently offered in. Also, since this is a German car, it seems like either the M1 0W-40 or GC 0W-30 Euro-spec oils would be the best choice for this engine.
The engine does sputter and run kind of rough on its current M1 10W-30 oil until it gets warmed up. Sometimes it even throws a CEL code while idilng, which will go away after 50-100 miles of highway driving. I hoping that switching to the M1 0W-40 or GC 0W-30 will help alleviate this problem somewhat, especially on colder mornings.
If I do a UOA, it sounds like I should run the new oil choice for at least 2 OCIs before sending in a sample to ensure its running on purely the new oil vis and not residual 10W-30. Speaking of which, are there any deals offered by Blackstone for BITOG users, something like $20 test kits or 5 kits for $100, instead of the $25/kit price listed on their website? That would be nice...
Thanks for any advice on this one. I may end up trying both, but I'm thinking I'll try the M1 0W-40 first unless the GC 0W-30 has shown better UOAs in this engine and/or other M3 owners report better results with the GC.
My driving style is much more relaxed now in the M3 than when I first bought it. I wouldn't call it "granny", but certainly a lot less spirited than I was when I was younger; I would say I have a "medium-to-fast" driving style whereas before it was more like "maniacal/a$$hole". No racing whatsoever; this is a daily driver to/from work and 90%+ highway driving. I typically drive 30 miles to/from work (60 miles round-trip) on the freeway doing 70-80mph for a 2-3 day/week work commute with occasional bursts of 90-95mph maybe. Never really let the engine rev over 5k rpms (redline=6500), and I'm installing a 6-speed getrag from an E46 M3 next spring to further reduce highway rpms by an estimated 500rpm or so by using the 6th speed curising gear.
The S52 engine in my M3 specs 5W-30 for temps of 50F down to -20F. In warmer climates (never less than 10F), 15W-40 is recommended. Here in Colorado, I've typically used the M1 10W-30 or 10W-40 in the summer and 5W-30 in winter (or just drained the oil in November and let it sit empty in my garage until May, when I put in a new filter and 10W-30 or 10W-40 for the summer when I actually drive the car.
I'm looking at either M1 0W-40 Euro spec or GC 0W-30. I'm pretty new here, but from what I've read on this site so far, either of these oils would be a good choice for my car. Just wondering if any other BITOG E-36 M3 owners have any advice or opinions in selecting between the two. Another oil that interests me is Pennzoil Ultra, but the winters here get pretty cold, and although I don't drive this car when there's snow on the ground, I'd still feel better using a 0W oil rather than 5W, which is all that PU is presently offered in. Also, since this is a German car, it seems like either the M1 0W-40 or GC 0W-30 Euro-spec oils would be the best choice for this engine.
The engine does sputter and run kind of rough on its current M1 10W-30 oil until it gets warmed up. Sometimes it even throws a CEL code while idilng, which will go away after 50-100 miles of highway driving. I hoping that switching to the M1 0W-40 or GC 0W-30 will help alleviate this problem somewhat, especially on colder mornings.
If I do a UOA, it sounds like I should run the new oil choice for at least 2 OCIs before sending in a sample to ensure its running on purely the new oil vis and not residual 10W-30. Speaking of which, are there any deals offered by Blackstone for BITOG users, something like $20 test kits or 5 kits for $100, instead of the $25/kit price listed on their website? That would be nice...
Thanks for any advice on this one. I may end up trying both, but I'm thinking I'll try the M1 0W-40 first unless the GC 0W-30 has shown better UOAs in this engine and/or other M3 owners report better results with the GC.