best oil for the 530d????

[saf 530d]

hi what is the best oil to use for the 2001 530d?

my mechanic did a service on mine and put the castrol gtx 10w 40. he said its a good oil to use.

is that a suitable oil for the car or not?

thanks

[Olli]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

This is a mineral oil.
The 530d requires BMW longlife01 approved fully synthetic oil.
e.g. Mobil 1 0w-40
Fuchs Titan Supersyn 5w-30
Castrol Edge 0w-30


btw, why don't you ask before it's put in ?

[saf 530d]

I DID ASK THE MECHANIC WHO I HAVE KNOWN FOR A WHILE AND HE SAID ITS A GOOD OIL. IT HAD THE ACEA A1/A3 RATING.

WOULD HAVE ASKED YOU GUYS BUT THIS WAS 2 MONTHS AGO AND I DIDNT NO THIS SITE EXISTED.

IT WONT CAUSE NO ENGINE TROUBLE WILL IT? WHAT SHALL I DO???

[saf 530d]

I DID ASK THE MECHANIC WHO I HAVE KNOWN FOR A WHILE AND HE SAID ITS A GOOD OIL. IT HAD THE ACEA A1/A3 RATING.

WOULD HAVE ASKED YOU GUYS BUT THIS WAS 2 MONTHS AGO AND I DIDNT NO THIS SITE EXISTED.

IT WONT CAUSE NO ENGINE TROUBLE WILL IT? WHAT SHALL I DO???

[neilb]

I think the *only* thing you can do is get the oil and filter changed ASAP mate by somebody who knows what the car needs - you can buy Mobile 1 and Castrol Edge 0w-30 yourself at your nearest Halfords if necessary.  Then just keep your fingers crossed!  Somebody else might know better in terms of more thoroughly 'flushing out' the mineral oil.

What sort of mileage have you done since the oil change?

I've had this sort of problem in the past, when the ever-so-helpful father-in-law tops of my wife's Golf TDI with 'generic' oil from his garage, without an appreciation of the fully-synthetic requirements of these modern machines!

[DaveA]

Yes it could cause engine damage. Your mate's a :banned: - no offence.

This is why i never go to garages.

ACEA A ratings are for PETROL cars.

ALSO - does your :banned: CAPS lock key not work?  :evil:

[DaveA]

Oooh look a banned word filter miss!

[maineman1963]

Tut tut DaveA getting a word banned ! Echo the comments get the oil drained asap , filter changed and fully flushed and I would use the Catrol Edge. Another DaveA , we get everywhere lol

[Olli]

yep, get it changed again. Those turbo's might not like the mineral oil sludge.

[jas530d]

I wouldn't use flushing oil in my engine,  probably do more harm than good ....... the flush isn't a lubricant and the chunks of crud can dislodge and stop up various small tolerances

Follow this simple flushing procedure:

Warm up engine to get oil circulating
Turn off and drop old oil
Fill to min on dipstick with new oil (you will be wasting this oil)
Warm up engine to get oil circulating
Turn off, drop oil and change filter
Fill to mark on dipstick with fresh new oil

Hope my 2ps worth helps

[DEREK530D]

Spot on Jas

[saf 530d]

thanks, iv done about 3k mileage since the oil change.

if i do use a oil flush which one shall i use or am i better of not using any?

[DaveA]

Personally i wouldn't bother with the flush oil - you're unlikely to have too much sludge after the GTX if it's only 3000 miles - unless you do only short town trips.

[saf 530d]

do you no much about a ecu reflash? i had an aftermarket maf fitted and did not have a reflash because i wasnt told this. had the new maf  fitted about 3 months ago, jus realised it needs one now, im getting it done from bmw in an hr, because the car performs sometimes and sometimes when your doing 60 and put ur foot down it dusnt?

[DaveA]

I think BMW will tell you they will charge to do re-programme, and they will probably want to put in a new MAF made by them.

[roofer]

Personally i wouldn't bother with the flush oil - you're unlikely to have too much sludge after the GTX if it's only 3000 miles - unless you do only short town trips.

i'd agree here, no need to panic.....and dave should know......he's a tractor expert

[firefox]

Just been reading this this thread and I am a little concerned, I changed the oil in my 2001 525d about 1500 miles ago just after I bought it ( some thing I always do with a new car), I used Castrol GTX Magnatec Diesel oil, anybody know if this is ok?

Thanks

[DEREK530D]

Dont bother with the flush oil.

Synthetic oil has the same effect over time.

Incidentally - if you are not sure if your engine has had the benifit of synthectic oil for some time I would change the filter every 3000 miles for 12.000 miles.

Synthetic oil can shift so much crud it can block your filter leading to no oil pressure.

This is why many advise against changing from Mineral to Synthetic on high milage engines that have only ever been run on mineral oil.


The difference is startling.

Old farts like me used to run our A and B series engines on Castrol GTX in the 70's and then spend our Sundays scraping out the burnt on "coke" from just about everywhere in the engine. The majority of it lived in the rocker cover / crackcase breather system, but the deadly stuff was blocking oilways that fed the crank and camshafts.

We actually thought we were doing the right thing by putting oil into our engines that was so thick on cold sunday mornings that it would hardly pour out of the tin.

My oil pressure gauge would not register until I had done a mile or 2 in very cold weather - the pump just could not shift the stuff.

Then I saw the light and ran 2, 2-litre Cavaliers from new on Mobil 1 - the expense !

At 85,000 mile I used to look down into the oil filler hole - still amazed - spotless - like a new engine.

She has now done 130,000 and is still going strong - sold her to a collegue for £750 when I bought the Bimmer.

Now just guess which has been the most reliable (she is 13 now and takes her holidays in the south of France) ?

Oh sorry - I've rambled off again

[DEREK530D]

Firefox

Go to Halfords - NOW

If you are on a budget use their own brand of synthetic - its always on offer - it meets BMW LL01.

Pref use Mobil 1 or Castrol Edge.

Years ago Mobil ran a BMW round a track in the USA for 1,000,000 miles - only stopping to change the oil and fill up.

Dont ask me what else dropped off - but 95% of the engine internals were found to be within tolerance for new parts.

The difference between the performance of Mineral and Synthetic oil is MASSIVE.

[DaveA]

Ditto that. BMW don't make up oil specs for the fun of it!

It's no wonder there are so many turbo failing round here!