E36 325i Service Time

[LTX-REAPER]

Good day.

I was wondering if any of you BMW guru's would be so kind as to advise me on what whould be best for my 325

Firstly the car is at 345 000km's

I want to know what sparkplugs would be best and what the gap on them should be.

Then I want to know what oil whould be best.

Thanks

Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

 

[///Shaun]

At that mileage I would suggest in the service to do the following :

1) Spark Plugs : BOSCH F7LDCR

2) Mobil 1 Engine Oil ( A bit expensive but long term you wont regret the choice and hassle free motoring you will have). It costs around R400 for 4L.

3) OEM BMW Airfilter (not costly) - or GUD equivalent

4) OEM BMW Oil Filter (not costly) - or GUD equivalent

5) Radiator Flush

6) Royal Purple gearbox Oil

I have this in my E36 325i Convertible and have travelled crazy amount of distances. Example : From JHB to CT , then from CT to DBN , then DBN to JHB.

The reason i suggest Mobil 1 Engine Oil is that it is a proven OIL to run at decent operating temperatures even when driven hard. I have been using this Oil in all my cars for a very long time.

More info here of a test conducted using Mobil 1 :

http://www.bimmerwerkz.com/forum/3-series-e36/mobil-1-tested-325i-21716.html

Hope this helps


:thumbs:

 

[moranor@axis]

not sure on e36 oil capacity but wont it be closer to 6.5l?

 

[LPM320]

At that mileage I would suggest in the service to do the following :

1) Spark Plugs : BOSCH F7LDCR

2) Mobil 1 Engine Oil ( A bit expensive but long term you wont regret the choice and hassle free motoring you will have). It costs around R400 for 4L.

3) OEM BMW Airfilter (not costly) - or GUD equivalent

4) OEM BMW Oil Filter (not costly) - or GUD equivalent

5) Radiator Flush

6) Royal Purple gearbox Oil

I have this in my E36 325i Convertible and have travelled crazy amount of distances. Example : From JHB to CT , then from CT to DBN , then DBN to JHB.

The reason i suggest Mobil 1 Engine Oil is that it is a proven OIL to run at decent operating temperatures even when driven hard.

Hope this helps


:thumbs:

At 345000km (assuming the motor has not been redone recently), dont you think this oil might be a bit too thin?

 

[///Shaun]

At 345000km (assuming the motor has not been redone recently), dont you think this oil might be a bit too thin?

I actually took into consideration this factor when i was typing out the message above. If the Oil is drained out correctly and not mixed with any of the older oil so to say, I dont see it being a problem with me in my mind taking the motor as being in a healthy state.

If the motor is not in a healthy state , Yes i would agree the Mobil 1 could be to thin and then would rather suggest 20w-50.

Mobil 1 is a full Synthetic oil and the oil viscosity is what needs to be adhered to when choosing a oil , hence my recommendation to use it based on the motor being in a healthy state.

Nicely explained here:

http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/

 

[LTX-REAPER]

At 345000km (assuming the motor has not been redone recently), dont you think this oil might be a bit too thin?

I actually took into consideration this factor when i was typing out the message above. If the Oil is drained out correctly and not mixed with any of the older oil so to say, I dont see it being a problem with me in my mind taking the motor as being in a healthy state.

If the motor is not in a healthy state , Yes i would agree the Mobil 1 could be to thin and then would rather suggest 20w-50.

Mobil 1 is a full Synthetic oil and the oil viscosity is what needs to be adhered to when choosing a oil , hence my recommendation to use it based on the motor being in a healthy state.

Nicely explained here:

http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/

Thank You for the advice, the engine seems to be healthy as it does not smoke or use oil.

on the other had i think the people that previously serviced the car used cheap oild as the current oil is sticky.

 

[Raybimmer]

I use Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 fully synthetic at R300 per 5 litre . Buy two cans and keep excess for next service .
Check dealer price on air filter - may be cheaper than midas .:thumbs:
gearbox oil - Atf .

 

[sclass]

I use Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 fully synthetic at R300 per 5 litre . Buy two cans and keep excess for next service .
Check dealer price on air filter - may be cheaper than midas .:thumbs:
gearbox oil - Atf .

Hey Ray, I thought fully synthetic oils aren't the best for older generation motors (m20/m50/m52)? I think MiniMike (or his dad) said something to this effect when I wanted to switch to a thicker fully synthetic oil. Anyway I decided to stick to Castrol Magnatec.

Sorry for the mini thread jack LTXReaper :rollsmile::rollsmile:

The filters are cheaper at the stealers!

 

[Doomsdaya]

My Car is due for a service soon, I was told the stealers use a thinner based oil for the new F series BMW's therefore its best to come with your own oil like Castrol Magnatec 10W-40

 

[///Shaun]

I thought fully synthetic oils aren't the best for older generation motors (m20/m50/m52)?

I also read up material very similar to what you stated but i also know of older generation motors that are currently running fully synthetic without any issues. Hard to say to be honest.

 

[Raybimmer]

So far after about 5000 km the oil level on the M52 ( e36 328i ) is still at the top level with the Helix synthetic . I was sceptical ( expecting oil consumption due to using a thin oil ) as at the previous service the garage used GTX hi mileage . The car has about 290000 km ( starting to leak at tappet gasket ) .
I would normally think a 10w40 is ok , 20w50 is good for older generation engines where manufacturing tolerances were bigger than todays engines .