Should I switch back to convent for a storage car?

[Stanley Rockafeller]

88 325is. Gets driven MAYBE 300kms per year, the rest of the time it sits in storage under cover. from a cost-benefit point, I dont' think I'm getting my $ worth by only running such short OCI's, then wasting a crancase full of good oil.

OR should I jsut change the oil every other year? I'd do that, but I'm afraid of adids and other #@$%! deteriorating the internals etc.

Car has always ran on M1 (15w50 when it was available) or Delvac1 5w40. Last summer it was on Esso XWD 0w40 but it seemed a little too thin for the engine (great response tho!).

If anyone car suggest a good cheap conventional oil considering my intervals and storage shedule that would be great!

TIA!

 

[huffmuds9320]

Thats a nice car, must be your mint car. Do you drive it in the colder times of the year? Well what does the owners manual recommend in terms of the oil change interval and oils to use?. If it says to change it every year I would do that. If you want to run conventional, then I would suggest a 15w40 heavy duty oil like Chevron Delo, Mobil Delvac or something similar to that. Don't know if you can get that up there. I don't know if your BMW is designed to use synthetic only. Good luck.

 

[Stanley Rockafeller]

No I drive it only the hottest time of year, so in about 25-30'C weather. The car is used to running on full syn, but it wasn't designed for it from the factory.

Thanks for the suggestion

 

[427Z06]

What you need is something like MIL-PRF-21260 oil. The US Army says it's good for 50 hrs. of operation, while continuing to preserve the engine.

Specialty Formulations made an additive that performed the same function, but they were in the process of moving their operations so I don't know if they're back online yet.

 

[rpn453]

If you like using a 40 in it and it only gets used in warm weather, I'd go with a 15w40 conventional oil and change it every 5 years or so. I don't think the oil is going to become contaminated or the TBN is going to drop to dangerous levels from just sitting in the oil pan. Does it ever get started while in storage?