Engine oil for 3 series(hello from SG)

[Greentea]

Dear all Malaysian bros/sis,
I am from Singapore. My wife drives an e90 320i and I drive an e92 335i. Happy to see great discussions in this forum.
I am a regular visitor to Malaysia, for holidays and friend/relative visits.

I have a question which has probably been discussed to death both in Msia and SG BMW forums, but I didn't get the answer I was looking for and neither did I find any conclusive view.

The question I have, in particular for the 335i which has a n54 TT engine, is which is the correct engine oil in our hot tropical weather. When my car was still under warranty, the SG dealership uses Mobil-1 0w-40. Since then, I ve been using Castrol 0w-30 and Liquid Moly 5w-30. I visited a workshop in JB that services BMWs and was told 30 viscoscity is too light and doesn't give adequate protection in our weather. They ve suggested to me to use a heavier 40 engine oil instead.

Likewise, these workshops suggest instead of using a 40 engine oil currently on my wife's 320i, that I should be using a heavier 50 engine oil !!!

Also, I was told that my noisy engine, especially on the 335i, is due to a too low viscoscity oil.

What oil do you guys use in Msia? Does a thicker oil really helps with protection and noise control.

Thank you in advance. And I love your country's food, diversity, scenery and roads !

 

[astroboy]

There are many variables and points of consideration..

1. Engine oil viscosity is in a direct relationship with car performance, the thinner the oil, the livelier the rev and pickup. However, it's in an inverse relationship when it comes to engine protection. The thicker the oil, the better the wear protection. But then..

2. Oils of different viscosity has varying optimal operating temperature where engine protection is maximised.. the thicker the oil, the higher the optimal operating temperature. So the amount of time required to bring the engine temperature to optimal oil protection temperature is crucial. For short distance driving, thick oil is not suitable because the oil never reaches operating temperature to allow optimal engine wear protection. Track car and M engines requires weighted 60 oils due to the "expected" constant high engine operating temperature. If you drive your M car slow and short distance, you better think twice rather than follow the recommended weighted 60 oil, and also..

3. A car with similar engine in different climate operates at the same temperature because thermostat kicks in at identical temperature. So it's not true that tropical country engine runs hotter. When you light up a match, it burns at identical temperature whether on the Alpines or in Sahara.

4. Castrol says "Up to 75% of engine wear happens during warm-up" so the thinner the oil, the faster the oil reaches optimal temperature and the faster it reaches the top of the engine to lubricate engine components. So for a while it seems the thinner the oil the better but remember once engine heated up, it might be beyond the optimal operating temperature of the thin viscosity oil and fail to protect the engine.

For our N46 engine, SC specified 5w-30, obviously for reasons of fuel efficiency and livelier engine, to comply with EU standard of improved horse power and fuel efficiency with every new engine generation, while providing "reasonable" engine wear protection. It's obvious that engine protection from the oil is not high on their list rather than adhering to EU's engine design guide.

You may alter the priority a bit by providing better engine protection by using rated 40 oils, but at a cost of fuel efficiency and pickup. I don't recommend 50. You are more likely to kill the engine than otherwise because the thick oil unable to reach critical engine bearings fast enough during start-ups, and our NA standard engine may not be able to reach the optimal oil protection temperature..

Did that help or did I just confused you further? :71:

My advice: Don't bother, average Singaporean cars sent for scrap at 50k km.. so if your usage is similar, you don't need to waste money on oil change.. you can't get better scrap price with a pristine condition engine.. :66:

 

[canuck78]

335i being TC should be using at least 40w oils, or 50w if you drive your car really hard.

320i being NA engine when low mileage (under 100k) can use 30w oils, or 40w when older.

No harm staying with castrol as it's highly suitable for bmw engines

Btw I am also from sgp


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[astroboy]

Yes, agreed with canuck78,.. force induction engines torture engine oil pretty badly, best use thicker oil..

 

[alantiong]

guys.. i would stick to max at 40w.. 30w would be just fine.

50w is out of question... why would 50 give a better lubrication for our weather..? i am surprised that you guys actually think that 50w protects better.. for a turbo car... you would like to have lots of oil passing thru the turbo bearing... thus 30w.. is just fine.

on the other hand.. 50w shou;d be used only and only if you are loosing some compression. otherwise.. no benefit..

for 30deg C difference... 50w will not be anything close to 40w viscosity. by the way.. the engine/oil/coolant temperature run at the same temperature here in sunny malaysia or at 0deg where canuck (canadian) grewed up... there is something called thermostat! so re-think when some mechanic that never finish middle school tells you about "we are in hot weather country.. so engine run hotter!"

sorry to sound blunt.. but guys.. please do not give a half assed advice...


4. Castrol says "Up to 75% of engine wear happens during warm-up" so the thinner the oil, the faster the oil reaches optimal temperature and the faster it reaches the top of the engine to lubricate engine components. So for a while it seems the thinner the oil the better but remember once engine heated up, AGREED and agreed!

"it might be beyond the optimal operating temperature of the thin viscosity oil and fail to protect the engine." this is depending of type of oil. if this happen.. its your oil pump that has failed. thinner oil actually disperse heat faster at radiator and thicker oil disperse slower.

 

[alantiong]

4. Castrol says "Up to 75% of engine wear happens during warm-up" so the thinner the oil, the faster the oil reaches optimal temperature and the faster it reaches the top of the engine to lubricate engine components. AGREED and agreed! sorry for the misleading comment.. i only agree to this point hehehe

 

[mbwz10]

Castrol is good engine ... but I think petronas is doing the liquid and metal as well

 

[Fadhlan]

Try the new Syntium 7000. I heard its awesome!

 

[mbwz10]

Castrol Magnatec or Castrol SLX, both offer more than adequate protection for your model