Low Oil put in 10w30

[Lunker]

Was driving down on vacation and got low oil indicator light. Stopped at nearest rest stop on highway and went to get oil. They did not have any 10w60, the closest they had was Mobil 10w30 so I filled with a quart of 10w30. I was in a rush to get on with my vacation and thought it wouldn't be a big deal. Researched a bit and read that the high viscosity 10w60 recommended oil is best for our high revving engines due to high shear of internal engine parts. Also read that in colder temps it may be OK to go with limited amount of lower viscosity oil to hold you over. What are the risks, should I be concerned?

[goldminer]

Originally Posted by Lunker

Was driving down on vacation and got low oil indicator light. Stopped at nearest rest stop on highway and went to get oil. They did not have any 10w60, the closest they had was Mobil 10w30 so I filled with a quart of 10w30. I was in a rush to get on with my vacation and thought it wouldn't be a big deal. Researched a bit and read that the high viscosity 10w60 recommended oil is best for our high revving engines due to high shear of internal engine parts. Also read that in colder temps it may be OK to go with limited amount of lower viscosity oil to hold you over. What are the risks, should I be concerned?

If I remember correctly my manual says it is okay to do this if necessary but the oil should be changed out as soon as practical. Read it, it's covered in the manual. I wouldn't drive the car real hard until it's out.

[Mr.MichaelM3]

I highly recommened not doing this. I was on vacation this past Friday. I drove to lake george about a 200+ mile drive. Anyway Within the first 30 mins of driving my oil light came on. I called my buddy SAL@AUTOcouture and he said it's better to just ride it out till I got to a local BMW dealership than to put ANY OTHER OIL that is not recommened for our cars. Especially 10w30. However I feel your pain as I was also thinking about doing the same but I drove about 400+ miles all together with just a quart low of oil and no issue.

[Mr.MichaelM3]

Originally Posted by Mr.MichaelM3

I highly recommened not doing this. I was on vacation this past Friday. I drove to lake george about a 200+ mile drive. Anyway Within the first 30 mins of driving my oil light came on. I called my buddy SAL@AUTOcouture and he said it's better to just ride it out till I got to a local BMW dealership than to put ANY OTHER OIL that is not recommened for our cars. Especially 10w30. However I feel your pain as I was also thinking about doing the same but I drove about 400+ miles all together with just a quart low of oil and no issue.

ALSO it's a good idea to keep a Quart of oil with the oil bag BMW sells as well

[Z K]

I would have run with a heavier oil like a 10w40 or 15w50 synthetic but you will be fine. One quart out of 9 won't dilute the oil much.

[apecush]

Originally Posted by Mr.MichaelM3

I highly recommened not doing this. I was on vacation this past Friday. I drove to lake george about a 200+ mile drive. Anyway Within the first 30 mins of driving my oil light came on. I called my buddy SAL@AUTOcouture and he said it's better to just ride it out till I got to a local BMW dealership than to put ANY OTHER OIL that is not recommened for our cars. Especially 10w30. However I feel your pain as I was also thinking about doing the same but I drove about 400+ miles all together with just a quart low of oil and no issue.

That logic is ridiculous. The addition of one quart of lower viscosity oil will impact the overall kinematic viscosity of the oil (generally around 8 quarts) a negligible amount. Consider that versus the oil pump firing air into your bearings while going around a corner.

I'll add my extra quart of non-10w60 thanks. BTW, oil analysis indicates that the oil quickly shears to a 40wt at operating temps anyway, so the overall viscosity change is even less.

By the way, the manual states that small quantities of non-oem spec make-up oil can be added without issue.

[Crotchety Old Man]

Originally Posted by Z K

I would have run with a heavier oil like a 10w40 or 15w50 synthetic but you will be fine. One quart out of 9 won't dilute the oil much.

Ahhhh, how refreshing. A voice of reason.

[Dave07997S]

I ran a 5w-50 Castrol which can be bought at any pepboys when this happened to me. Lucky it was just a thousand miles before my oil change was due so no harm done.

Dave

[Ateam]

Guys it is ridunkulous to say to "not do this" or not drive it hard and immediatly change it out! Lets take it a step further and say you used an oil with a "0" viscosity rating. 1 quart would barely dilute the mix to be a difference, let alone a 30 or 40 weight instead of a 60 for 8/9ths of the mixture. Do the math. Using one quart of 5/30 would give you a weight of 57 when averaging the mix. So if you think 10w60 is so much more protective than 10w57 than by all means get to the dealer asap!

[apecush]

Originally Posted by Ateam

Guys it is ridunkulous to say to "not do this" or not drive it hard and immediatly change it out! Lets take it a step further and say you used an oil with a "0" viscosity rating. 1 quart would barely dilute the mix to be a difference, let alone a 30 or 40 weight instead of a 60 for 8/9ths of the mixture. Do the math. Using one quart of 5/30 would give you a weight of 57 when averaging the mix. So if you think 10w60 is so much more protective than 10w57 than by all means get to the dealer asap!

You need to apply that averaging theory to the kinematic viscosity of the oil at operating temperature (cSt) , not the "weight" value, to get a true representation of how the overall picture will change.

[Ateam]

Actually it is as simple as I have said. No different than mixing race gas with pump gas or anything else that mixes together and offers the similar components in different "levels" Whatever name you want to call it, the mix would act similar to a 57 weight oil if that existed. Given you use a high quality synthetic obviously.

[Mr.MichaelM3]

Originally Posted by apecush

That logic is ridiculous. The addition of one quart of lower viscosity oil will impact the overall kinematic viscosity of the oil (generally around 8 quarts) a negligible amount. Consider that versus the oil pump firing air into your bearings while going around a corner.

I'll add my extra quart of non-10w60 thanks. BTW, oil analysis indicates that the oil quickly shears to a 40wt at operating temps anyway, so the overall viscosity change is even less.

By the way, the manual states that small quantities of non-oem spec make-up oil can be added without issue.

Just USE THE BMW recommended OIL! That's all I had to say to begin with......Your most likely more "Safe" with running with low oil than putting the other crap in it. I'm not saying it's going to break or blow up your engine here. I know one quart of non-10w60 isn't going to hurt but I'd rather be safe using the CORRECT oil for our high revving V8's that need the right OIL. INMHO my 70+ thousand dollar car who deserves more respect than that So every time you run into this situation you put at least a quart of non-10w60? NO need to bash because we don't agree what to do in this situation.

[Doc V.]

From the 2011 M3 Supplementary Owner's Manual:

Alternative oil types

If BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil is not
available, you can add small quantities of other
synthetic oils in between oil changes.
Only use oils with the following specifications:
> Viscosity:
Preferred: SAE 10W-60
alternative: SAE 10W-40, SAE 5W-50 or
SAE 10W-50
> Specification:
API SJ/CF, API SK/CF or higher

[mdosu]

Originally Posted by Mr.MichaelM3

ALSO it's a good idea to keep a Quart of oil with the oil bag BMW sells as well

yeah seriously. On any road trip, i keep a quart of TWS in my trunk, especially when my gauge is already reading at 1/4 mark.

[jcordier]

I had to add a quart of 10w30 also, is it okay to run this? Or should I be worried?

[pbonsalb]

Yes, it will be fine with 8L 10W60 and 1L 10W30. Don’t worry about it. I ran 9L of 0W40 for 5 years. Used 5W50 the last change. You can do the math to figure out what you have but it’s probably something like 8W55.

[doogee]

Great morning laugh in here. Thanks guys!