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      08-14-2013, 05:53 PM   #1
froop
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Introduction to Engine Oil

If you have a spare hour or so and have the interest in learning more about engine oils I would highly suggest having a read through this very thorough introduction article.

http://www.focfl.com/tech/articles/oil.html

Let me know what your thoughts are after you've read it.
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      08-14-2013, 06:33 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian///M View Post
Good read. Confirms my continued use of 0W40
It's a long ass read isn't it haha. Though the conclusion I got from reading the article was that it would be even better to use a lower weight oil rather than a higher weight, i.e. either 0W20 or 0W30. Of course it depends on the individual engine, engine age/condition, oil pressures and oil flow using a particular oil weight in the given conditions. Which brings me to a question. Are we able to monitor oil pressures on our N54s without having to get a specific gauge?

I'm currently using Castrol Edge 0W40 and was considering trying the TWS 10W60 but after reading that I might either stick to the 0W40 or possibly even go to 0W30.
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      08-14-2013, 07:13 PM   #3
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Excellent article to start on your oil obsession :P.. clearly explains the differences between grades and what *W* means

it doesn't cover EVERYTHING (like what oil is good for use with what fuel, other specific things)

after this, if you've got it all, move on to bobistheoilguy forums for even more in-depth

discussions even longer than this article on the use of ethanol with oils for example haha

Quote:
Originally Posted by froop View Post
It's a long ass read isn't it haha. Though the conclusion I got from reading the article was that it would be even better to use a lower weight oil rather than a higher weight, i.e. either 0W20 or 0W30. Of course it depends on the individual engine, engine age/condition, oil pressures and oil flow using a particular oil weight in the given conditions. Which brings me to a question. Are we able to monitor oil pressures on our N54s without having to get a specific gauge?

I'm currently using Castrol Edge 0W40 and was considering trying the TWS 10W60 but after reading that I might either stick to the 0W40 or possibly even go to 0W30.
the N54 runs hot though, so a thicker oil is the choice (like a 40 on the street) going by that article? which is what i was lead to believe otherwise anyway. then maybe a *W50 on the track

though if you're running major oil cooling and your temps are actually quite reasonable, a 30>40 might be the choice

it's very application specific

ED: by hot i mean >212F... big dual oil cooler setup's might get you to that 212 mark tops though.

if you went to a 30, and had higher temps, it would thin out a LOT more than a 0W40 would potentially.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian///M View Post
Yes 0W30 would be good, but I haven't seen it in stores?

0w40 is better for engine wear at cold starts than BMW OE 5w30 as it stays thinner.

Actually doing an oil change this afternoon, so great timing!
you can get 0W30

i don't see a reason not to get oil from amazon anyway, when it works out to more like $15/L shipped for the good stuff vs $30-$40...

and even the cheaper stuff like mobil 1 is $7/quart + post (and yes, amazon has it in 0W30)

Last edited by flinchy; 08-14-2013 at 07:19 PM..
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      08-14-2013, 07:25 PM   #4
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Great read. Seems an oil pressure gauge is necessary to really know what is appropriate.


Quote:
Originally Posted by flinchy View Post


the N54 runs hot though, so a thicker oil is the choice (like a 40 on the street) going by that article? which is what i was lead to believe otherwise anyway. then maybe a *W50 on the track

t
That is not how I read what he was saying. See question #16: 16- If your engine is running too hot at higher RPM one thing you can try to bring the temperature down is to use a thinner oil.

To which the correct answer is "true." Maybe I'm confused?

Seems the entire point of the article is to state that the only thing thicker oils do is make start up wear worse, so stating that an engine runs hot and needs a thicker oil doesn't seem (to me) to jibe with what he has presented here. Again, I could be confused.
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      08-14-2013, 07:45 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mb135is View Post
That is not how I read what he was saying. See question #16: 16- If your engine is running too hot at higher RPM one thing you can try to bring the temperature down is to use a thinner oil.

To which the correct answer is "true." Maybe I'm confused?

Seems the entire point of the article is to state that the only thing thicker oils do is make start up wear worse, so stating that an engine runs hot and needs a thicker oil doesn't seem (to me) to jibe with what he has presented here. Again, I could be confused.
mmm true...


but, being application specific, if the difference in temperature drop isn't great enough, you're then just running REALLY thin oil and not protecting your engine as well as it should be.

I believe people have tried thinner oils on the N54 before, and it just stayed hot, which leads to higher wear on the thinned oil.

the other thing is that because it's running at a higher temperature, it works as a thinner oil regardless..?

and, because the N54 is direct injection, it runs hotter (oil and coolant) by design for efficiency.

so... thinner vs thicker for the N54, would depend if flow is being restricted, so you'd have to get a pressure gauge to even see.

.. either way, you want the solution that gives less wear, and i guess we can only find that out if people try it out back to back, just a couple thousand km... take logs of temps... and do UOA's on the different thicknesses.. various oil cooler setups too.

there's also the fact you get a few more HP going to a thinner oil haha
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      08-14-2013, 07:51 PM   #6
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So we need him to do a similar dissertation on the N54 and N55 engine families. Somebody put that in his comments section
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      08-15-2013, 05:54 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by froop View Post
I'm currently using Castrol Edge 0W40 and was considering trying the TWS 10W60 but after reading that I might either stick to the 0W40 or possibly even go to 0W30.
One mechanic asked me if I could use the TWS 10W60 oil instead of the 0W40 A3/B4. I think he asked because he had drum of the TWS for servicing M3s. I told him I'd rather stick to the 0W40 because the spec is closer to the 5W30 oil. The Castrol 0W40 Edge A3/B4 is also on the BMW approved oil list for my 135i, but TWS is not. Specs from Castrol data sheets as follows.

Castrol 5W30 EDGE professional viscosity at 40 C = 71.8 cSt
Castrol 0W40 EDGE A3/B4 viscosity at 40 C = 79 cSt
Castrol 10W60 EDGE TWS viscosity at 40 C = 160 cSt

Castrol 5W30 EDGE professional viscosity at 100 C = 12.1 cSt
Castrol 0W40 EDGE A3/B4 viscosity at 100 C = 13.1 cSt
Castrol 10W60 EDGE TWS viscosity at 100 C = 22.7 cSt

It looks to me as though the difference between the 5W30 and 0W40 is very small at these temperatures. If you live in a cold environment the 5W30 is probably better, but I think it wouldn't make much difference for most of us in Australia.

Last edited by John_01; 08-15-2013 at 06:01 AM..
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      08-15-2013, 10:08 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John_01 View Post
One mechanic asked me if I could use the TWS 10W60 oil instead of the 0W40 A3/B4. I think he asked because he had drum of the TWS for servicing M3s. I told him I'd rather stick to the 0W40 because the spec is closer to the 5W30 oil. The Castrol 0W40 Edge A3/B4 is also on the BMW approved oil list for my 135i, but TWS is not. Specs from Castrol data sheets as follows.

Castrol 5W30 EDGE professional viscosity at 40 C = 71.8 cSt
Castrol 0W40 EDGE A3/B4 viscosity at 40 C = 79 cSt
Castrol 10W60 EDGE TWS viscosity at 40 C = 160 cSt

Castrol 5W30 EDGE professional viscosity at 100 C = 12.1 cSt
Castrol 0W40 EDGE A3/B4 viscosity at 100 C = 13.1 cSt
Castrol 10W60 EDGE TWS viscosity at 100 C = 22.7 cSt

It looks to me as though the difference between the 5W30 and 0W40 is very small at these temperatures. If you live in a cold environment the 5W30 is probably better, but I think it wouldn't make much difference for most of us in Australia.
So daily + ocassionally aggressive driving make no difference at all for 5W30and 0W-40 since it is minor.
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