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Was informed that running the diesel oil is better for our cam wear issues and having an aftermarket cam id rather keep it as nice as long as possible.
is this what you guys are running ? If not , than what ?
It can be used but is not highly recommended. There are additives in it specific to diesel fuel characteristics that can have long term detrimental affects to a gas engine. Just use top shelf synthetic oil and change it every 5K mile and you'll do fine. I use Castrol Edge 5W-30, no worries.
It can be used but is not highly recommended. There are additives in it specific to diesel fuel characteristics that can have long term detrimental affects to a gas engine. Just use top shelf synthetic oil and change it every 5K mile and you'll do fine. I use Castrol Edge 5W-30, no worries.
^^ This ^^
If you're still concerned about unwanted wear, it would be better to simply add a zinc additive instead of using diesel engine formulated oil.
Motor oil preference discussions will always be highly subjective and rarely meet a consensus.
Whenever I'm researching something, NAM is the first archive I hit because it's so deep with real-life experience of our specific cars.
rotella r53 site:northamericanmotoring.com
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Something like oil related can be complimented in geeky depths by browsing what they have to say on BITOG.
rotella t6 gas site:bobistheoilguy.com
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You can browse different forums too, like I found that Rotella is cultishly popular with Subaru WRX owners, as well as some Audi and BMW guys too, it's always worth reading their experiences as well.
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Some people like analysis and that route may be something for you to consider if you're highly paranoid about wear and the effectiveness of your oil choice.
This Blackstone sheet grabbed from an older NAM thread,
in this case it's for Castrol Edge 5W/30
In my personal experience I was very very happy with Amsoil euro 5W40 but the expense and hassle of getting it made me want to explore other avenues.
Tried LiquiMoly 5W40 and it was okay but I wasn't fully satisfied with it --- no hard data as to why exactly, just going from my gut really.
Been using Motul 8100 X-cess 5W40 lately and I'm liking it very much, not enough mileage yet for me to definitively judge as the best choice for my application, but so far it has impressed me.
Last edited by Oldboy Speedwell; Jan 31, 2021 at 08:40 AM.
Hmm maybe I better start ordering my oil instead of trying to find what I need on shelf because the stores around here NEVER have what grade oil I want or when I needed the euro coolant it was noooooo where to be found
MINI/BMW switched from Castrol to to their BMW brand oil manufactured by Pennzoil. Pennzoil EURO L 5w30 is the designation. I saw it at Walmart for $22.00 for 5 quarts versus $15 to $18 a quart under the BMW label at the dealer. Between the Castrol and now the BMW aka Pennzoil used for the last 14.5 years, there have been no issues. Usually can’t go wrong with factory recommended oil.
Hmm maybe I better start ordering my oil instead of trying to find what I need on shelf because the stores around here NEVER have what grade oil I want or when I needed the euro coolant it was noooooo where to be found
MINI/BMW switched from Castrol to to their BMW brand oil manufactured by Pennzoil. Pennzoil EURO L 5w30 is the designation. I saw it at Walmart for $22.00 for 5 quarts versus $15 to $18 a quart under the BMW label at the dealer. Between the Castrol and now the BMW aka Pennzoil used for the last 14.5 years, there have been no issues. Usually can’t go wrong with factory recommended oil.
thats actually what I've used the past few changes ... Walmart has awesome prices on fluids
but yes thats designation for a "stock" engine.. lol most my engine is aftermarket now...
I strongly recommend against using a zinc additive because I read that it would damage the catalytic converter. Personally I've been using Amsoil 0w40 European Formula in my '03 S for a few years and like it, although similar to many people I have no hard stats to use for comparison.
I've recently switched to liquimoly special tec 5w-30. I have sent it to blackstone for analysis and it's come back with an excellent report. I've also used redline 5w-30 with a great oil analysis but a noticeable increase in oil consumption (no explanation for that honestly). I recently bought my oil from FCP euro. they're competitively priced, and they have a policy that allows you to return the oil and get a refund for the replacement oil. So basically free oil changes, minus shipping fees. (though they ship free if you buy $50 worth of stuff)
I strongly recommend against using a zinc additive because I read that it would damage the catalytic converter. Personally I've been using Amsoil 0w40 European Formula in my '03 S for a few years and like it, although similar to many people I have no hard stats to use for comparison.
again. Not stock , no cats.
this is why some people swear by one thing but the next swears against it. We may drive a car with the same name but that's about the only similarities. Haha mines probably got more non oem parts than it does oem now and my car is not a daily driver by any means though it could be by all means.
Regarding zinc, I'm not very well-versed but there seems to be a plethora of differing views on it, casual search on NAM gives this viewpoint which is an interesying take:
ZDDP came into vogue some years back when cam lobes/lifter issues were while not common were cropping up. The real fix was improved cam and lifter metallurgy and quality control. But ZDDP is still touted as the magic bullet for preventing wear.
The way ZDDP works is under pressure and heat -- enough pressure and heat -- it forms a layer of glass like material which prevents metal to metal contact. But the layer of material quickly breaks up and goes away. In doing so it carries some base metal with it. Thus there is wear. More importantly the erosion of metal results in the metal surface becoming rougher which results in less effective lubrication. The ZDDP if it even works can contribute to the wear one seeks to prevent by using oil with this additive in it.
Really one should not rely upon some 1000PPM or more of any additive to prevent metal to metal contact. The oil chosen should be capable of ensuring no metal to metal contact under the type of usage the engine is subjected to, and changed before it is no longer capable of this under the type of usage the engine is subjected to.
And,
on an offtopic tangent,
it's always fun looking back to the glory peak days here on NAM when it was more heavily populated and incredibly active where you'd see something like a 4 page thread on how to properly jack up your R53!
Just a heads up: BMW/MINI are moving back to Castrol (newer bottle same chemicals blend as Shell) from the Shell/Pennzoil stuff, We should see the stuff come on line sometime this month, old stock will be used up and then switched over. Thats all the info i have right now on that change over.
I run liqui-moly on both my MINIs, no issues here. have close to 300k on my 2005 MCC.
