Winter Driving the M3... 0w40? Or 10w60?

[Mvy]

Originally Posted by jaehshim

Majority of rod bearing damage occurs during cold-temp engine usage.

There is no evidence I have seen to support this statement. Rod bearings were terrible on my car that never left FLA/GA and my car never really gets under 40 degrees f.

Do you leave your car outside or in a garage? Most folks garage so I question a lot of these threads as overkill since the car may never see sub zero temps even if the region its in is cold.

Use the factory 10-60 but know that many have run all kinds of other weights without issue. I run 15-50.

[GORDON.M3]

So I have 10w60 LM right now in my car, with some Molyslip additive.

Today was -5 degrees Celsius, cars parked outside in the driveway. Car fired up with no hiccups or coughs at all!

Took a long time to warm-up tho, but the engine sounded smooth as butter. Started to drive the car after the cold-start quiet down.

[Townending]

Hopefully some of you will find this helpful. I made this chart while deciding which oil to use in my M3. Personally, I felt most comfortable using AMSOIL 5W-50, and have been doing so for 30K miles.

[PACarGuy]

Thanks Townending. Surprised at how low the viscosity of that Mobil 1 0W-40 is at 40c and 100C. That doesn't seem high enough for our cars @operating temps.

[pbonsalb]

Did you chart the Delvac 5W40 or Rotella T6 5W40?

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

That doesn't seem high enough for our cars @operating temps.

Based on what?

[pbonsalb]

Probably fine at normal operating temp of 200-210. Maybe not in hot climates or on the track where temp would be higher than 200-210

[dreamspeed]

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

Thanks Townending. Surprised at how low the viscosity of that Mobil 1 0W-40 is at 40c and 100C. That doesn't seem high enough for our cars @operating temps.

I know it's not an apples to apples comparison but if M1 0w40 is good enough to be the factory fill for a GT3 RS that revs to 9k+ i'm pretty sure it's good enough for our lowly BMWs

[WingZeroX5]

I've been running on 0W-40 T6 since 100K miles ago.

[PACarGuy]

Originally Posted by Iyzmi

Based on what?

Based on the fact that its numbers are not in line with any of the thicker weight oils and BMW specs a thicker oil for our motors.

Maybe at lower RPM's it's fine, but I wouldn't want to be thrashing my motor with 0W40 in there. Of course, during the winter, maybe no one does anyway so it's probably moot.

Bottom line is that it's a hard thing to prove either way, but since BMW has never changed their specification, I don't see any reason not to use the Shell 10W-60 at this point.

[PACarGuy]

Originally Posted by dreamspeed

I know it's not an apples to apples comparison but if M1 0w40 is good enough to be the factory fill for a GT3 RS that revs to 9k+ i'm pretty sure it's good enough for our lowly BMWs

Maybe, but while the GT3 RS motor may rev high, I'm guessing the tolerances and clearances are quite different.

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

Maybe, but while the GT3 RS motor may rev high, I'm guessing the tolerances and clearances are quite different.

Tighter clearances would warrant a thinner oil and the bearing clearances are not any tighter on the GT3 RS, they're probably closer to industry standard unlike the S65.

At the end of the day both oils are fine for summer and winter use. Plenty of people have been using M1 for years and we have countless Blackstone reports that show no excessive wear. I don't know what more reasonable proof you need. Other folks run Amsoil, Liqui Moly, Redline, etc of varying viscocities and they're also fine. I have a slight preference based on season and the length of my commute but I highly doubt anyone would be doing damage by chosing differently. They're both great oils that offer plenty of protection as long as reasonable OCIs are followed.

[pbonsalb]

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

Maybe, but while the GT3 RS motor may rev high, I'm guessing the tolerances and clearances are quite different.

I doubt it. There are certain industry standards and BMWs specs for the S65 are actually on the very tight end, and normally a lower viscosity oil is used with very tight clearances. Most engines will run fine with a variety of viscosities. Read the Ferrari chat room article about the guy using 0W20 on his Ferrari and his Maybach.

[Townending]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Did you chart the Delvac 5W40 or Rotella T6 5W40?

I have not, when I have some free time in the next few nights, I'll try to expand the chart.


Any other oils anybody would like to see added?

[Townending]

Added:
Castrol Edge 5W-50
Shell Rotella T6 5W-40
Mobil 1 Delvac 1 5W-40
Liqui Moly Synthoil High Tech 5W-40
Liqui Moly Leichtlauf High Tech 5W-40
Liqui Moly Synthoil Energy 0W-40

If you would like to see any others added, let me know. Otherwise I'll add them as I find them.





In the process of adding
AMSOIL Signature Series 0W-40
AMSOIL Classic European Formula 0W-40
AMSOIL Classic European Formula 5W-40
AMSOIL Improved European Formula 5W-40
Redline Full Synthetic 5W-40
Redline Euro-Series 5W-40
Motul 300V Power 5W-40
Motul 300V Chrono 10W-40
Motul 300V Trophy 0W-40
Motul 6100 Synergie+ 10W-40
Motul 6100 Synergie+ 5W-40
Motul 6100 SYN-CLEAN 5W40
Motul 8100 X-CESS 5W-40
Motul 8100 X-max 0W-40
Motul 8100 X-clean 5W-40
Motul 8100 X-POWER 10W-60

[cherry-m3]

Originally Posted by Townending

Added:
Castrol Edge 5W-50
Shell Rotella T6 5W-40
Mobil 1 Delvac 1 5W-40
Liqui Moly Synthoil High Tech 5W-40
Liqui Moly Leichtlauf High Tech 5W-40
Liqui Moly Synthoil Energy 0W-40

If you would like to see any others added, let me know. Otherwise I'll add them as I find them.





In the process of adding
AMSOIL Signature Series 0W-40
AMSOIL Classic European Formula 0W-40
AMSOIL Classic European Formula 5W-40
AMSOIL Improved European Formula 5W-40
Redline Full Synthetic 5W-40
Redline Euro-Series 5W-40
Motul 300V Power 5W-40
Motul 300V Chrono 10W-40
Motul 300V Trophy 0W-40
Motul 6100 Synergie+ 10W-40
Motul 6100 Synergie+ 5W-40
Motul 6100 SYN-CLEAN 5W40
Motul 8100 X-CESS 5W-40
Motul 8100 X-max 0W-40
Motul 8100 X-clean 5W-40
Motul 8100 X-POWER 10W-60

Throw Motul 15-50 while you're at it. Id like to know how the thicker oils stack up. Thanks

[Townending]

Originally Posted by cherry-m3

Throw Motul 15-50 while you're at it. Id like to know how the thicker oils stack up. Thanks

Will do

Adding:
Motul 4100 Power 15W-50
Motul 300V COMPETITION 15W-50

[Townending]

For those of you interested in my updated oil list. Head on over to this thread:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...6#post22421236

[DSilk]

Originally Posted by Townending

Added:
Castrol Edge 5W-50
Shell Rotella T6 5W-40
Mobil 1 Delvac 1 5W-40
Liqui Moly Synthoil High Tech 5W-40
Liqui Moly Leichtlauf High Tech 5W-40
Liqui Moly Synthoil Energy 0W-40

If you would like to see any others added, let me know. Otherwise I'll add them as I find them.





In the process of adding
AMSOIL Signature Series 0W-40
AMSOIL Classic European Formula 0W-40
AMSOIL Classic European Formula 5W-40
AMSOIL Improved European Formula 5W-40
Redline Full Synthetic 5W-40
Redline Euro-Series 5W-40
Motul 300V Power 5W-40
Motul 300V Chrono 10W-40
Motul 300V Trophy 0W-40
Motul 6100 Synergie+ 10W-40
Motul 6100 Synergie+ 5W-40
Motul 6100 SYN-CLEAN 5W40
Motul 8100 X-CESS 5W-40
Motul 8100 X-max 0W-40
Motul 8100 X-clean 5W-40
Motul 8100 X-POWER 10W-60

In case nobody else thinks do say this, thank you for putting in the time and effoort to provide this information!

[dkracing]

I have driven with Castrol 10w-60 and Shell Racing Ultra 10w-60 in less than 20 degrees.

Just give it like 60 seconds before you SEND IT.

[bimmerfrk]

Originally Posted by dkracing

I have driven with Castrol 10w-60 and Shell Racing Ultra 10w-60 in less than 20 degrees.

Just give it like 60 seconds before you SEND IT.

The question here is not can you, but should you..... Hence the elongated debate.