BMW N52 - highly stressed engine- oil recommendation

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
slightly off topic, this Link shows how Heavy OTR vehicles (US engines) operate their cooling fans;

http://www.hortonww.com/Portals/0/Documents/22540.pdf

I have had my OTR vehicles operate overnight in near freezing temperatures between Depots covering around 1kkms (620 miles)on Motorways,loaded to 42tonnes, without the fan being activated at all

 

[camrydriver111]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
In the winter shouldn't the T-stats be closed and airflow through the rad during warmup not even matter?

Engine design, oil, coolant capacities, and how badly buffered the temp gauge is will affect warmup time.


Yes, however the airflow across the engine block itself sheds heat.

The Expedition is abnormal as it has rear heat as well, which includes an entire second heater core (and all the requisite plumbing) which increases the coolant capacity significantly. So you have two blower motors pulling heat from at least 25L of coolant. The volume of coolant itself is an issue, despite it not circulating through the main rad. It is instead, circulating through both heater cores and being cooled by both blower motors, pulling the heat out of it to heat the inside of the vehicle.

I guess that what you have to do, to get 10 mpg in town!

Just ribbing you, but I guess it all does add up. Just getting the drivetrain and cooling system up to temperature from -20 is a fair amount of energy.
I think the mechanical fans do hurt warm up as well, the Tracker has never warmed up quickly and I think the fan always turning it part of that. It does also have an oversize heater core, and it by itself can pull down the engine temp at idle.


10? you are being generous, LOL!

I've actually had the benefit of seeing the difference first hand between a mechanical fan setup and an electric one. The Lincoln originally had a mechanical clutch fan on it but I converted it to a Mark VIII E-fan. The difference in warm-up time was massive, particularly in the winter. Which is why the Charger developing heat so quickly compared to the bimmer isn't surprising to me

Interesting. Makes the e-fan conversion sound even more appealing.

 

[GenaFishbeck]

Originally Posted By: Paul
I have a BMW with the N52 (2.5L L6, NON-turbo, NON-DI) pulling a camping trailer. 65k miles on engine. Well maintained. Good working order. Hardly any consumption.

The car will be used to tow a camping trailer across the USA on a trip this coming winter. We will cover approx 20,000 miles overall. The engine is somewhat underpowered and is forced to run in 5th gear on flat land, 4th on inclines, and 3rd when climbing any grades. 60mph max, usually 55mph. Somedays it will be running like this for 10-15hrs per day. Very stressed motor indeed.

I'm thinking that a heavier oil would best be suited for this application. Maybe an HDEO. Up to now it's run GC 0W-30 exclussively. BMW 10W-60 maybe?

Being away from home, I would prefer to do an oil change at approx. 6-10k miles and no sooner.

Price of oil is not really a consideration. What are your recommendations?



Hey Paul – in short, Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W-40 Full Synthetic Motor Oil with PurePlus Technology is actually the product that is approved for your BMW LongLife-01 (LL-01) specification. With that said, we feel that is the product that would be the best choice for your vehicle (while BMW-approved 10W60 motor oils are designed and recommended for their higher-performance M Series engines). Enjoy your trip and we hope this helps! - The Pennzoil Team

 

[ExMachina]

Originally Posted By: SonicMustang
Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,
SonicMustang - This thread is about a BMW N52 not about IndyCar spec engines

The last time I was at the Nurburgring 24hr there were many BMW's competing - I was with the BMW and Csstrol personnel - we know that certain Teams were using off-the-shelf M1 0W-40! After 24hrs they were still using it.................!!

Not an Indy car in sight...................


Precisely. I corrected a claim that IndyCars use off the shelf M1 0w-40. My post was a direct response to that post. I especially liked the qualifier "used in IndyCars to race". As opposed to used in IndyCars to commute to work?


SonicMustang, at least learn how to use google, please. Yes, M1 0w-40 (and Pennz 0w-40) is used in IndyCars. This means its plenty capable of being used in an N52 engine, on topic here. That and LL-01 of course.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...amp;type=thread

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL

10? you are being generous, LOL!

I've actually had the benefit of seeing the difference first hand between a mechanical fan setup and an electric one. The Lincoln originally had a mechanical clutch fan on it but I converted it to a Mark VIII E-fan. The difference in warm-up time was massive, particularly in the winter. Which is why the Charger developing heat so quickly compared to the bimmer isn't surprising to me

Interesting. Makes the e-fan conversion sound even more appealing.

For off roading though a lot of guys go back to belt driven fans, as they always flow some air, and can flow far more air if the cooling need is there, than electrics can.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: GenaFishbeck
Originally Posted By: Paul
I have a BMW with the N52 (2.5L L6, NON-turbo, NON-DI) pulling a camping trailer. 65k miles on engine. Well maintained. Good working order. Hardly any consumption.

The car will be used to tow a camping trailer across the USA on a trip this coming winter. We will cover approx 20,000 miles overall. The engine is somewhat underpowered and is forced to run in 5th gear on flat land, 4th on inclines, and 3rd when climbing any grades. 60mph max, usually 55mph. Somedays it will be running like this for 10-15hrs per day. Very stressed motor indeed.

I'm thinking that a heavier oil would best be suited for this application. Maybe an HDEO. Up to now it's run GC 0W-30 exclussively. BMW 10W-60 maybe?

Being away from home, I would prefer to do an oil change at approx. 6-10k miles and no sooner.

Price of oil is not really a consideration. What are your recommendations?



Hey Paul – in short, Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W-40 Full Synthetic Motor Oil with PurePlus Technology is actually the product that is approved for your BMW LongLife-01 (LL-01) specification. With that said, we feel that is the product that would be the best choice for your vehicle (while BMW-approved 10W60 motor oils are designed and recommended for their higher-performance M Series engines). Enjoy your trip and we hope this helps! - The Pennzoil Team


id love your job

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

One thing for sure based on our newer trucks, oversized cooling system does not have to impact warm up. I don't know how they do it, but our service vans have full indicated temp so fast it is unreal, and they do it in any kind of weather. This despite an additional two gallons of extra coolant and a huge heat exchanger coupled with a gigantic radiator and fan...


Is the coolant temperature gauge buffered? Most new vehicles read in the dead center of the gauge from below @160F to over 230F. I wouldn't have known that my Mazdaspeed's thermostat was stuck open if it hadn't thrown a CEL. And when the t-stat stuck open on my Club Sport I wouldn't have noticed it either had I not been a typical extremely OCD car geek.


Nope, the GM trucks have actual gauges that really work! I think they must have an extremely precise thermostat combined with some real good engineering to get the truck up to full operating temp very quickly. Note in the 3500 models we own the trans fluid and the engine oil are through the radiator as well. This is in a vehicle with over 4.5 GALLONS of coolant, massive heat exchangers, etc.

Might be the best reason we see virtually unlimited engine life in many of them...

 

[il_signore97]

Originally Posted By: Paul
Trailer is 3500lbs. It's not so much the weight as the aerodynamics at highway speeds. Its a parachute behind the car.

I think perhaps I need to rephrase my question as there will be as many opinions as posters.

Can I improve on the GC 0W-30 that I have been using in the BMW for the last 6 yrs. given that the vehicle will enter "sever-duty", for 10-12hrs at a time, with a good chunk of that time being spent at full throttle?

Thank you all again



I know I'm probably a bit late to the party here, but I was just wondering, is 3,500 lbs not well over the towing limit for an E90? It sure sounds like a lot of weight (and corresponding tongue weight) for that chassis. I would assume 2,000 to 2,500 lbs max would be the proper max towing capacity for that vehicle (and of course, the trailer should have some kind of brakes at those weights).

As for oil selection, I agree with others that any 40 grade synthetic oil that meets BMW LL-01 as well as other stringent Euro specs (such as MB 229.5, Porsche A40, etc) should be used. They are spec'd for the vehicles in Germany that can be at very high RPM and load for many hours at a time, and they can withstand that. I'm sure they can protect your engine while towing.

Just curious, does your car have an oil to coolant heat exchanger? I'm not sure if the Canadian 2.5L N52's are equipped with them. If not, it would definitely be a good idea to add some kind of (thermostatically controlled) oil cooling apparatus to the car for over-temperature protection. Might not be a bad idea even if you do have the stock oil to coolant heat exchanger (to supplement with a thermostatically controlled oil to air cooler).

Other than that, make sure your cooling system is in top shape, and you're good to go.

 

[il_signore97]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8


Nope, the GM trucks have actual gauges that really work! I think they must have an extremely precise thermostat combined with some real good engineering to get the truck up to full operating temp very quickly. Note in the 3500 models we own the trans fluid and the engine oil are through the radiator as well. This is in a vehicle with over 4.5 GALLONS of coolant, massive heat exchangers, etc.

Might be the best reason we see virtually unlimited engine life in many of them...


Steve, I think the main reason why most GM pushrod blocks warm up nice and quick is because they are iron blocks. Newer cars with aluminum blocks shed heat very quickly and easily, whereas the cast iron blocks tend to hold heat (much like a cast iron cooking pot) and not loose it to the air as readily.

I know my old Venture van with the 3.4L pushrod V6 (iron block) can warm up very quickly even in weather much below freezing. Also, I find that the heater use in that weather does not greatly affect the coolant temperature much (i.e. does not cause it to drop).

In contrast, my aluminum block M272 3.0L V6 in the Benz is noticeably slower to warm up in the extreme cold weather (well below freezing). It does provide heat very quickly to the interior, but the engine temperature does not come up to 85 C very quickly. It can make it to about 60 C but moves very slowly from there. Also, too much idling combined with full blast heater use can cause a small drop in cooling system temperature. I don't notice that as much (or at all) in the GM iron block engines.