Oil.

"ddavidn" (ddavidn) 09/11/2013 at 13:30 • Filed to: oil

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Hi guys, just looking to start a discussion. My 1995 BMW M3 is overdue for an oil change. What do you think I should put in it? Anything magic that might take away my lifter tick? Will probably run Seafoam through the old oil before I change it, just for fun. Will probably put Lucasoil in it after the change, again for kicks and giggles.

Edits: Winter is coming, expect temps of slightly below freezing. Car has 192,000 on it. Right now I believe I'm running Royal Purple 10W-30.

Z_Stig > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 13:34

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Shell Rotella T6 15W-40. It's priced very reasonably too. I had used Mobil 1, Royal Purple, and started using Rotella and was quite happy.

ddavidn > Z_Stig 09/11/2013 at 13:36

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Haven't tried that one, and I don't really want to buy the Purple again. It's spendy.

Z_Stig > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 13:39

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Crap. I can't remember if it's Rotella T5 or T6 but yea it's good stuff.

And yes the Purple is very spendy, especially when your M3 likes to burn a bit.

shpuker > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 13:39

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Castrol Edge. Good shit.

ddavidn > Z_Stig 09/11/2013 at 13:41

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hey wait how did you know...

T5 is the blend and T6 is full synthetic, right?

ddavidn > Z_Stig 09/11/2013 at 13:45

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Funny, I put in shell t5 vs t6 and the first result is for an E36 M3 owner's question...

( http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthre… )

delete-me-please123 > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 13:54

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But don't listen to me, my Father is a Royal Purple distributor.

Party-vi > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 13:58

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Lifter tick? As in a collapsed or old lifter? Eek. How many miles are on it? I would imagine some 20W50 would be the best.

dogisbadob > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 13:59

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What do you put in it now?

How about Castrol 0w30? (if that's not what you're using now)

Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa > shpuker 09/11/2013 at 14:02

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Yeah I would support you on the Edge. I use it in my CLK and I am due for a change, the colour and thinkness haven't changed a bit, the previous owner said that the engine was burning some oil, but I haven't seen such problem.

Bruno Martini > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 14:05

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I use penzoil in my cars, and family cars. However two of those cars require oil thats the same viscosity as watter 5-20. I would go with the proper weight of oil on that engine if penzoil makes it. I like the detergent qualities of that oil.

If your car is suffering from deposits however I would recommend buying 1 quart of atf and dumping it in the crankcase when hot and driving it easy for 2-3 miles and then coming back and changing it. It will clean the living crap out of your engine and unlike other cleaners, it will dissolve deposits instead of dislodging them. Change with fresh oil at the appropriate weight required and drive on. I doubt any oil unless going with very thick oil is going to cure the lifter tick.

ddavidn > Party-vi 09/11/2013 at 14:15

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The same lifter tick I've heard in most E36s I've seen. I'm sure you could find it on YouTube. I got three opinions from different BMW shops when I bought the car, they all said it wasn't a problem but it would be expensive to fix. I'm at 192,000 miles. Nobody's recommended oil that strong to me before. Sounds nice.

ddavidn > delete-me-please123 09/11/2013 at 14:16

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This stuff is definitely pretty good.

ddavidn > dogisbadob 09/11/2013 at 14:17

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Right now, I think I have Royal Purple 10w-30. I've never gone to 0W before.

Brian Tschiegg > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 14:21

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So while we're on this subject, I've never run anything but conventional motor oil in my car. What type of undertaking would it be to run it on synthetic oil? Do I have to flush the system? Is it difficult to do that? Any special tools/equipment? Is it even worth doing? My knowledge on this subject is pretty limited, but a lot of people reccomended Royal Purple so I thought it might be worth the hastle.

delete-me-please123 > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 14:21

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Then add everything from here ;)

http://www.streamlinedynamics.com/products.htm

Any chance you're in SD?

ddavidn > delete-me-please123 09/11/2013 at 14:23

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WA. Not quite.

ddavidn > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:24

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What car do you have?

Party-vi > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 14:27

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Also this .

delete-me-please123 > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 14:28

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Then no kick down oil and additives for yous. And now I see why you're concerned about winter..

ddavidn > delete-me-please123 09/11/2013 at 14:28

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Precisely!

Brian Tschiegg > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 14:28

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I have a 2006 Jetta with the 2.5 liter inline 5. It has about 69K miles on it at the moment. I'm also in Florida so it's still going to be pretty warm here for the next couple months.

Z_Stig > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 14:30

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E36 M3 guys love Rotella LOL

ddavidn > Party-vi 09/11/2013 at 14:30

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Wow. Where have I been? Clearly not on the internet...

Thanks!

dogisbadob > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 14:31

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Maxlife might also be a good choice as well.

ddavidn > Z_Stig 09/11/2013 at 14:31

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I might just give it a try tonight.

Z_Stig > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 14:31

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Haha......at some point all E36 M3s experience lifter tick and oil burning

CarlitoBenito > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:34

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As far as I know, if you have a VW in warranty, you should run oil which meets VW 502.00... which are all synthetics. Out of warranty... that's you're own prerogative. I would stick with synthetic on those German engines.

Here's a listing:

https://sites.google.com/site/stoyneff/…

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:34

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For what it's worth I've been running a synthetic blend in my cars for the past 4 or 5 years. Perhaps thats a good way to ease the car into going full synthetic? That's just a thought though.

Z_Stig > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:35

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No special undertaking at all. Just do a normal oil change and pour your choice of synthetic in.

ddavidn > Z_Stig 09/11/2013 at 14:36

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Most definitely. I'm afraid I won't be fixing the tick on this particular M3, as much as I'd love to.

magman007 > Z_Stig 09/11/2013 at 14:36

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I run t6 5w40 in my subie, and it loves it, doesn't burn a drop. Its actually a diesel motor oil, which just means it has some additional zinc in it for lubrication.

505Turbeaux > CarlitoBenito 09/11/2013 at 14:37

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agreed

JEM > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:37

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What Z_Stig said. Just change the oil and replace with synthetic.

Personally, I recommend Mobil 1 fully synthetic. Used that on both my new cars and switched my Jeep to it at 159,000 when I bought without ever having problems.

505Turbeaux > Bruno Martini 09/11/2013 at 14:38

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ATF is exactly what I use too, works wonders to clean deposits

CarlitoBenito > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:39

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Switch to an approved VW502.00 oil (Mobil 1 0w40 is easiest to find) and use a good filter and run the oil interval shorter. If your car has a "severe service" internal, I would run it that long. After that, you can run it to the longer intervals that VW502.00 tests against, along with a bunch of other things that the oil specification...um... specifies...

Brian Tschiegg > CarlitoBenito 09/11/2013 at 14:39

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Thanks! I guess I should have been running synthetic the whole time. My dad always told me (he likes cars, but is not what you would call mechanically inclined) that it would require flushing the system to switch from conventional to synthetic. I always took that as gospel. Will be buying Royal Purple for the next one. It kind of hurts my wallet thinking about it, but I'd rather take the hit on my wallet than my engine.

CarlitoBenito > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:41

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That may have been the case in the past, but even modern conventional oils have gotten so much better that I wouldn't even do a flush, no matter what the instance.

As I suggested in my other post, switch to a VW 502.00 oil and just run it at a short interval. You don't want to use abrasive flushes on modern engine.... slow and steady wins the race.

MauritiusMauritia > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:42

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Generally VW uses Castrol Syntec 5W40 as a good replacement. Or at some VW specialty stores thats what they suggest.

Z_Stig > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:49

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If you don't want to pay for the more expensive Royal Purple try Mobil 1's Euro Car Formula. IICR it covers all the European manufacturers' requirements, plus it's a few bucks cheaper than RP.

Ghost Dog - For the kittens > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 14:49

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Be aware it's not advisable to go full synthetic then revert to convention at anytime in an engines life.

Edit: Best movie ever...

Brian Tschiegg > Ghost Dog - For the kittens 09/11/2013 at 14:51

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Any idea why that would be? Once I make the switch, it'll stay that way. I don't mind spending the extra money to know my car is cared for.

Ghost Dog - For the kittens > Brian Tschiegg 09/11/2013 at 15:00

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Interweb answers all over the map. Some even say it's okay to change back, but keep 3000 mile intervals.

Squid > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 15:19

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The NA Miata guy's swear by Rotella T6 to help with the HLA Clacking.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 15:32

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I've run for the past years with great success, various oils in my 2 E36 M3s over the last 4 years..

I'd recommend Shell Rotella t6 5w40. Since it's available at Wal-Mart.... Don't be afraid to run for 10k miles.... Get Mann or Mahle filters from autohausaz.com and replace every 5k miles....

I can provide you with oil analysis reports if you don't believe me.

ddavidn > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 09/11/2013 at 15:35

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I think Rotella T6 will be my choice then. Not sure if 5W40 or 10W40? I have a Mahle filter that came in the mail today with all the various seals I can replace. Any advice on the ticking? I assume you've experienced it...

And man, I totally believe you, but if you ran across those reports, I'd love to see them anyway :)

bmwbob > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 18:32

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Rotella t6 5w-40

bmwbob > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 18:35

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Rotella t6 5w-40

ddavidn > bmwbob 09/11/2013 at 18:35

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That's probably my conclusion!

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 19:42

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this is Brad Penn 10w40

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthre…

this is Shell Rotella T6 5w40 on my E38

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthre…

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > ddavidn 09/11/2013 at 19:45

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for ticking...does it happen all the time? get better with engine heated up or worse?

it's possinbly a dead lifter if it happens ALL the time but invariably all E36s tick because of the hydraulic lifters.... I haven't encountered a single one that doesn't tick and higher viscosity oils definitely help at times BUT it's not something I'd actively look to fix invasively (opening up the engine and replacing parts) unless it's a stuck lifter....

I can recommend using a bit of ATF in the oil for 100 miles or so prior to an oil change to see if you can free it up...Detergents in the ATF can help at times... Put in half a quart max....

ddavidn > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 09/11/2013 at 21:52

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Alllll the time. Idle, high rev. Quite obnoxious. No radio to cover it up. Will try ATF.

SuperChargerHeaven Live in USA > ddavidn 09/12/2013 at 00:17

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RSR Ra Up Oil Additive

ddavidn > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 09/12/2013 at 02:39

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Any particular ATF I should use? I thought I'd ask. Can never be too careful.