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Engine Oil Selection - Excellent guide here!

25K views 43 replies 30 participants last post by  powerofm 
#1 · (Edited)
ok guys..well after reading this guide and doing some more digging....

I came to the conclusion that oil (like many other products) cannot be judged by its brand.

eg. Castrol GTX is not necessarily good because they have loads of adverts and a strong brand name (though this is just an example ;) )

The only problem this leaves me with..is finding a reliable supplier of Royal Purple Oils :confused: in the UK...as its only distributed in the US it seems :(
 
#2 · (Edited)
ive been using and promoting royal purple for over 10 years

a friend used to run it in his busses and saved a fortune on longer intervals and slightly improved consumption, ive also used it in all my cars and all high power projects i build
there is deffinitely a noticeable difference all around
it runs smoother, quieter, and it comes out cleaner

i dont know about the other comapnies making the claims but i would only try to go 15000 between changes on the purple stuff, 7500 in hot or harsh conditions
i think bmw need to start offering or even requiring it, too bad the other comanies have more money to buy the contract

i also recently saw a show on them and the testing and quality control is unreal

but as for the valvoline all i can say is WOW

im gonna start recommending it as a low cost solution

ive also heard good things about quaker state but i dont know if its availabel outside the US ,
a friend ran it for 5000 miles in his 04 acura MDX and he said when he drained it it was much much cleaner than any other oil hes ever used
 
#3 ·
Thats good to hear mate.
All I have ever heard is good things about Royal Purple! and valvoline I have always liked as I can get it over here!

But to see the difference in those bearing scorings and pressure tests :) was very very interesting and shows that the winning oils will hold your engine in much better shape than the "others"..good to know except I cant get hold of Royal Purple as yet :mad:


Though I have contacted them to see what they say about any UK suppliers so hopefully they might get back to me.
but it sounds like its made by a family of mormons in the deepest Arkansas from reading up on the company :D
 
#4 ·
LOL

yeah they are in the middle of nowhere, but there far from a family of mormons

they have hundreds of chemists and engineers, they test every single sample that arrives, they said occasionally a load gets turned down and they have to send it back

the facility is state of the art and theyre constantly doing quality control tests on samples from different stages of production

the only part they wouldnt show even a little is about the synerlec, their secret ingredient
its the reason the oil is purple as when it arrived to their facility its clear like water, its also the reason it does what it does

pretty darn kool


as for the UK, i was always under the impression they had that stuff over there

and if not you better get exclusive rights for sale in the UK, this product never dissapoints and you can make some good $$$
 
#5 ·
nice info mate.

i've heard back from Royal Purple pretty darned fast :cool:

it turns out we do have a distributor and for anyone interested in buying it...visit this website.

Link to royal purple suppliers


It appears they dont have much of a distribution chain in the uK though and there are only 3 sub-suppliers form their main imported :confused:

I am waiting to hear back from them if they want to flog me a load!!! because as you rightly say, it would sell like hotcakes :)
 
#11 ·
how is my oil so low after service

wonder is any1 can help, i have just had my 330 serviced 3 weeks ago, bought castrol edge 0-30w and 8 litres of it, bmw told me my car only takes 7 litres, so i took it to a freinds garage changed the filter and the oil, my car took 7 litres. i have done about 1500 miles and the oil lights came on just tonight, checked the dip stick and its just below minimum, engine is running fine and there is no signs of oil spray on the exhaust, and not a drop under the car, gets parked in the same place every night and no marks anywhere, is something wrong hear because i have been told the head gasket cud of gone and the oil could be in the radiator?????
 
#13 ·
wonder is any1 can help, i have just had my 330 serviced 3 weeks ago, bought castrol edge 0-30w and 8 litres of it, bmw told me my car only takes 7 litres, so i took it to a freinds garage changed the filter and the oil, my car took 7 litres. i have done about 1500 miles and the oil lights came on just tonight, checked the dip stick and its just below minimum, engine is running fine and there is no signs of oil spray on the exhaust, and not a drop under the car, gets parked in the same place every night and no marks anywhere, is something wrong hear because i have been told the head gasket cud of gone and the oil could be in the radiator?????
a 'sniff test' would confirm if you have head gasket issues.

I would most certainlly top it up to the 'max' mark, and then keep an eye on it. If it drop to the minimum mark again without any plausible excuse, then you'll have to get it checkout out.
 
#15 ·
Hi all,

I asked my local BMW dealership what oil BMW used and was told it was fully synthetic Castrol SLX (I think he said 5/30 but I'm not 100% sure). I don't know how this stacks up against the likes of a Royal Purple.

I've heard it said (actually from the next door neighbour who works for a large London BMW dealership, but on the Mini sales side) that the oil that they use is really excellent. I don't think he is toeing the company line but as anyone know whether Castrol SLX is any good?

Cheers
 
#17 ·
Thanks Ronnie. Any idea whether Castrol Edge is v good or run of the mill?

Reason is my 330 has c.52k on it and the car is in very good condition with all the toys. I kept my last car for 6 years and would hope to do the same at least with this 330. I was very impressed with the Royal Purple and Valvoline results and wondered whether it was worthwhile replacing the current oil with RP.

As the 330 is still relatively young (03/2003) I will keep servicing it at a BMW dealership so protect its longer term value. I'm presuming however that wandering into the dealership and saying "here's some Royal Purple, please use this rather than the oil you were going to put in" won't cut the mustard.
 
#18 ·
Hi mate,

Most dealers wo'nt mind you bringing in your own oil but you would have to check with the particular dealer.

my colleague bought a 330 from the dealer and could 3 years servicing thrown in....which was cool but he always insisted on bringing in his own oil rather than the one the "stealers" would use.......why?..............because although they were a BMW main dealer, they used the Mobil 1 oil full stop on every car they serviced even though BMW themselves reccommend Castrol.
This dealer was part of the Sytner Grp.....all Sytner dealers use Mobil oil.

My mate used to bring down the Castrol Edge 5w/30 for them to use.......Synter would have used Mobil 1 0w/40.

Castrol is a high quality oil but my mate now uses and so do we unless customers say otherwise the Fuchs 5w/30.............this oil, although it is alot cheaper than the Castrol, is German engineered and beleive it or not is used as an original fill oil by BMW and Mercedes on some of their models.
 
#20 ·
I have a similar problem with oil consumption. About 1 litre every 1500 miles and was at first very concerned. After reading some articles on oil consumption it appears that on BMW engines oil consumption on this scale is quite normal :confused I certainly hope this is the case.If I can find the article again I will post it
 
#24 ·
Just make sure your oil meets ACEA A3 LL01 spec. So minimum kinematic viscosity of 12.0 cSt @ 100C and a minimum HTHS of 3.5. Very few XW30's meet this critical spec for our BMW engines. Shearing and sludge are guaranteed if the wrong oil is used. Some oils that don't meet spec are M1 0/5/10W30, Royal Purple 5W30, Castrol Syntec 5W30, Valvoline Synpower 5W30 unless it's the 5W30 MST version, Pennzoil Platinum 5W30 etc. M1 0w40 availabLe everywhere is probably the most used oil in BMW engines worldwide, a prettY safe choice.
 
#26 ·
Only just noticed this thread! It makes me wonder how much damage has already been done! some of the good branded oils are absolute cack! better off buying asda own brand mineral oils than that shell helix stuff!!
 
#29 ·
i've seen Penrite for sale in a classic car shop "Moss" near stockport.

i've an oil change due today.....need to ask what he is using

may change to penrite later this year having seen the test..thanks for that.

also.....how do i reset the service computer ???

thanks
 
#32 ·
hullo, right i want some of this royal purple oil as curiosity is getting better of me, where can i get it, need engine oil and going to do the gear box oil, is there a supplier available now?
 
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