High Mileage oils for Euro cars

shortyb

shortyb

Joined
Dec 15, 2002
Messages
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Location
Simpsonville SC
Wanted to get general experiences and recommendations for older Euro cars. Neighbor posed the question to me as he has an older BMW E46 that is almost 150K. Spots now showing in the driveway and wants to know which (if any) High Mileage oils are suitable for the minor leakage. I told him about Valvoline Maxlife which has worked well for minor leaks according to quite a few here. He is interested, but more concerned with approvals, viscosity etc. None that I know of are Euro approval. Told him to get seals fixed, but wants a reasonable stop gap til he does.
 
Good ol euro 5w40 or thicker

Not familiar with e46, but probably oil pan gasket
 
shortyb said:
Wanted to get general experiences and recommendations for older Euro cars. Neighbor posed the question to me as he has an older BMW E46 that is almost 150K. Spots now showing in the driveway and wants to know which (if any) High Mileage oils are suitable for the minor leakage. I told him about Valvoline Maxlife which has worked well for minor leaks according to quite a few here. He is interested, but more concerned with approvals, viscosity etc. None that I know of are Euro approval. Told him to get seals fixed, but wants a reasonable stop gap til he does.
Click to expand...
He does not need anything HM. It would do more harm than good.
He needs to replace probably oil pan gasket. If it is RWD, it is easy-peasy.
 
If you're adamant about approvals try 5W40 or 0W40 Mobil 1 since the Euro oils have some esters in them that may help.
But if you're not going to push the OCIs then 10W40 or 20W50 MaxLife should be fine, there's also 10W40 Mobil 1 High Mileage.
 
shortyb said:
Wanted to get general experiences and recommendations for older Euro cars. Neighbor posed the question to me as he has an older BMW E46 that is almost 150K. Spots now showing in the driveway and wants to know which (if any) High Mileage oils are suitable for the minor leakage.
Click to expand...
Same/similar engine as in my E39. I've tried various oils including HM oils (with ACEA A3/B4 spec). None of them made any difference as far as leaks go. Various gaskets will leak with age: oil pan, oil filter housing, rear main seal, valve cover.
 
Yeah, I've tried to convince him that its going to need gasket/o-ring replacements to get things tight again. He is old, so is stubborn. Anyway, I did suggest M1 0W/5W-40 FS for the cleaning effect and the approvals. Told him to pick it up at Wally for ~$27 the next time he is getting his Bud Light.
 
Reminds me of a wealthy Asian buddy of mine.
He has a Lexus RX350? Anyway, he had a coolant leak so instead of getting it fixed, he decided to be cheap and dump some "stop leak" into his cooling system.

Fast farward a few months when winter rolls in and now his heater doesn't put out enough heat (due to the blocked passages from that goop).
To fix it he figures he'll have to get the whole system purged to clean it out properly, as well as fix the leak that caused the problem to begin with.

So much for cutting corners and using a "cheap fix"
:rolleyes:
 
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shortyb said:
Wanted to get general experiences and recommendations for older Euro cars. Neighbor posed the question to me as he has an older BMW E46 that is almost 150K. Spots now showing in the driveway and wants to know which (if any) High Mileage oils are suitable for the minor leakage. I told him about Valvoline Maxlife which has worked well for minor leaks according to quite a few here. He is interested, but more concerned with approvals, viscosity etc. None that I know of are Euro approval. Told him to get seals fixed, but wants a reasonable stop gap til he does.
Click to expand...
There are no HM oils with euro approvals. However if he wants something "German" he could throw in a can of Liqui Moly Motor Oil Saver

www.liqui-moly.com

Motor Oil Saver

Maintains and regenerates rubber and plastic seals in the engine oil circuit of gas and diesel engines. Oil consumption due to aged and hardened valve stem seals is reduced. No more blue exhaust smoke, improved emissions. External leaks are minimized or even eliminated. Dampens engine noise and...
www.liqui-moly.com www.liqui-moly.com
 
@Oillover, learned that lesson very early in my DIY journey. In fact I related this exact same thing to my neighbor and offered up that when I had my E46 330, I changed oil pan, valve cover, OFH, and Vanos seals/gaskets myself with no issues. He just took another sip of his beer and said "uh huh" like Dale Gribble form King of the Hill. He kinda looks like Dale too :).
 
BMWTurboDzl said:
There are no HM oils with euro approvals. However if he wants something "German" he could throw in a can of Liqui Moly Motor Oil Saver

www.liqui-moly.com

Motor Oil Saver

Maintains and regenerates rubber and plastic seals in the engine oil circuit of gas and diesel engines. Oil consumption due to aged and hardened valve stem seals is reduced. No more blue exhaust smoke, improved emissions. External leaks are minimized or even eliminated. Dampens engine noise and...
www.liqui-moly.com www.liqui-moly.com
Click to expand...
Hadn't thought of that stuff since it sounds like "stop leak" for engine oil. Guess it's just the same type additives in HM oil, only without the oil. Wonder if anyone has used it with positive results.
 
shortyb said:
Hadn't thought of that stuff since it sounds like "stop leak" for engine oil. Guess it's just the same type additives in HM oil, only without the oil. Wonder if anyone has used it with positive results.
Click to expand...
Plenty of Amazon reviews seems to think it works fine but keep in mind that result will vary due to the variability in the condition of the gaskets.
 
edyvw said:
He does not need anything HM. It would do more harm than good.
He needs to replace probably oil pan gasket. If it is RWD, it is easy-peasy.
Click to expand...
Completely agree. My E39 BMW 540 M-Sport with M62 engine (same era) is now at 349,100 miles and I simply use an appropriate BMW approved LL01 or LL04 oil. Have done this since it was new and the engine has never been rebuilt (nor has the transmission). When I have oil leaks, I have them fixed. And trust me, the M62 develops many leaks...its almost an every three to four year interval to the next oil leak fix. Timing chain covers, oil pan, valve covers, main seal...
 
f355spider said:
Completely agree. My E39 BMW 540 M-Sport with M62 engine (same era) is now at 349,100 miles and I simply use an appropriate BMW approved LL01 or LL04 oil. Have done this since it was new and the engine has never been rebuilt (nor has the transmission). When I have oil leaks, I have them fixed. And trust me, the M62 develops many leaks...its almost an every three to four year interval to the next oil leak fix. Timing chain covers, oil pan, valve covers, main seal...
Click to expand...
I can see why people would look for a cheap solution to get by in the short term as I just got quoted $3,000 for my oil pan gasket and engine mounts.
 
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BMWTurboDzl said:
I can see why people would look for a cheap solution to get by in the short term as I just got quoted $3,000 for my oil pan gasket and engine mounts.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I get it....I would have sold my E39 a few years ago, as the local BMW dealer was killing me...but I found a very competent shop that can take care of issues for a good 40% less. Its still a bunch of money.
 
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