Your Oil Questions answered

Thanks for the introduction Howard.

A much debated and complicated issue is the quality of oils but, let me assure you...........You always get what you pay for!

Food for thought!

Below is an article written by John Rowland, Silkolene/Fuchs Chief R & D Chemist for 40 years.

Quote:

Costs of synthetics vary considerably. The most expensive are the “Ester” types originally only used in jet engines. These cost 6 to 10 times more than high quality mineral oils. The cheapest synthetics are not really synthetic at all, from a chemists point of view. These are in fact specially refined light viscosity mineral oils known as “hydrocracked”. These have some advantages over equivalent mineral oils, particularly in lower viscosity motor oils such as 5w-30 or other oils with a low “W” rating such as 5w-50 etc and they cost about 1.5 times more than good quality mineral fractions. We use several different grades of this base oil, where appropriate. This is the “synthetic” which is always used in cheap oils that are labelled “synthetic”. Yes it’s a cruel world, you get what you pay for!

Now, you may ask, why are these special mineral oils called “synthetic”? Well, it was all sorted in a legal battle that took place in the USA about ten years ago. Sound reasons (including evidence from a Nobel Prize winning chemist) were disregarded and the final ruling was that certain mineral bases that had undergone extra chemical treatments could be called “synthetic”. Needless to say, the marketing executives wet their knickers with pure delight! They realised that this meant, and still does, that the critical buzz-word “synthetic” could be printed on a can of cheap oil provided that the contents included a few percent of “hydrocracked” mineral oil, at a cost of quite literally a few pence.

So, the chemistry of “synthetics” is complex and so is the politics!

The economics are very simple. If you like the look of a smart well-marketed can with “synthetic” printed on it, fair enough, it will not cost you a lot; and now you know why this is the case. But, if you drive a high performance car, and you intend to keep it for several years, and maybe do the odd “track day”, then you need a genuine Ester/PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil, such as PRO S or PRO R. This oil costs more money to buy, because it costs us a lot of money to make, very simply, you always get what you pay for!

Unquote:

This article is something that all car owners should read and understand before buying oil and I’ve posted this with Johns kind permission.

Cheers,

Simon Barnard

Peter,

By shed grades I mean oils only available there (Halfords Own etc) which are blended by the major oil companies to meet a specification say 10w-40 semi synthetic API SJ/SL but are made to a budget.

Quality additives like Viscosity improvers, detergents, dispersants, antiwear agents, friction modifiers, pour-point depressants, antioxidants, foam inhibitors and corrosion inhibitors are expensive and savings have to be made when working to a budget.

Ever bought paint in B&Q with Dulux on the can and then realised that it only covers half the area of the real thing from your local Dulux Trade Centre? It's never half the price of the real thing though usually 75%!

Mobil 1 is a good oil, I sell it but are we talking about 0w-40?

The recommended grades depend on whether you are looking for a Longlife oil (BMW LL) or you are changing your oil on a more frequent basis. 

The recommended range is very wide 0w-30 (LL01), 0w-40 (LL01), 5w-40 and 10w-40.

Other than the 10w-40, all others are Fully synthetics.

To make a simplistic comment about these oils, they could be used as follows:

0w's (LL01) Fully synthetic oils which have longer drain periods but are the most expensive (if your draining the oil in less than 6000 miles, you are wasting money)

5w-40 Fully synthetic oils that give better cold start protection than 10w because they circulate better being thinner 5w instead of 10w and will give a better protection when hot as a good Fully synthetic oils will be more resilliant to thinning down at high temperatures.

If good viscosity improvers are used in the formulation the oil will resist shearing and breaking down better.

10w-40 Semi-synthetic is good value for money and if drained at shorter intervals will be perfectly fine in your engine. You need to weigh up the costs/benefits based on your mileage and the way you drive the car.

Synthetic oils are without a doubt better, even in older cars as they last longer at high temperaures without "thinning down" and flow better at lower temperatures (cold starts) when around 70+ percent of the engine wear occurrs. Ester synthetics are the best as I will explain in another post.

As regards to value, you need to compare what I have said to a price list and you'll need to email me for one sales@opieoils.co.uk.

Hope this helps

Regards

Simon

Ian,

For M3 1992-95 and 1995-99

All year round.

The recommended oil is 5w-40 Fully Syn CCMC G5

Would recommend: (all BMW approved)

Fuchs Titan Supersyn SL 5w-40 Fully Synthetic

Siklolene PRO S 5w-40 Ester Fully Synthetic

Total Quartz 9000 5w-40 Fully Synthetic

I sell Castrol RS 10w-60 but it is very heavy being a 60, even hot-running engines do not need SAE 60 oil these days. (120-130C). SAE 60 is heavier than most SAE 90 gear oils. If an oil is too thick, it de-aerates slowly, leading to cavitation in the oil pump, or the bearings being fed slugs of air along with the oil.

Your handbook will give the recommended viscosity and I would confidently say that 10w-60 will not be mentioned.

Hope this helps

Regards

Simon

Dave,

The simple answer is NO but........................

The league table of synthetics works something like this from good to excellent so as to speak

Hydrotreated Mineral Oils (HC hydrocracked)

Synthetic Hydrocarbons (POA polyalphaolefins)

Esters

This is the principle but a POA with an excellent VI impover added (to give good shear stability) will be pretty close. The edge is the fact that the ester is surface-active and the POA is not.

Mobil 1 is a good oil and that's why I sell it but it's not the same.

Cheers

Simon

Hi Simon. Recomendation please?

BMW 323i, 1996, M52 B25 - 2494cc pertrol. Mods: supersprint exhaust, High flow inlet manifold, overbored throttle body, K&N panel with debaffled airbox and cold air ducting. I always run high fat fuels (optimax etc).

I use the car entusiastically when warm, a lot of high speed motorway work with the head temperature at about 95C. Occasional short journeys but the head is always up to operating temperature before journeys end.

FYI current oil shows 4bar @ 2000 rpm cold and 1.9 bar @ 2000 warm. Unsure of brand of oil, but from BMW dealer.

Hi!

98' M roadster 85000 km (+/- 50000mls) I live in Portugal and in the summer temperatures rise up to 40ºC and I use the car very hard and on the ocasional track day. I change the oil every 6000 mls and I got a gruppeM induction and Superchips.

I use Castrol TWS 10W 60 for the summer which I buy from BMW

and   Castrol RS    0W 40   for the winter which I buy from local supermarket.

What do yu reckon?

Thanks in advance