Thin oil for better winter performance

[ArcticDriver]

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Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
When the Asians first imported vehicles to the Vancouver terminal some did not come with block heaters installed. A few hundred full-engine warranty claims later, that practice stopped about 50 years ago.



This May be moving to far off topic but can you provide further insight? How does the lack of a block heater result in a full-engine warranty claim? The temperature dropped so low the coolant froze?


Inadequate flow on cold start mainly.


Thanks.
It would be interesting to see the geographic regions these failures occurred. It.must have been in regions of marginally cold temperatures (for instance, similar to the the Chicago region) since residents of very frigid winter temperatures (ND/WY/MN/WI etc). would have immediately installed after-market heating devices and known to allow a sufficient period of warm-up prior to placing load on these motors. Having grown up in one of these "ice boxes" of America, such practices of adding a block heater in freeze plugs, have been SOP since prior to the era Asian cars were first popularized. For example, KATZ has.been around since 1948:
http://www.fivestarmanufacturing.com/about_us

Back in that era, a typical engine might have a 100K mile lifetime (of course excluding BITOG-type owners). At what mileage were these catastrophic failures occurring on Asian vehicles often enough that a trend was identified?

EDIT:
I see Johnnie indicated a timeline of over 50 years ago (basically the 1960's) in Vancouver for Canadian consumers. Interestingly, I used to.work on VWs of this same era and many of them did not come with factory installed block heaters.

 

[theeagleflies]

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
My car (2005 325i) takes a lot longer to heat up in the winter than some of my previous cars.

The car feels rather sluggish in the winter. In the summer the engine runs super smooth and is a lot more responsive.

Do you think switching from a 0W40 oil to a thinner one can improve my winter performance?

How thin do you think I could go on a M54 motor?


My previous car was a E90 2006 330xi N52 NA engine, 3 stage intake, VANOS, VVT. They redesigned the 3 series at that time. Electric water pump and t stat, magnesium engine block, hollow cam shaft, etc... the electric water pump and t stat leaked and [censored] out after 80K miles. I am thinking your car being 2005 is an E4x.... You probably have a belt driven water pump?? not sure though.
Anyway, How long have you owned the car? Does it warm up much slower than when it was newer? If yes, then it sounds to me like you have low coolant level, improperly working t stat, a restricted heater core/cooling system or failing water pump. How often do you have the radiator flushed? Have you had to add coolant; and if so, did you use the BMW coolant? Its not recommended to mix coolant types. the mix of different types reportedly gunks up the system. i would recommend 4 years max for a complete flush and fill with fresh BMW coolant mixed with distilled water. Usually the dealer has a special on this. I always took advantage of it so i didnt have to try to collect and dispose of the old coolant. If it was my car that is where i would start... dealer flush and fill with fresh BMW coolant/distilled water mix.

As far as the car running not as well as the summer months..... I think the colder weather and winter grade gas may have something to do with the poorer performance in the winter. I noticed the same performance dip with my 330.

As far as oil... i would recommend to use the weight and specification that the owners manual specifies. There isn't going to be much of a gain in performance or anything else by using another oil for a daily driver or pleasure car.

The folks on the E40 forum may have some additional insight to the 'lack of heat' problem you noted.

Hope this helps.....

 

[M52]

The short answer - I wouldn't go thinner than factory recomended 0W-40, nothing to gain from such move.

 

[RustyH]

I have owned a few BMWs now, three with M54 engine and my present E36 is the M50tu engine. All of them share a personality change from summer to winter. They are much more enjoyable to drive in the summer. I'm all for experimenting. I don't think you need/want a HTHS of 3.7 and higher in the winter particularly if your commute is short. These have 7-8 quart sumps. As best I recall, Mobil 1 5W30 has a HTHS of 3.1. Catherham has probably hundreds of posts on this forum, but he also mentions using a lower HTHS in his straight six BMW motor. You might search these.

 

[camrydriver111]

Thank you for the interesting replies.

I did the cooling system overhaul 2 years ago with new pulleys, waterpump, expansion tank, rad hoses, coolant temperature sending unit. I don't think there is anything wrong with the cooling system. The diff fluid has also been changed. I checked the coolant temperature using an ODB readout while driving and I thought it was normal. It just goes to 92 degrees instead of 97 due to the thermostat brand.

On the e46fanatics forum someone has an E46 that they run to 500k miles using non-LL01 M1 5W30. So I am questioning the need for these thick oils. Especially in Canada.

Dr. Haas uses thin oils to help his car perform better when cold. I was wondering if I could benefit from the same strategy.

 

[KL31]

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
Dr. Haas uses thin oils to help his car perform better when cold. I was wondering if I could benefit from the same strategy.


There's a few well respected members here who have basically torn the oil bible thing to shreds. Not saying Dr. Haas is completely full of [censored] but I don't know if he is just a Doctor with a Ferrari or if he has any other qualifications or knowledge that would scientifically back up his thin oil flow theory. Not bagging him at all but you know, some people see a youtube video of "chemtrails" or "fluoride in the water" etc and are sold.

 

[Shannow]

Florida needs "cold" performance ?

The good doctor has claimed that his studies on human circulatory systems endow him with knowledge on engines, lubrication, and hydraulics...a subject which people ACTUALLY study rather than infer.

I've never claimed to be a plastic surgeon, but can also pick holes in his articles on nutrition and hydration with general field knowledge.

 

[mcwilly]

The Canadian 2001 Toyota Echo I bought last year does not have a block heater either. I have been debating getting a oil pan heater to at least have the oil a few degrees warmer in those -30 degree celcius starts. Just not sure if I want to dump $100 into my beater which hasn't shown any problems starting yet.

In your case though the investment may be worth it if the block heater is not applicable.

This is what I've been eyeballing.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B015CXH...=A1FHLYCGXLSLW8

 

[Garak]

The oil pan heaters do make a difference. I've used magnetic ones on occasion, but that's not exactly practical with an echo. Reaching under the Lightning when I had one was a breeze. The old F-150 is even easier. On an Echo, not so much.