Another oil question

[Henry330i]

I know this has been posted to death.:fencelook:

My 02 330i is due for an oil service. And I'm torn between Mobil 1 and Liqui moly also 5w30 0r 10w30.

My car is on 160k km now the last service was done at 138k km by previous owner at LH Centurion and they put Castrol SLX pro in. I've got no idea what viscosity they used.

I bought the car on 150k in April.

Sankekur and Fordkoppie I remember when we met you had a look at my oil cap and pulled funny faces. Why?

In all my other cars I used Shell Helix semi synthetic but as this is my first BMW and it needs to last me, for as close to ever as possible. I only want whats best for the motor. At the current rate we'll cover give or take 18k a year. I'm looking at doing oil every 10k. Will be doing oil filter aswell for obvious reasons.

Any advice or previous experiences welcome.

 

[Raybimmer]

IMHO both Mobil 1 and liqui moly are good and the lower the temperatures the car will see in winter play a roll in the 5w or 10w , the second figure will refer to hot climates , here the 30w or 40w counts . A lot of Castrol oils seem to leave deposits on oil caps , do not know why though .
I normally use Shell oils , they do have good oils , but can't say they are better than others .

 

[Mike1]

Hi Henry

I worked for Liqui Moly managing the brand in the Western Cape two years ago so have quite a bit of experience with these products and oils.

I will begin with the Mobil 1 which is an absolute no. Your vehicle has been run with SLx which is a hydrocracked (Semi-Synthetic) however being hydrocracked means that SLX has a Mineral base with a synthetic additive package within. In other words it is a fancy mineral oil.

Mobil 1 has a synthetic base with synthetic additives. You cannot change from a hydrocracked oil straight to a fully synthetic as the two base oils (mineral vs Synthetic) will not be able to sync causing a loss of viscosity, poor additive performance and of course poor oil performance.

Furthermore even if you do a flush and remove all of the current oil a Fully synthetic in a motor with your mileage will cause havoc as at that mileage the tolerances within the motor are such that a Fully synthetic with a higher flow rate, more cleaning additives etc will find its way into those tolerances causing your car to burn oil, generate oil seepage and ruin the rings etc.

So... You cannot use Mobil 1 at all as it wont mix with the current oil (even if drained extremely well etc) and it is no good for a motor that has not been driven with a Fully Synthetic from day one. Big big no!

Now having had the pleasure as such of managing Liqui Moly I can tell you right away that only oil I would recommend is Liqui Moly Top Tec 4100 5W40.

This specific oil is BMW specific and designed specifically for BMW engines with the latest longlife approvals of 30 000km drain intervals and highest BMW specs as well as the highest current API (American Petroleum Institute) performance spec. This means you can extend your drain intervals to 25 000km in SA with no worries at all and spend the money you saved on mods.

You will need 8 litres for your engine and I highly recommend you flush the engine with Liqui Moly Engine Flush before putting the fresh oil in.

You can use a 5W30 but with a patchy history of what oils have been in the car I would rather go for the higher viscosity oil at operating temperature and go to bed at night knowing everything is perfect. :thumbs:

Mike

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IMHO both Mobil 1 and liqui moly are good and the lower the temperatures the car will see in winter play a roll in the 5w or 10w , the second figure will refer to hot climates , here the 30w or 40w counts . A lot of Castrol oils seem to leave deposits on oil caps , do not know why though .
I normally use Shell oils , they do have good oils , but can't say they are better than others .

Just to add, the cold start viscosity is not important in terms of our climate as our temperatures rarely reach below 0 degrees celsius here.

However a lower viscosity is recommended (nothing below 5 though) as this greatly affects the startup protection your motor has. :=):

 

[Henry330i]

Thanks again You are an asset to this forum. Any tips where I could find Liqui Moly Top Tec 4100 5W40 and Liqui Moly Engine Flush up here in Pretoria.

Also any specific procedure for the flush with your products.

 

[Mike1]

Here is a list of the dealers in JHB that stock it or alternatively I can ask my dad who still has loads of stock and is doing a clearance sale for the best price and post it up for you via courier?

Otherwise: JHB Dealer List

With regards to the engine flush it is rather easy to use. Simply drive the car until its reaches full operating instructions. Switch off the engine and pour the bottle into the engine via the oil cap. Restart the car and allow it to idle for 5 to 10 minutes. You can (for no longer than 2 or 3 seconds at a time) bring the revs up to 2000RPM and then drop then in one minute intervals to assist with cleaning.

Do not drive the car and do not let the product remain in a running engine for more than 10 minutes.

Switch her off, jack her up and drain straight away. Please be very careful as the product basically turns even the slushiest (hmmm slush puppy) into a fluid with the consistency of water so beware of the oil shooting out when you remove the sump plug... Also as the oil will be at 90 odd degrees celsius...

Let the oil drain for about 15 minutes... Then replace sump plug and refill with new oil. Do not overfill!

I suggest you buy 9 or 10 Litres of the Top Tec 4100 to keep a litre or two in the boot for top up purposes as there is no point chucking rubbish oil in at the service station which will ruin the Liqui Moly.

Hope this helps. :thumbs:

 

[Henry330i]

Thanks once again big help. You keep saying 8L of oil but according to my manual it takes 6.5L?

 

[Mike1]

The Liqui Moly oil guide says 8L so it may be wrong? Usually its always correct... :fencelook:

I am sure a fanatic can confirm who also has a 330i? I know the 320i is a 6.5L capacity...

 

[Henry330i]

Cool lets see

 

[Philip Foglar]

BMW have changed from SLX to Petronas Syntium 3000 or something, I still wonder what the reason for this is, maybe because sludge build-up and deposits on the oil cap etc.

I am still personally very reluctant to use an engine flush because of the general risks. And very interesting details Mike, from what I've heard this is most likely why it is said that it is very bad to mix or change oils often.

Yep, 6.5l for the I6, but always good to have extra for top-ups - when asked, "oil and water" at a filling station my answer is always the same, "fine thanks", because I know it is because I check it myself...

What is it about SLX that causes these deposits and for that matter potentially sludge build-up? I always put this to being generally more related to the lengthy oil service intervals - 25k km plus etc. :fencelook:

 

[Coisman]

imp:
Henry, you say it was serviced at LH Centurion previosly, so why not keep it on the books and take it back there.
All you do is INSIST that you want them to ONLY do an oilchange, oilfilterchange, AND THSTS IT!!!
R860 total.
Make sure they ONLY charge you the following way: SEE INVOICE:

 

[Mike1]

The reason for the change towards syntium was due to SLX only having a 98 if I remember correctly longlife approval whereas syntium has a 04 approval which is newer for longer intervals.

I assume the above is the case as I haven't researched it. I recall the I6 having sludging propblems because our climate which is hotter than the euro climate causing the viscosity of the oil to break down quicker causing chemical breakdown. I know that any oil with with an 04 longlife approval is acceptable in a BMW for 30 000km.

Also remember you are within your rights to supply both the oil and filter when having your BMW serviced and only paying the labour.

 

[Coisman]

imp:
Mike, what i do is go and change the oil every 10,000km, I did it when the car was still under motorplan, the only thing is they dont stamp the book, and they dont reset the indicator untill you get to the 25,000km or when your car says service due, which is actually after about 18,000km in my case.
It's Henry's choice, the only reason i did it at bmw, is cause my km's is only now on 107,000km, and I like having the service history at the dealers. Almost ALL the other stuff I do elsewhere. :thumb:

 

[Philip Foglar]

Okay, that is interesting! I wonder if running on Syntium the deposits and possible build-up of sludge would diminish? My E90, my Wife's E46 and my father in law's E46 and Z4 all have had or do have SLX, so all of their oil caps show signs of deposits.

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imp:
Mike, what i do is go and change the oil every 10,000km, I did it when the car was still under motorplan, the only thing is they dont stamp the book, and they dont reset the indicator untill you get to the 25,000km or when your car says service due, which is actually after about 18,000km in my case.
It's Henry's choice, the only reason i did it at bmw, is cause my km's is only now on 107,000km, and I like having the service history at the dealers. Almost ALL the other stuff I do elsewhere. :thumb:

That is actually my plan as well - I don't do high annual mileage, so to change the oil every 10k km (at least once a year) makes more sense to me!! :thumbs:

 

[Mike1]

I get you 100% its what many do. Full service history simply means oil changes done at the dealer.

So if you are going to pay them labour rather supply a far superior oil for them to use and still save some money whilst at it.

 

[Coisman]

imp:
Here is a pic I took on 16 September 2011, a few weeks ago when we replaced my tapet cover gasket, and my engine looks ok to me?? :dunno:

 

[Mike1]

But you guys do not need to change it wo often.... If you use a high spec BMW approved pop with the latest longlife approval of 30 000km then you are throwing away perfectly good oil and your money.

If it is tested and approved to do 30 000km like the Liquid Moly Top Tec 4100 then it will do that interval so change it at 25 000km intervals for peace of mind.

The sludging issues are caused by poorly specced oils which cannot handle high mileage in our climate. SLX does not have the spec required and BMW did huge amounts of research to upgrade to a better oil that offers the extended service intervals.

If you are going to change oil every 10 000km then SLX is more than suitable but why not pay the same price for a superior lubricant and save some money and effort?

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Please excuse grammar and spelling errors.... Typing my responses from bed on an HTC.

 

[Philip Foglar]

This makes sense! If I change over to Liquid Moly, is it absolutely necessary to do the engine flush? Thanks for the advice and info BTW!! :thumbs:

 

[Coisman]

imp:
Mike, if you do ALLOT of town driving like me, where I maybe do 5-10km per trip, and it takes me about 18-20 months to get to the 25,000km mark, then is it not better to change the oil more often, even if its a good oil like you say? :thinking:
I would think allot of stop-go trips would make the oil lose its quality/value more quickly under such conditions?? Now with my wife having her own car, i am going to driving even less with my car, so I don't know, call me paranoid, but i would rather fork out R900 every 10,000km and ease my mind, than driving for 25,000km and worrying when the car shows I can still go 10,000km to next service.
Maybe its all in my head, but for some reason my car starts to feel VERY sluggish when I drive it so far between oil changes, and that was the main reason I decided to go to the 10,000km oil change interval. :rollsmile:

 

[Philip Foglar]

imp:
Mike, if you do ALLOT of town driving like me, where I maybe do 5-10km per trip, and it takes me about 18-20 months to get to the 25,000km mark, then is it not better to change the oil more often, even if its a good oil like you say? :thinking:
I would think allot of stop-go trips would make the oil lose its quality/value more quickly under such conditions?? Now with my wife having her own car, i am going to driving even less with my car, so I don't know, call me paranoid, but i would rather fork out R900 every 10,000km and ease my mind, than driving for 25,000km and worrying when the car shows I can still go 10,000km to next service.
Maybe its all in my head, but for some reason my car starts to feel VERY sluggish when I drive it so far between oil changes, and that was the main reason I decided to go to the 10,000km oil change interval. :rollsmile:

+1

 

[Mike1]

Philip, what oil is currently in your BMW?

Coisman, does your car reach operating temperature during these short trips and more less for how long does she get used in these short trips at operating temp?