Recommended time based oil change on BMW N52?

[roninsoldier83]

Hello, I’m currently seeking recommendations on either time or mileage based oil change intervals on my BMW 128i (N52). I have multiple cars and as a result, it sits most of the time. On average I likely drive it about 3000 miles a year and I’m currently running Castrol Edge Euro 5w-40.

The car is parked outside most of the time, here in Colorado (not sure if it matters). I would say most of my trips in the car are shorter trips, frequently under 20 minutes, with longer freeway trips sprinkled in here and there. It currently has about 130k miles on it.

I typically try to stay on top of maintenance on all of my vehicles, but at the same time, I’m not trying to just pour money down the drain if there’s no real benefit. Since it’s only driven about 3000 miles a year, I’m assuming I should base my oil change intervals more on time? Any recommendations on how often I should change the oil on this car?

Thank you in advance!

 

[edyvw]

Hello, I’m currently seeking recommendations on either time or mileage based oil change intervals on my BMW 128i (N52). I have multiple cars and as a result, it sits most of the time. On average I likely drive it about 3000 miles a year and I’m currently running Castrol Edge Euro 5w-40.

The car is parked outside most of the time, here in Colorado (not sure if it matters). I would say most of my trips in the car are shorter trips, frequently under 20 minutes, with longer freeway trips sprinkled in here and there. It currently has about 130k miles on it.

I typically try to stay on top of maintenance on all of my vehicles, but at the same time, I’m not trying to just pour money down the drain if there’s no real benefit. Since it’s only driven about 3000 miles a year, I’m assuming I should base my oil change intervals more on time? Any recommendations on how often I should change the oil on this car?

Thank you in advance!

Once a year. Swing money for Castrol Edge 0W30. It is better oil than Edge 5W40, and bit thinner. “As thin as possible, as thick as necessary,” is the rule. In your case, you want something thinner, and more shear stable. 0W30 is both.
As for Colorado, just park it in opposite direction from the sun, bcs. headlights.

 

[roninsoldier83]

When I last poured 5w-40 into it, I was considering some track use. I’ve since changed my mind (it’s very good as a street car), but I figured our elevation (5000+ ft elevation results in higher oil temps) combined with the occasional spirited canyon run justified the higher viscosity.

 

[edyvw]

0W30 is perfectly fine on street.now track is different. I track my 328 at HPR. Altitude is big problem, but as any BMW, 128 is already coming ready to have M parts bolted on.
If you track you will have to have radiator type oil cooler. It directly bolts on from 135/335. It is same oil filter housing. You just need one that has opening for oil cooler thermostat or brick style heat exchanger. Oil cooler completely resolves cooling issues on N52, and than some.
Now, if you decided not to track, I personally would install brick style heat exchanger. It will bring your oil temperature much faster (good for short runs) and keep it in check.
128 is very popular on track. It is becoming Miata popular. Just make sure you have cooling system sorted out. At 105k I replaced all hoses, Mickey Mouse flange with aluminum one and put new reservoir.
Did you go all M control arms and wishbones?

 

[roninsoldier83]

0W30 is perfectly fine on street.now track is different. I track my 328 at HPR. Altitude is big problem, but as any BMW, 128 is already coming ready to have M parts bolted on.
If you track you will have to have radiator type oil cooler. It directly bolts on from 135/335. It is same oil filter housing. You just need one that has opening for oil cooler thermostat or brick style heat exchanger. Oil cooler completely resolves cooling issues on N52, and than some.
Now, if you decided not to track, I personally would install brick style heat exchanger. It will bring your oil temperature much faster (good for short runs) and keep it in check.
128 is very popular on track. It is becoming Miata popular. Just make sure you have cooling system sorted out. At 105k I replaced all hoses, Mickey Mouse flange with aluminum one and put new reservoir.
Did you go all M control arms and wishbones?View attachment 215345View attachment 215346

When I first bought the 128i, I intended to build it to run NASA TT5. I’ve been tracking and autocrossing cars for years, and have a decent amount of experience at all of the bigger tracks here in CO- HPR, PPIR, PMP and La Junta Raceway. It was in rough shape when I bought it- took me a while to get it into good driving shape. When I finally fixed all the things, I decided I liked it too much as a street car and didn’t want to ruin it. I actually have a full build thread over on GRM:

E82 128i: when your projected "track car" turns into your daily

E82 128i: when your projected "track car" turns into your daily

grassrootsmotorsports.com

I actually already have an OEM oil cooler/warmer, as well as a 3SIM sitting in my garage.

 

[edyvw]

When I first bought the 128i, I intended to build it to run NASA TT5. I’ve been tracking and autocrossing cars for years, and have a decent amount of experience at all of the bigger tracks here in CO- HPR, PPIR, PMP and La Junta Raceway. It was in rough shape when I bought it- took me a while to get it into good driving shape. When I finally fixed all the things, I decided I liked it too much as a street car and didn’t want to ruin it. I actually have a full build thread over on GRM:

E82 128i: when your projected "track car" turns into your daily

E82 128i: when your projected "track car" turns into your daily

grassrootsmotorsports.com

I actually already have an OEM oil cooler/warmer, as well as a 3SIM sitting in my garage.

Yeah, they are absolutely excellent driving machines. I am think I might stop tracking this BMW, as it is so good on the road.
3SIM is a breeze. Not sure do you plan using a tuner software? I used that free stuff that was available for a long time.
As for oil, go Castrol Edge 0W30. I use my 328 as daily, take kids to school, go ski 1-2 times a week and killing it in mountains.
This is what I did:

I am done with my BMW updates ...

Upgrades that is :ROFLMAO: So, I got this BMW E90 328 xDrive with 6-speed manual in December 2019. I was looking specifically E90 with N52 (last naturally aspirated I6 engine that BMW had). I had several criteria: 1. Must be manual. 2. Must have below 100k. 3. LCI (updated, so not older than...

bobistheoilguy.com

This is UOA of Castrol 0W40 (around 350mls of track, including 1 1/2hrs long session at HPR) and 0W30 in winter use. As you can see, track didn’t exert any additional wear. 0W30 had pretty rough winter. But results are excellent:

 

[edyvw]

Holy moly man, you decked that up!

 

[fantastic]

With your short trips I'd change at 1 year. However, going to a decent full synthetic oil that's spec'd for your BMW you could try 1.5 years to stretch out the intervals a bit. Otherwise, get a UOA on an annual run to see what shape it's in. Maybe sample again after two years to see if you could stretch it out until then but wouldn't go any further. If stretching it out further than 1 year 3k miles I'd opt for the 5w-40.

 

[edyvw]

With your short trips I'd change at 1 year. However, going to a decent full synthetic oil that's spec'd for your BMW you could try 1.5 years to stretch out the intervals a bit. Otherwise, get a UOA on an annual run to see what shape it's in. Maybe sample again after two years to see if you could stretch it out until then but wouldn't go any further. If stretching it out further than 1 year 3k miles I'd opt for the 5w-40.

All oils that are LL01 are much more than decent.
5W40 he is using is good, but it is step down from Castrol Edge 0W30 and 0W40. 0W30 has HTHS of 3.58, Noack 8.3%, and it is very shear stable. It is around 50% PAO based.
I used that oil of all the most. Only reason why I am using Motul now in BMW< besides being very good oil, is that I can get it dirt cheap. But, I still have on the shelf some 12qt of 0W30, for admiration purposes

 

[fantastic]

All oils that are LL01 are much more than decent.
5W40 he is using is good, but it is step down from Castrol Edge 0W30 and 0W40. 0W30 has HTHS of 3.58, Noack 8.3%, and it is very shear stable. It is around 50% PAO based.
I used that oil of all the most. Only reason why I am using Motul now in BMW< besides being very good oil, is that I can get it dirt cheap. But, I still have on the shelf some 12qt of 0W30, for admiration purposes

We'd need to see the numbers for the 5w-40 to compare. I noticed Castrol shows 0w-30 NOACK but doesn't for 5w-40 as an example. 0w-30 needs to be more robust to pass their tests while the 5w-40 doesn't need much if any PAO to pass the test. I understand you like the 0w for your cold climate.

 

[roninsoldier83]

Holy moly man, you decked that up!

Thanks brother! Ditto- solid 328 build!

Yeah, I was planning on using the free Bimmer software to flash the DME when I install the 3SIM. It’s just been sitting in the garage for a while now- I plan on ordering new DISA valves before I put it in. Since we’re at the same elevation, I’m curious: how much did the 3SIM & software make on your E90? And how difficult was the software flash to figure out?

I think I’m at 9 months on my current oil. I suppose I’ll wait 3 more months and send a sample into Blackstone. I might try the 0-30 for my next fill.

 

[edyvw]

We'd need to see the numbers for the 5w-40 to compare. I noticed Castrol shows 0w-30 NOACK but doesn't for 5w-40 as an example. 0w-30 needs to be more robust to pass their tests while the 5w-40 doesn't need much if any PAO to pass the test. I understand you like the 0w for your cold climate.

We don't need. There is some 20+ years of track record of so called "German Castrol." It does not have anything with 0W. Edge 0W30 is the their premier product for a 25 years. It went, of course, through numerous updates.
Numerous UOA of 5W40. It is not only that, they purposely kept 5W40 below in their line up. For a long time 5W40 only had 229.1 and later 229.3 approval, while 0W40 and 0W30 had MB229.5.

 

[edyvw]

Thanks brother! Ditto- solid 328 build!

Yeah, I was planning on using the free Bimmer software to flash the DME when I install the 3SIM. It’s just been sitting in the garage for a while now- I plan on ordering new DISA valves before I put it in. Since we’re at the same elevation, I’m curious: how much did the 3SIM & software make on your E90? And how difficult was the software flash to figure out?

I think I’m at 9 months on my current oil. I suppose I’ll wait 3 more months and send a sample into Blackstone. I might try the 0-30 for my next fill.

So, what I ahve noticed is more rush at around 2,500 (small DISA opening) and at 4,500rpms (big DISA opening).
Definitely, there is more rush through RPMs. Now, some say that Turner software definitely makes a difference. You might notice more change as you are definitely lighter!

 

[97prizm]

Hello, I’m currently seeking recommendations on either time or mileage based oil change intervals on my BMW 128i (N52). I have multiple cars and as a result, it sits most of the time. On average I likely drive it about 3000 miles a year and I’m currently running Castrol Edge Euro 5w-40.

The car is parked outside most of the time, here in Colorado (not sure if it matters). I would say most of my trips in the car are shorter trips, frequently under 20 minutes, with longer freeway trips sprinkled in here and there. It currently has about 130k miles on it.

I typically try to stay on top of maintenance on all of my vehicles, but at the same time, I’m not trying to just pour money down the drain if there’s no real benefit. Since it’s only driven about 3000 miles a year, I’m assuming I should base my oil change intervals more on time? Any recommendations on how often I should change the oil on this car?

Thank you in advance!

I'm an hour north of Denver, are you on the front range or in the mountains? Colorado is fairly low humidity. What's BMW'S recommendation?

 

[roninsoldier83]

I'm an hour north of Denver, are you on the front range or in the mountains? Colorado is fairly low humidity. What's BMW'S recommendation?

I’m essentially in the Denver metro area (Parker). BMW doesn’t really have a set interval if I’m not mistaken- I believe the computer just keeps a tally based on usage; but with the car sitting so much, I’m not sure I trust the computer’s calculations.

 

[GJM120]

Low mileage, nearly 20 month time interval oil change on my 128i.

Castrol Edge 0W-40 1.8k mi; BMW N52

Mileage and time interval since the prior change are correct at around 1,800 miles and 20 months. The prior oil change interval was approx 1,600 miles, not 52,000 shown. I tried to make as few short trips as possible, but there were quite a few 15-20 mile roundtrips. The only thing that struck...

bobistheoilguy.com

 

[Jerrysends]

BMW dealerships would not hesitate to go 2-3 years if you are not driving much.

 

[chris719]

BMW dealerships would not hesitate to go 2-3 years if you are not driving much.

When the car is under covered maintenance they change it at 12 months if you don’t hit the mileage. Not saying it’s strictly necessary, but that’s what they do.

 

[edyvw]

BMW dealerships would not hesitate to go 2-3 years if you are not driving much.

Nope. 12mo. I think new engines are 24, but not sure.

 

[fantastic]

We don't need. There is some 20+ years of track record of so called "German Castrol." It does not have anything with 0W. Edge 0W30 is the their premier product for a 25 years. It went, of course, through numerous updates.
Numerous UOA of 5W40. It is not only that, they purposely kept 5W40 below in their line up. For a long time 5W40 only had 229.1 and later 229.3 approval, while 0W40 and 0W30 had MB229.5.

If only Castrol 0w-30 or 0w-40 was found locally. I've never seen those two products in any Walmart in a 100 mile radius. Which is why I ended up getting the Mobil 1 Euro FS 0w-40 instead. WM not putting it on their shelves for some reason.