Oil for E30 M3

I have just bought 10w/40 Magnatec, but just because it's cheaper than Valvoline which is what Moseley's had put in.

Phil

I use castrol GTX mineral oil 15/40 its the stuff in a white tub with red top. Engine runns very quiet and smooth

I use 10/40 Magnatec, the last oil service BMW put in 15/40 Magnatec but it used it very quickly so it's 10/40 all the way for me :)

Ex M Power owner :(

Cool, thanks.
Will get some 10/40 Magnatec. I did about 800 miles over the weekend and it used a lot of oil, so I dont know what's in it at the mo'

Mags

'58 Austin Healey Sprite
'72 VW Camper
'95 BMW 540i Touring
'02 Suzuki SV650S

Redline 15/50

i wouldn't use castrol in my lawnmower let alone my car!

castrol magnatec 10/40 for me as well. had used mobil 1 10/40 but the engine ran hotter and used more than the castrol.

Interesting, I had to get the car serviced quickly last week by someone who knows E30's backwards, they used Valvoline Semi Synth (can't remember what grade off the top of my head) is this any good?

Mags

'58 Austin Healey Sprite
'72 VW Camper
'95 BMW 540i Touring
'02 Suzuki SV650S

Remember our engine are 15 year old technology and oils have come on a lot in that time. Any decent oil that isn't too thin will work fine. Avoid all these moder 0 and 5 weight oils.

I use 10-40 Magnatec or 15-40 depending on what's available (Prefer to use the 15-40)

My 2,200 mile round trip to the ring (including about 20 miles on Bexley's dyno and 6 laps of the ring) mine went through 2 litres of oil in total!

Mind you, it does puff a bit when doing full redline gear changes but what do you expect from a 115,000 mile engine.

Steve
Scottish Cecotto

I certainly would agree with you concering 0w oils, they would be too thin in most cases.

A 5w would be fine and will give you better protection when the engine is cold and this is where 70+ percent of the engine wear occurs.

It should be stated that Semi and indeed fully synthetic oils are better for your car, they flow better when cold and give a greater level of protection when the engine is hot.

It is a fact, not myth that complex engines such as DOHC, Turbocharged, and Supercharged when driven hard will always have a greater degree of protection from a synthetic oil.

A synthetic oil is more robust and will last longer (that's why they cost more) mineral oils need much more frequent oil changes but they are cheaper. Semi-synthetic is to some extent the "middle ground".

The oils that give true benefits are ester synthetics (pretty hard to come by as they are expensive to make although Silkolene still does) as they give very low levels of wear, have greater lubricity and have less volatility plus the biggest benefit is that they are "surface-active" meaning that they are electroststically attracted to metal surfaces. (Don't confuse this with magnatec, it's not the same thing. Polyalfaolefins are not polar)

Unfortunately, mis-information abounds about oil and there is a lot of marketing hype but I try to give an honest representation of the facts as I sell Castrol, Mobil, Silkolene, Fuchs and Total.

If you want some straight and honest advice with no brand loyalty then I'm available here.

http://www.bmwcarclubgb.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8710&PN=1

Hope this clarifies.

Cheers,

Simon

Use the code BAVBOARD and get 10% Club Discount
email: sales@opieoils.co.uk
Phone: 01209 202944