What's a good high performance engine oil brand

[Agent-GHQ]

I was just curious to see what engine oil brand you're using. What's a good brand engine oil that helps maintain optimal engine performance?

[duk]

don't use anything except oem man

[G80indy]

Redline

[Agent-GHQ]

Originally Posted by duk

don't use anything except oem man

Explain? What's the label say on the OEM bottle?

[rngrjag]

Lute,

Thanks. Laughed out loud on that GIF.

[FVM3]

motul

[Agent-GHQ]

lmfao... now that's an awesome gif man! But lets get back on topic since you're sooo.... smart!

[karussell]

10W-60 Castrol
search is your friend.

[CBS]

Agreed 10W-60 Castrol TWS Synthetic

Always keep an extra bottle in the trunk.

[pbonsalb]

The majority of people use the brand and spec BMW recommends, Castrol TWS 10W60. Some people use other 10W60 like Redline, Lubrimoly or Liquimoly, Motul. A few people use lower weight oil or mix grades to come up with something they think works well.

[Lorde]

Originally Posted by Lute

Beat me to it.

[meyergru]

BMW recommends Castrol.

For the M series, a long time there was only Castrol TWS 10W60 that had BMW approval. In the last few years, the trade name changed very often (Edge, Edge RS, Formula RS and any of its permutations). For a short while, there were two formulations only one of which had approval. As of now, all 10W60 Castrol types are good to go for BMW M cars (as far as I know). There are (at least) two types, one is for retail and one for shop use. The one for retailers has a contrast medium in order to spot forgery and it is micro-filtered, but the difference is neglegible.

Since the prices of oils differ only marginally, there is no point in buying anything else than the recommended type.

However, this does not apply to the new turbo-type M cars (M5 F10, 1M) since they use the normal non-M oils (mostly 5W30 with a special BMW approval, I think).

[mdosu]

Dude, search

[gblansten]

I use oil from deep fryers because I am environmentally conscious.

[mdosu]

Originally Posted by gblansten

I use oil from deep fryers because I am environmentally conscious.

/thread

[VMcV3y]

Originally Posted by Agent-GHQ

I was just curious to see what engine oil brand you're using. What's a good brand engine oil that helps maintain optimal engine performance?

Okay, so your info-block reads that your M3 is in Production.

The first thing you should do is find a downloadable owner's manual and read it from front-to-back, twice. You will learn all sorts of things you need to know, and all sorts of things you will never need to know. But chances are, almost all answers to your questions are either in the manual, or have been discussed one-hundred billion times on this particular forum.

Good luck!

- V

.

[mdosu]

Originally Posted by VMcV3y

Okay, so your info-block reads that your M3 is in Production.

The first thing you should do is find a downloadable owner's manual and read it from front-to-back, twice. You will learn all sorts of things you need to know, and all sorts of things you will never need to know. But chances are, almost all answers to your questions are either in the manual, or have been discussed one-hundred billion times on this particular forum.

Good luck!

- V

.

one hundred billion sounds like a low-ball estimate

[Someone?]

Castrol TWS Motorsport 10w-60 thats what every factory oil change is, why change?

[8k3]

I've recently switched to liquid moly and it seems to be fine. Others on the board have oil analysis with this brand and it looked good if I recall which is why I made the switch.

[FogCityM3]

Check out Redline oil (or engine oil additive if getting oil changed under warranty). Both the oil and the additive have extra zinc and phosphorus (beyond the API requirements), which forms a protective film/has very good anti-engine wear properties. Racing oil also contains very high levels of zinc/phosphorous.

[m6pwr]

Actually, zinc/phosphorous (aka zddp) forms the anti-wear film rather slowly (studies have shown it can take up to 3k mi for fresh oil) which I think is why Castrol TWS has so much of the complimentary anti-wear adds titanium and boron which activate much faster and also form a very hard anti-wear film on metal parts. Sometimes less is more and I think that's the case with zddp. It has its downsides: the zinc "carrier" drops deposits, and higher concentrations of zddp increase friction. You only need enough to protect the engine. I think Castrol TWS has the right amount of zddp and other AW adds. It's a pretty slick formulation.

As far as aftermarket additives: Tell a lubricant engineer or formulator that you want to pour in an aftermarket additive to improve his oil, and watch him come unglued. Motor oil is a chemical soup where any of the many different chemicals can affect the performance of the others. Formulating a motor oil is a chemical balancing act and adding aftermarket additives can affect that balance negatively. The International Council for Machinery Lubrication has several training courses that include the question, When is it OK to dissolve an after market additive in an oil? Correct answer: Never.

[Agent-GHQ]

Originally Posted by VMcV3y

Okay, so your info-block reads that your M3 is in Production.

The first thing you should do is find a downloadable owner's manual and read it from front-to-back, twice. You will learn all sorts of things you need to know, and all sorts of things you will never need to know. But chances are, almost all answers to your questions are either in the manual, or have been discussed one-hundred billion times on this particular forum.

Good luck!

- V

.

Good point!

Originally Posted by m6pwr

Actually, zinc/phosphorous (aka zddp) forms the anti-wear film rather slowly (studies have shown it can take up to 3k mi for fresh oil) which I think is why Castrol TWS has so much of the complimentary anti-wear adds titanium and boron which activate much faster and also form a very hard anti-wear film on metal parts. Sometimes less is more and I think that's the case with zddp. It has its downsides: the zinc "carrier" drops deposits, and higher concentrations of zddp increase friction. You only need enough to protect the engine. I think Castrol TWS has the right amount of zddp and other AW adds. It's a pretty slick formulation.

As far as aftermarket additives: Tell a lubricant engineer or formulator that you want to pour in an aftermarket additive to improve his oil, and watch him come unglued. Motor oil is a chemical soup where any of the many different chemicals can affect the performance of the others. Formulating a motor oil is a chemical balancing act and adding aftermarket additives can affect that balance negatively. The International Council for Machinery Lubrication has several training courses that include the question, When is it OK to dissolve an after market additive in an oil? Correct answer: Never.

Interesting insight!

Castrol 10W-60 it is then!