BMW Z4 oil change

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tennisdoc40

Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
30
Location
Georgia, USA
My daughter uses my BMW 2006 Z4, and after purchasing tires, went to a local shop having a special on allignments. The car was overdue for a low milage oil change. Spoke to the owner who said they do a lot of BMW's and use Mobil one. They used 5w30, instead of the the 0w40 I expected. They went by an Oil data sheet that showed BMW oil 5/30 is indicated. Then they told me that the difference between the two viscosities is minimal, and that as long as I wasn't racing, there would be no concern. Should I be concerned?
RJ
 
There are 5W-30s suitable for this engine.
M1 ain't one of them.
If you believe BMW, this oil is not appropriate to this engine.
The difference between the kinematic viscosities might be minimal, but the difference in HTHS is large.
Maybe their data sheet said that BMW brand 5W-30 is suitable?
This oil is made by Castrol and labeled as BMW oil.
It meets BMW's oil standard.
M1 5W-30 doesn't, while M1 0W-40 does.
 
If you want to go by the book, then look for motor oils that are BMW Long Life approved. This is usually listed on the back of the bottle. My understanding is that the LL approval does not depend on a specific SAE grade. There are 0W30, 0W40, 5W30, and 5W40 oils that are all approved for the same engines. Here is a brief list:

http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/owner/syntheticengineoils.aspx

However, I personally would not worry too much about having M1 5W30 in your engine, even though it does not have BMW LL approval. Driven normally there shouldn't be big difference if any at all. Keep it for one OCI and then decide what's best for your engine.
 
Last edited:
As long as you don't rev the engine to redline in every gear, or drive at triple digits for hours then M1 5W30 is okay for shorter OCI of around 6-7k miles.
 
Originally Posted By: tennisdoc40
I have about 5k miles until next scheduled oil change. Could there be damage in that time?


My understanding is that BMW is advocating very long oil change intervals, like 10-15,000 miles. The LL approval ensures that the oil is good for such long drains. While I am not sure if M1 5W30 will be performing at its best for 15,000 miles, 5,000 should be piece of cake for this oil IMO.
 
Originally Posted By: tennisdoc40
They used 5w30, instead of the the 0w40 I expected. They went by an Oil data sheet that showed BMW oil 5/30 is indicated.


Wow, way to misinterpret data. The BMW 5w30 is a way different animal than M1 5w30. Just because they have the same SAE grade does not make the M1 suitable for the application.

I'd go back and make them drain it and put in the proper spec oil.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
As long as you don't rev the engine to redline in every gear, or drive at triple digits for hours



By the way, I wouldn't worry about driving at triple digits for hours if it's on a highway at a steady speed. I keep track of water temperature gauges. On the highway, it's always the same or much lower than driving in the city, even in triple digits. Stop and go at triple digit temperatures will result in higher temperatures, but not everyone has to deal with this on daily basis.
 
How many miles total will the car have on the M1 5W-30?
If the car isn't driven hard and doesn't sit in heavy traffic every afternoon, my opinion is that the oil won't cause any harm in 7K miles of use or so.
I'd probably not run it for the full allowable term of the Maintenance Minder.
There was a now-banned member here who posted a number of UOAs of mainly VAG turbo engines, VW also having their own demanding oil spec, that had been run on ordinary API spec oils, similar to M1 5W-30.
If it makes you feel any better, these UOAs showed consistently good results.
 
The 5-30 is not a problem for your engine, but 0-40 would be my choice. My son in law uses M1 10-30 in their MB and changes every 10K. The engine now has 90K and runs great.
 
0W-40 would be the choice of either BMW or Mercedes as well, assuming that the owner wanted to use an M1 oil.
 
Originally Posted By: Zako2
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
As long as you don't rev the engine to redline in every gear, or drive at triple digits for hours



By the way, I wouldn't worry about driving at triple digits for hours if it's on a highway at a steady speed. I keep track of water temperature gauges. On the highway, it's always the same or much lower than driving in the city, even in triple digits. Stop and go at triple digit temperatures will result in higher temperatures, but not everyone has to deal with this on daily basis.

A steady speed of 80-90MPH on highway for hours is easy on engine, water and oil, but when you drive 100-150MPH for hours like they do on Germany Autobahn, then you need a slightly thicker oil such as M1 0W40.
 
There is a lot of things I don't like here.

Being overdue for a low mileage oil change.

Not using Mobil 1 0w40

Come on tennisdoc40, get your act together.
 
Last edited:
One month overdue for an oil change on a 15 k oci and I need to get my act together? I had expected the owner of the shop to use 0w 40, hence my post asking for advice.
Please check your grammer and tone for this site.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

N
BMW dealer recommends other oil spec than manual recommends
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
edyvw
Ed_Flecko
Suggestions for a slightly different oil?
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
Pablo
D
Does the oil brand actually matter? Is this all just hyperbole?
2 3
Replies
49
Views
7K
wareze
wavinwayne
Changed oil on the 535d today
Replies
6
Views
490
andreigbs
Rogueman2016s
Current oil change census
2
Replies
28
Views
3K
Rogueman2016s
Back
Top