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2002 318 E46 Oil consumption

4K views 40 replies 8 participants last post by  sprintman 
#1 ·
My 318 had an inspection 2 service at 59646 miles on 2nd Jan. It's now got 62136 miles (2490 miles more) and the oil light has come on !!

I've just spoken to the dealer who tells me BMW claim "Up to 1 litre of oil every 1000 miles". If this is true, it has to be said that at £17 a litre, the cost of running my 318 has shot up.

I did have another E46 318 before this one and it never used a drop of oil.

Which is normal ? My previous 318 that never used a drop or my current one that's drinking oil like it's going out of fashion.

I should mention that there's no burning oil smoke out the back and no oil on my driveway.
 
#16 ·
I have seen that on the Opie site, but the technical literature from Fusch and even on the bottles that I have clearly say BMW LL01:confused

I really looked into this one before I put my money down and thought it was the right stuff, I will check before I put it in mine now as I am a little concerned and it was not exactly cheap..
 
#17 ·
It does say BMW LL01, for real??

hmm, not saying you're wrong dude but as Sprintman said- many 0w/30 do not meet the required specs.

Double check whn you can mate, I'd be interested to know what the literature says.

Been using Fuchs for years now- never used the 0w/30 since the specs did not meet the needs.

I too will double check this with our supplier...........interesting?


.......still, I would not use a 0w/30, no matter what brand but again that is done to personally preference.
 
#18 ·
Slacker Ray,

According to the Unipart Catalogue at my branch today 0W30 Supersyn is the correct oil for the M54 330i.:)

I have a copy of that page, which I will post later when I figure out how to. :frown

The Fuch leaflet backs this up and says that Supersyn 0W30 meets the BMW LL01 specification and the bottles of oil that I have also say the same...

Also been on the Opie oils site and when you ask it for a service pack, it comes up with the same grade!!

I am not saying this is correct, only going on the information that I have - I would appreciate your views on this...:confused

I appologise for hyjacking someone elses thread, not sure if I should of started another one for this or not?
 
#20 ·
Hi mate,

That is interesting mate!

When we started off using the Fuchs brands- we looked inti the supersyn 0w/30 and even confrimed with Fuchs that this did noy meet LL01.

Gonna double check this mate.......BUT if the oil you have does indeed state that it complies to LL01 on the tub, then don't worry about it- that's fine.

I'm gonna check this out and will get back to you:thumbsup


As for Hyjacking the thread, its cool but its not for me to say dude:D

I hyjacked a thread once.....................didn't go down too well dude:rofl
 
#24 ·
WTF!!.......you ARE right mate.

Just had a mate from the workshop check out our supplies of the same Fuchs oil you have........and guess what, the specs say BMW LL98 not LL01.

and on the Opieoils site it states that this oil is LL98 BUT as you said has reccomended it for your car??

maybe the batches we have are of old stock and since then the specs have changed??

gonna get this cleared up with our man at Fuchs.
 
#25 ·
Or maybe mine is the old shit and they have since downgraded the specs instead;)

If I could I would upload the scans of the leaflets from Fuchs and the application guide from the Unipart catalogue - but I do not have a scooby doo how to upload a .tif file so you will have to trust me for now it says the same.:confused

Please keep me posted as Unipart will take mine back if I want something else - but do not understand why. I am gonna put changing mine until there is a definate answer (if thats at all possible):silly
 
#27 ·
Only because that was the oil that was recommended to me at my usual supplier (Unipart) where I have an account. I was not prepared to pay Stealer prices of there oil...

Why, what would you put in my 330i if you where to do it?

P.S. Does not use any oil, even though it's very low viscosity...
 
#29 ·
You have to select an oil that meets ACEA A3 and LL01. Most XW30's don't meet spec, to thin and HTHS (High Temp High Shear) to low giving increased wear and sludge. The specs will be written on the bottles/jugs or look the oil up on the web site for full specs before purchase. If you post the oil you choose I'll post the specs. Cheers..s
 
#32 ·
So if I understand what you are saying right, there are two different grades of Super Syn 0W30 - And one of them does meet the specification (the one that I have says it does therefore it's OK)?:confused

That just makes things slightly less (or maybe slightly more) confusing!!!

What do you think Ray? Ok to use mine then? Ta Kev
 
#35 ·
Top man, thanks for getting back to me on this..

What a relief, I am gonna treat the old girl (the car not the girlfriend) to a lube service ASAP now....:D

What a lot of confusion though, eh?

Why don't they call them something different, or use different colour cans etc?;)

Hope that maybe this helps someone else out too...
 
#37 ·
I am going to be doing an Oil change on my car soon too, and I have a 318i 2001 but have a question due to the discussion that just took place in this thread.

So just to clarify, so long as on the tub it says it is suitable to use for a BMW etc etc, then I can use it. I was thinking of using Halfords one as my dad has had no problems with it and he has a 320D 2003.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...messageId=SUMP_SIZE_MESSAGE&messageParam=5.00

However, would it be better to use the catrol one, though its a bit more expensive (£11.25 - per litre rather than £8.40 - Per Litre) due to the fact BMW recomend it. Also, is halfords generally a good price for Oil or is somewhere like GSF or a independant dealer better off?

Cheers for the help.
 
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