2001 BMW 740

[irideostriches]

Car is a 2001 E38 with the m62tu. Car has 100K miles. Most of the miles are in town. Previous owner used M1, BMW recommends Castrol 5w30 . I'm planning on using the 0w30 or 0w40 Castrol.
Anyone have any experience with these motors or other BMW VANOS motors using the GC 0w30?

Edit: Car is my daily driver and here in Boise we have an annual temp change from -10F in the winter to 110F in the summer. I'm thinking the 0w30 will be fine year around.

 

[double vanos]

FWIW I used GC in my '02 330ci up to 162k miles when I sold it with no problems whatsoever. The Edge 0w40 will be fine as well; I've got 2 Ecoboost F150s and 1 Mazdaspeed3 grinding it up as we speak - it's a stout oil. For you Bimmer though I recommend 5k OCIs - BMWs 15k intervals are idiotic at best.

 

[Quattro Pete]

I did use GC 0w-30 in my M54 engine for a number of years. Now using Pennzoil Euro 5w-40. No issues with either oil.

Welcome to BITOG!

 

[irideostriches]

I was planning on 5k-7.5k OCI with OE or another good filter. On my previous BMWs I've used Bosch or Mann Filters. I'm assuming they are good filters for the E38 as well.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Mann/Mahle/Knecht make OEM filters for BMW. They are good filters and are reasonably priced.

 

[OVERKILL]

As long as you use an LL-01 approved oil you will be fine, this includes M1 0w-40, which is what I assume the previous owner used.

 

[fdcg27]

Either oil would meet the requirements for this engine as would M1 0W-40.
With an old seven series, I suspect that oil choice will be the least of your worries.
These are nice cars, though.
Good luck with it.

 

[irideostriches]

Yeah, there are a lot of thing that can go wrong, for sure. However they are pretty well documented online for those who aren't afraid of a multimeter and turning wrenches. Great road car, drives better at 100 than 75...

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: irideostriches
Yeah, there are a lot of thing that can will go wrong, for sure. However they are pretty well documented online for those who aren't afraid of a multimeter and turning wrenches. Great road car, drives better at 100 than 75...


I fixed that for you

 

[ExMachina]

Well, BMW doesn't claim its the "Ultimate Reliability Machine"

Any oil you can find with LL-01 and MB229.5 printed on the back label is what you want. I've never seen any evidence of significant differences between any of them, except for the BMW branded 5w-30, which did have a reputation for too much gooey deposits visible thru the fill hole, under valve covers. That was with the old Castrol-made BMW dealer oil though, the new Shell-sourced BMW branded dealership oil might be better.
Best deal of course is the 5-quart jugs of Castrol and M1 0w-40 at walmart or amazon. The GC 0w-30 I've never seen offered as cheap, and its about the same oil as Castrol 0w-40.