E39 528i Engine Oil

[naeem9]

Hi

I have a 1998 e39 528i, own the car for 5 months. My mechanic used Shell Helix HX5 (15W40) on the last oil change and said this oil is perfect for this vehicle with this mileage (250,000 kms).

Please advise if this oil is fine for this car.

Thanks

 

[Justin1979]

Hi

I have a 1998 e39 528i, own the car for 5 months. My mechanic used Shell Helix HX5 (15W40) on the last oil change and said this oil is perfect for this vehicle with this mileage (250,000 kms).

Please advise if this oil is fine for this car.

Thanks

Hi Naeem

I have an E39 530i with about 230,000kms and always have used 5W30 but I'm sure that there are some more experienced oil experts that can offer advise.

 

[Nikhil]

HX5 is rubbish, stick to HX7 minimum or Helix ultra if you want a fully synthetic oil

 

[3 serious]

The 15w looks to high to me. I used to own an e39 525i and I think I used magnatec 10w-40. Plenty experts here who can make a better recommendation.

 

[husaindindar]

The recommended oil for the M52 engine is a 5W30/40.

I suggest to stick to the recommended oil.

As mentioned above, the 15W is on the high side (3X higher), and will affect lubrication on cold start, and thats where you need most protection.

Why not use BMW oil. GW is around 90 buks a liter. Its the right stuff and its the good stuff!

 

[VinceM]

Yup

Newish car with low mileage 5w30
High mileage (e.g +200k km) 5w40

Nothing wrong with 5w30 on a high mileage car, you will just have top up more frequently

Also look for BMW specification LL-01 when using other brands. Some swear by Liqui Moly, I still use Castrol or Shell.

BMW Oil is now made by Shell (previously Castrol)


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[naeem9]

Thanks for all the responses.
Will definitely do another oil change with the correct oil after lockdown.

Feel a bit disappointed as this oil change costed me R1500.

@husaindindar - True, i can hear funny tappet noises on startup which was never there.

 

[Nikhil]

Get yourself some HX7 or Helix ultra and a Mann filter from Goldwagen and you will be sorted. Many 5 and 3 series that I've worked on with 300k km and above run either of the above oils and dont burn oil. My own E46 330d uses HX7 and is 10k km away from 300k and does not use oil between services.