BMW e36 cold weather severe service oil?

[Lead Shoes]

I'm using m1 0w40 at the moment, but I will be doing a lot of short 3-4 mile city driving trips this winter at college in my Bmw. BMW has back spec'd 5w30 for the motor but I suspect that is just for CAFE and mpg..

The question is.. if I do about 50-100mi city very short-short trip miles for 1-2 months before my 330 mile round trip visits home will i see very high amounts of wear?

Will m1 0w40 be enough to protect me at temps from -25F - 90F year round or is there a better 30wt solution for winter?

 

[901Memphis]

A good 0w30 will have better cranking viscosity at - 25F than the 0w40.

 

[Lead Shoes]

Yeah I was thinking about 0w30 M1, but was waiting to hear what the other euro guys have to say, I can actually get 0w30 rotella and delvac locally at the diesel shop if that's a more appropriate choice.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: Brenden
Yeah I was thinking about 0w30 M1, but was waiting to hear what the other euro guys have to say, I can actually get 0w30 rotella and delvac locally at the diesel shop if that's a more appropriate choice.

Castrol 0W30!
Former GC now it is Made in Belgium.
I used it in VW CC and Passat 1.8T and I also used M1 0W40.
What I noticed is less hesitation at start on very cold temps, less cranking noise.
It is still BMW LL-01, it is little bit thiner then M1 0W40, but still has HTHS over 3.5 (3.58cp).
It is thicker then M1 0W30, which is not specd for Euro cars.

 

[Rolla07]

I think the M1 0w40 will work just fine for you. I wouldnt see much reason to switch.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
I think the M1 0w40 will work just fine for you. I wouldnt see much reason to switch.

I see his point of going to 0W30. In 3-4 miles on -25 0W40 will warm up slower then 0W30.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
I think the M1 0w40 will work just fine for you. I wouldnt see much reason to switch.

I see his point of going to 0W30. In 3-4 miles on -25 0W40 will warm up slower then 0W30.


I would encourage the OP to actually measure this...I suspect the difference will be negligible over the course of just 3-4 miles.

I would continue using the M1 0w40, but if money is no object, maybe take a look at the Renewable Lube 0w30. HTHS is about the same as the M1 0w40 but it has a higher VI.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
I think the M1 0w40 will work just fine for you. I wouldnt see much reason to switch.

I see his point of going to 0W30. In 3-4 miles on -25 0W40 will warm up slower then 0W30.


I would encourage the OP to actually measure this...I suspect the difference will be negligible over the course of just 3-4 miles.

I would continue using the M1 0w40, but if money is no object, maybe take a look at the Renewable Lube 0w30. HTHS is about the same as the M1 0w40 but it has a higher VI.

As far as I know, lighter oils were always better in short distance driving.
On top of that, 0W30 Castrol in all my cars had better cold start then 0W40 M1. You can actually hear engine having rougher start with M1. Kind of like difference between M1 0W40 and M1 5W30 that I have now in car and that has of course not as good pour point as 0W40.
Paper is one thing, practice is another.

 

[OVERKILL]

M1 0w-40 will be fine in the winter, heck, I just ran PU Ultra Euro 5w-40 this past winter, which has poorer cold specs and it performed just fine in the M5.

If you do want to run a 0w-30, I would advise a Euro-spec one like GC or Fuchs Titan Supersyn 0w-30. The latter doesn't have LL-01 unfortunately, just LL-98, but that should be fine for your car.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
M1 0w-40 will be fine in the winter, heck, I just ran PU Ultra Euro 5w-40 this past winter, which has poorer cold specs and it performed just fine in the M5.

If you do want to run a 0w-30, I would advise a Euro-spec one like GC or Fuchs Titan Supersyn 0w-30. The latter doesn't have LL-01 unfortunately, just LL-98, but that should be fine for your car.

GC is much easier to find.
I would go back to 0W30 in heartbeat if Castrol would start import Euro Spec 0W30 that meets MB 229.51, BMW-LL-04 and VW 505.01.
However, we get Full-SAPS version (which OP needs).
Point is, I still think that is best oil for Euro cars in wide range of temps.
On M1, after I saw depletion of TBN in my application after 5K, I am done with that oil.
Just confirms what I said before, that there is a reason why that oil is $25 in wal mart.

 

[CATERHAM]

For winter use a light A5/B5 5W-30 was originally spec'd for you E36 and I have found that a light 5W-30 syn is more than heavy enough for spirited driving in the summer as well.

For the type of very short commuting you will be doing in the winter I'd suggest M1 0W-20. That's what I ran for a few winters a couple of years ago and I was doing more than just short commutes. Most Bimmers with their exposed finned aluminum sumps have a hard time getting their oil temp's up to even a low normal level in winter so a 0W-20 works very well in them. It will be a big improvement over M1 0W-40 which is even heavier than necessary for summer use.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
M1 0w-40 will be fine in the winter, heck, I just ran PU Ultra Euro 5w-40 this past winter, which has poorer cold specs and it performed just fine in the M5.

If you do want to run a 0w-30, I would advise a Euro-spec one like GC or Fuchs Titan Supersyn 0w-30. The latter doesn't have LL-01 unfortunately, just LL-98, but that should be fine for your car.

GC is much easier to find.
I would go back to 0W30 in heartbeat if Castrol would start import Euro Spec 0W30 that meets MB 229.51, BMW-LL-04 and VW 505.01.
However, we get Full-SAPS version (which OP needs).
Point is, I still think that is best oil for Euro cars in wide range of temps.
On M1, after I saw depletion of TBN in my application after 5K, I am done with that oil.
Just confirms what I said before, that there is a reason why that oil is $25 in wal mart.


I still had a TBN of 7.00 after a 6,000 mile run on M1 0w-40. And I have very little faith in Castrol's deposit control capabilities as historically that hasn't been a strong point. Doug Hillary spoke on it being an issue with the oil that would eventually become GC FWIW.

My UOA (with 5% fuel dilution even!) for reference:

 

[CATERHAM]

OVERKILL, off topic but my CTC finally started stocking the SN M1 0W-40 this week. Last week it was still the SM version.

 

[OVERKILL]

Oh, and some of the threads with Doug's comments in them:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/708004/1
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1096491

Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,
jpr - Yes, and my viewpoint too. M1 0w-40 is a very sophisticated product with a substantial track record of OEM and end user satisfaction

It has been the Porsche factory fill since 2001

I was an original user of GC SLX 0w-30 in a wide range of engines. It was first released here in 12/1996 (it was Porsche Approved then) and it was in one of my Ford V6 engines by 01/1997 courtesy of Castrol.
I converted a number of other engines to it from the excellent Castrol "R" 10w-60. Sadly it failed to live up to my, VW's and MB's expectations here in OZ


Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,
d00df00d - You said this:

"Early tests -- crude, but MUCH more informative than anything you will see on BITOG these days -- seemed to indicate that it was almost entirely PAO."

In its original API SH/CF form (1995-6) - as Formula SLX - it was a castor (ester) based and with a low phosphorous/low chlorine content

It was a flop and was withdrawn from sale here in its API SL/CF form around 2000. It left a trail of woes behind it

In many ways it was similar to one of Castrol's original synthetics - Formula R 15W-50 (API SE) of around 1978. It was caster based and red in colour. This product (now much modified) still exists as TWS 10W-60 (ester) or Edge 10W-60 (PAO). I assisted in the development of these great products over several years


Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,
glxpassat - I was Field Testing a new semi-synthetic HDEO for Castrol at around the time Formula SLX was introduced here. It was a direct German import. I believe its demise was caused by a lack of extensive Field/Durability Testing. I think they simply got it wrong!!

In it's original ester content formulation it was prone to heavy varnish deposits in some engine families and this was the cause of my component faiure. It was dropped "like a hot spud" as a Service fill by major Euro OEMs

Later as it evolved into a PAO based product - along with API updates - it had lost Market share and user confidence had been irrepearably contaminated

In the late 1990s Castrol embarked on much more Field Testing aligned with OEMs like BMW, VW-Audi and third party engine development Companies in Europe - especially in Germany. They have continued in this vein

Not much remains now from the pre BP takeover days - what does are great products (Transmax Z, some gear oils and the 10W-60 ester/PAO range as examples)


And there's plenty more. He posted an entire history of it at one point, was quite interesting. He's a big fan of their gear lubes though, FWIW.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
OVERKILL, off topic but my CTC finally started stocking the SN M1 0W-40 this week. Last week it was still the SM version.


Nice! Yeah, I had mentioned I had finally seen it locally here, but only at the one store. It seems to be making its rounds.

 

[edyvw]

Well, you can find my UOA for your reference too.
TBN went from 11.8 to 2.6 after 5K, without fuel dilution and flash point stayed at 420f, while cst went only from 13.5 to 13.3. It would be very good UOA except that TBN obviously cannot hold well in this engine.
On other hand, M1 5W30 ESP, where TBN starts at 5.8, after 3.3K went down to 2.9.
I still have to do UOA at 5K both on CC and Tiguan to see whether it is 5K oil or not, but in my opinion, I think there is something with additives in M1 0W40 that is not working well, at least in my application.
Would be interesting to do UOA on M1 0W40 Made in Finland or France and see how it holds.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
It seems to be making its rounds.

Now, we must bug Imperial Oil to bring it out in jugs, and to bring proper jug sizes in general to Canada.

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
It seems to be making its rounds.

Now, we must bug Imperial Oil to bring it out in jugs, and to bring proper jug sizes in general to Canada.

Delvac 1 ESP 0W-40 is available in jugs and is cheaper than M1 at least through NAPA (available in both litres and 4L jugs).

 

[Garak]

Yep, much cheaper. I wish Imperial Oil would bring about five litre jugs though (or even five U.S. quarts), instead of this split between 4.4 L and 4 L jugs. I told you already, CATERHAM, get a 5 gallon pail of Delvac Elite 222 0w-30.

 

[dailydriver]

Dosen't GC, both the original green stuff, latter golden one and the current Belgian made one have a p**s poor VI rating (and MRV)?

Even with "only" a ~3.6 HTHSV, but said poor VI, wouldn't it still be too thick for serious winter use?