My thoughts exactlyI still can't understand why anyone uses a '10W' oil in the M's with known bearing clearance issues. '5W' should be the highest - and please don't say that it's what BMW recommended, cause they the same people that designed the engine with too little clearance in the first place. For our climate, '40' is more than sufficient, with 60 for track days. I suppose then that 50 sits nicely in-between. Anyone noticed any difference in oil temps when driving hard between a 40, 50 and 60 oil?
5W is good for oil clearance on a cold engine and if you daily the car and you do not intend to drive it hard.
10W was designed for when the engine gets hot during continued high RPM pulls. The 5W weight oil will become too thin after prolonged hard runs and ultimately break apart and be consumed faster, thus not being effective at cooling and lubricating the pistons and bearings, hence why the 10W weight was chosen.
I have driven with both oils in my car for extended time (11 years experience both street and track driving). I noticed more ticking from 5W oil. The 5W oil did warm up slightly faster for street every day driving and oil temps were higher on track. As you may know, the bearing clearance on the S54 is very tight, hence the continued discussions of possible reasons for premature bearing wear. My suggestion would be to continue using the 10W-60 but to do oil changes more frequently, say every 10K km as opposed to the BMW suggested 24k km.
I see a lot of guys who do not own e46 M3's posting about using 5W oil. Just because it works on one car does not mean it will work for another.
In short, 5W is safe to run for daily commute and the odd hard pull, but be aware that it will heat up faster. I also noticed much higher oil use using 5W and had to top up.
I agree 100% and like you said track use 10w60 is great5W is good for oil clearance on a cold engine and if you daily the car and you do not intend to drive it hard.
10W was designed for when the engine gets hot during continued high RPM pulls. The 5W weight oil will become too thin after prolonged hard runs and ultimately break apart and be consumed faster, thus not being effective at cooling and lubricating the pistons and bearings, hence why the 10W weight was chosen.
I have driven with both oils in my car for extended time (11 years experience both street and track driving). I noticed more ticking from 5W oil. The 5W oil did warm up slightly faster for street every day driving and oil temps were higher on track. As you may know, the bearing clearance on the S54 is very tight, hence the continued discussions of possible reasons for premature bearing wear. My suggestion would be to continue using the 10W-60 but to do oil changes more frequently, say every 10K km as opposed to the BMW suggested 24k km.
I see a lot of guys who do not own e46 M3's posting about using 5W oil. Just because it works on one car does not mean it will work for another.
In short, 5W is safe to run for daily commute and the odd hard pull, but be aware that it will heat up faster. I also noticed much higher oil use using 5W and had to top up.
+1 I do exactly the same10/10. I run Motul 10w60 in mine and the temps are a lot more stable when pushing it. I'd rather keep the revs below 3000rpm with light throttle usage and let my car warm up completely before having some fun and know it can withstand the higher temps a lot better.
havent had any oil loss using normal 10w60 liqui5W is good for oil clearance on a cold engine and if you daily the car and you do not intend to drive it hard.
10W was designed for when the engine gets hot during continued high RPM pulls. The 5W weight oil will become too thin after prolonged hard runs and ultimately break apart and be consumed faster, thus not being effective at cooling and lubricating the pistons and bearings, hence why the 10W weight was chosen.
I have driven with both oils in my car for extended time (11 years experience both street and track driving). I noticed more ticking from 5W oil. The 5W oil did warm up slightly faster for street every day driving and oil temps were higher on track. As you may know, the bearing clearance on the S54 is very tight, hence the continued discussions of possible reasons for premature bearing wear. My suggestion would be to continue using the 10W-60 but to do oil changes more frequently, say every 10K km as opposed to the BMW suggested 24k km.
I see a lot of guys who do not own e46 M3's posting about using 5W oil. Just because it works on one car does not mean it will work for another.
In short, 5W is safe to run for daily commute and the odd hard pull, but be aware that it will heat up faster. I also noticed much higher oil use using 5W and had to top up.