Oil

[Alexlind123]

Could someone scan the page in the 535i's owners manual where it has a chart reccomending oil viscositys for various temperatures?

[uscharalph]

Could someone scan the page in the 535i's owners manual where it has a chart reccomending oil viscositys for various temperatures?

Here's an online scanned copy of the owners manual: http://luuk.xs4all.nl/bmwboeken/bmwe34manual/ Hope this helps.

[DaCan23]

If you use Mobil 1 you can go to their site for their recommendation.

http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/Mo....aspx?option=2

[632 Regal]

M1 0w-40

[DaCan23]

Huh, just checked the E34 recommendation and Mobil use to recommend 15w-50 for the 530i and now its 0w-40....

For the E24 they recommend 5w-20. Is that what you M30 3.5 E34 guys run?

[Alexlind123]

Its too fuzzy to make out the chart on the scanned version, but my brother has the manual for his e28 535i and i think i will use Valvoline 20w-50.

[Bill R.]

doing yourself a disservice by not taking advantage of some of the new technology in oils...I'm now running mobil one synthetic 0w40 in both of my bmw's the 89 535 and the 2000 3232it....It qualifies on bmw's charts as a long life oil as listed here on bmw specs...The e34 m30 motor is listed here as other for its oil requirements.
Although if you intentionally choose not to use a synthetic then valvoline or castrol 20w50 should be fine..

Its too fuzzy to make out the chart on the scanned version, but my brother has the manual for his e28 535i and i think i will use Valvoline 20w-50.

[Alexlind123]

My dad has a bunch of valvoline 10w-30 and 20w-50 on hand so i should use it. Perhaps the next time i change it i will think about synthetic.

[SRR2]

In addition to what others have said, you might also consider that a 1990 owner's manual is 16-17 years old. No doubt about it, oil technology has changed in that period of time. Not that the manual is wrong necessarily, but obviously the writers couldn't anticipate where oil would be almost 20 years in the future. For older cars like this, I'd give serious consideration to the oil manufacturer's recommendations, and to success stories of other users.

FWIW, I've been using Mobil1 5W-30 exclusively in my 325iX (M20) and the (previous) '89 535i with excellent results. Pristine clean engines, no cam wear, long intervals between valve adjustments, easy winter starting, and no oil consumption. Don't know what more you could ask, or what more 0W-40 (which I use in the Porsche per their requirement) would have delivered.

[pundit]

Here in Oz I use Mobil 1 5w-50. It's around 30% cheaper than Mobil 1 0w-40 and seems fine in my 535i. No sub freezing winters where I live!