Oils for BMW 545 and 335?

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meinauto

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Jul 22, 2007
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Malaysia
Hi there

I am a newbie and I must say that this is a great site. Have learned alot from reading the posts.

I have two questions:

Q1. I have a E60 545 and the warranty will run out in Sept and would like to start maintaining the car with my regular workshop (a non-BMW approved workshop). I checked the manual and it said that BMW-LL01 or LL04 oils are preferred. I plan to change oils every 7k miles and the BMW dealer current uses Shell Helix Ultra 5W30. I have narrowed my choice to three oils
- AMSOIL 5W40 European formula
- AMSOIL 0W30
- GC 0W30

Amsoil 0W30 does not meet the BMW LL specs but given that I do not plan on going for extended drains, was also wondering adhering to the LL ratings is important. Another thing - is 5W40 too thick?

Q2. I also have a 335 which is under warranty for another 2.5 years. I don't want to stick to the BMW service intervals which I believe is too long. Question is whether I should stick with the dealer oil, which is again Shell Helix Ultra 5W30 or go with different oils between the service intervals. Given that the car is still under warranty, I would like to stick with oils meeting BMW LL01 specs. My choices are
- Shell Helix Ultra 5W30
- GC
- AMSOIL 5W40

Any thoughts? Stick to the dealer oil? Go with one of the other two? Read on the forum that AMSOIL is actually not approved by BMW. Therefore is it actually ok to use AMSOIL?

Both cars are in tropical climates whereby the ambient temp is around 85-90F all year round. 545 travels shorter distances whereas the 335 sees more stop and go traffic, and also more abuse :).

Inputs, thoughts and comments are much appreciated
 
look up shell helix MSDS and see what is 85% volume in the bottle, then tell us how much a quart is it.
7,000 mile changes are fine but not needed if you use UOA wich will help you determine how your oil reacts inside your engine enviroment. Im sure the Domestic NON dino Synthetic oil surpasses BMW requierments by leaps and bounds.
filtration is another issue altogether not many options there
hopefully Gary,Don or Paplo chime in
popcorn.gif
 
All 3 are good oils. I definately agree with you wanting to do shorter oil changes than what is recommended, especially on the 335. The N54 twin turbo is pretty hard on oil..Oil temperatures can get very hot if your driving it hard in hot weather. I can get you a list of all the approved oils by BMW if you would like? If it was my'n i wouldnt hesitate to use the Amsoil...But the german Castrol is also a good choice, as well as the dealer oil. Any of those oils at 7000 mile intervals are good choices. Just out of curiosity..Do the 335's over there have oil dipsticks? Or do you check oil level thru the I-drive like the ones in the US?
 
5w-40 shouldn't be to thick at all. Here at work we use Rotella 5w-40 synthetic diesel oil for everything in the fleet. Nothing is a BMW :p but there are a lot of smaller engines that run the stuff with no ill effects. Saturn's, Windstars, Ford rangers, and crown vic's. I run the 15w-40 Delo 400 in my Jeep at summer temps and the 5w-40 syn Rotella T in winter. It's been a year and I haven't noticed any ill effects either.
 
GC meets BMW LL-01 and has a proven track record in many engines. That's what I'd use in both vehicles out of the choices mentioned.
 
Quote:

All 3 are good oils. I definately agree with you wanting to do shorter oil changes than what is recommended, especially on the 335. The N54 twin turbo is pretty hard on oil..Oil temperatures can get very hot if your driving it hard in hot weather. I can get you a list of all the approved oils by BMW if you would like? If it was my'n i wouldnt hesitate to use the Amsoil...But the german Castrol is also a good choice, as well as the dealer oil. Any of those oils at 7000 mile intervals are good choices. Just out of curiosity..Do the 335's over there have oil dipsticks? Or do you check oil level thru the I-drive like the ones in the US?

Click to expand...


Would be great if you could post a list of BMW approved oils! Thks

On the oil measurement - no dipstick, check using I-drive
 
Thks for the input!

Any of you heard of and/or used Petronas Syntium 5000? Took a look at it yesterday, API SM, GF-4, ACEA A3...looks quite good :)
 
Quote:

Thks for the input!

Any of you heard of and/or used Petronas Syntium 5000? Took a look at it yesterday, API SM, GF-4, ACEA A3...looks quite good :)

Click to expand...


No I have not. Do you have a Product Data Sheet for it?
 
Amsoil has some great high quality products. Some feel that Amsoil users anre 'brainwashed', but you mustmake your own determination on that, hopefully in a technial and results based analysis.

Personally, Id try to keep things simple, and would go with Amsoil 5w-40. IMO, itis a quality product, and with GC's availability iffiness, I wouldnt trust it to be a consistent product fora long period of time. GC would be thebest value proposition, IMO, if you can ensure its availability for the long term. Either way, Id go with the same oil in both, to keep it easy and straightforward.

JMH
 
thks everyone...was and still am leaning towards GC and Amsoil. Not sure about the availability of GC at this juncture. Not many people sell it although you could get it in Singapore

The one Amsoil oil I did not raise was the 3k 5w30...looks like a great oil and meets ACEA A3 and API SM. Would this be a better bet compared to the Amsoil 5w40?
 
Depends upon the reccomended viscosity for your climate, from the manufacturer. Beyond that, it is really UOA-determinant.

JMH
 
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