The 318is requires a 15-40 oil, thats probably the reason why its tapping so much

 

Where have you obtained this information from?
Mine runs on 10w40 at the moment, also used 5w30 previosly with no tapping issues at all. These are both BMW specified oil grades for normal/longlife services.

 

Best way to check is stick your car details HERE...I would say 10W40 would be correct as quoted by LGB :thumbsup

 

Obtained the information from our works Oil company dependant on the year mine is a 94 it uses 15 40 oil

 

LGB your car should be using a 5 40 fully synthetic oil according to the year and model. Using different grades of oil can seriously damage your engine. For instance a fiesta zetec engine has a recommended oil grade of 5-30, therefore using a 10-40 will decrease the life of the engine as its not supposed to be used. An M3 uses a 0-30 oil because of its performance ect, you wouldnt go using a 10-40 on that would you???

 

An M44 engine is the same engine regardless of year, '95-'00. The only reason that my '99 engine is "supposed" to run on 5w40 or 5w30 or any fully synthetic is becasue of BMW's long life services, which were introduced when early E46's were released. You'll find that '96/ '97 cars were run on 10w40, untill bmw released their "LL" service schedules, and now they're reccommended to be running on fully synthetic. 15-20k between services? I think not, i'll change mine every 6k or so with a decent quality 10w40 semi-synthetic thanks. It'll make no difference to the performance or life of my engine, providing i change it more frequently, which i'm perfectly happy with doing.

 

I think your taking this slightly too far. You can put what ever oil you want to put in your car, the title of this thread is "Which Oil for 96 318is" i have stated which oils i would use and going by our oil manufacturer and there specifications 10w40 is not listed for that model and year.

 

Fair enough, i was just explaining (in great detail, i apologise! lol) why i use the oil i use. Check out the Castrol site. A '96 318is M44 engine is listed as using their 0w40 "Edge" fully sythetic oil. There is a range of oils that can be used with this engine, but ultimately, its down to how often you're willing to change the oil, and how deep your pockets are. The longer the service interval, the more £££ you should spend on oil.

 

Ok boys...this should end the arguments...you are both right ...LINK. Pay attention to the 'different grades of oil' section :thumbsup

 

Ahem! NealP lol, LGB im always skint so oil changes all the time would be a pain in the arse, so next time i need one ill come to you

No hard feelings mate, Pints in if i see you at a meet

 

:thumbsup

 

ha ha ha ha ha so what oil should i use because i didn know what oil was in the car before i did the oil change and now i put 10/40 in its tappy please advise