e39 Oil Change Assistance with Oil & Filter Recommendation

[rufryder]

I have already purchased Mobil 1 5w-30 and Purolator Oil Filter (Promise to replace with Mann next time), however at the oil cap under the hood, it says, BMW recommends Castrol. Should I replace Mobil 1 with Castrol? If so, which Castrol to use (in the North EastCoast - cold winters) or can I use the Mobil 1 this time and replace it with Castrol? Or bad idea?

[cary]

Being you are going into winter, the 5w-30 will be fine, but in the future it is preferable to run Mobil 1 0w-40 which carries BMW's LL-01 approval, which will assure adequate valvetrain and bearing protection. The BMW branded Castrol Synthetic 5w-30 is also a perfectly good oil, as long as you don't run it longer than 10k intervals.

[DanDombrowski]

Best oil for that car if youre going stick with the mobil 1, use 0w40, because its the only m1 thats LL01 approved. If you search bimmerforums or any other BMW board that specializes in that car you'll find its what they all recommend. Either that or German Castrol, or BMW 5w30

[bimmerd00d]

I use Mobil1 5w30 and 10w30 in my E39 540i and 528i without issue. The BMW Castrol stuff is good, but it's not worth the extra money. I've got 140k on my 540, and 219k on the '00 528i.