I have recently bought a 15 month old BMW 330D. (36,000 motorway miles)
I have noted that according to the service book the car has had oil changes every 14,000 miles...
Being of the old school with regards to changing engine oil I immediately contacted several BMW main dealers..They all assured me it was ok to leave the servicing so long as they use \"special longlife Castrol SLX oil\".. It is a SAE 0-40 which appears to have the viscosity of dishwater (Very expensive dishwater as I need almost 7 litres of it).
My previous car was a Golf Mk IV Tdi (110bhp) which I used to put Millers fully synthetic in every 5,000 miles (twice as often as VW recommended).
I e mailed Millers themselves to ask about using there Fully synthetic diesel specific oil every 6,000 miles in the BMW and was told to use the Fully synthetic Petrol engine oil in my particular car..
Basically I want to know what is so special about the BMW 3 litre Diesel that Millers synthetic diesel specific oil cannot be used..
Also would you please advise me which oil you would use and at what intervals.
I have to confess I am more than a little worried after reading past comments about Turbo damage etc on this particular engine.
In anticipation I thank you for any help you can offer me.
Regards,
Simon Speed
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Hi,
this really does get me,
I have worked in tech help desk at 2 oil firms totalling about 9 years experience. (not millers...yet)
There is a amazing amount of people who will ring up, ask what to use be it engine oil, gear oil, coolant then insist it is wrong and want to use something else and want to argue it and ask why they cant use product x not y.
why do people contact professionals who know what they are talking about and would only recomend the correct thing...if they want to disregard what they are told.
not a dig here, just my curiosity
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I see what you\'re saying here. Unfortunately there are too many \'experts\' who all tell us different things - the more opinions you seek, the more difficult your choice.
Confucious say \'man with watch, knows what the time is. Man with two watches, never sure\'.
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Thing to note re experts,
An Ex is a has been and a Spert is a drip under pressure.
ndbw
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I would use a fully synthetic oil that meets or exceeds the reccomedations laid down by BMW. Be it a Diesel or petrol specific, I'd not worry.
Oh, and change it every 6000 miles/6months if you are going to keep the car.
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn/problems.msnw?Page=1 - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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Here we go again....
How is is that the oil manufacturers spend soooo much on R&D and prduce an oil which can go up to, say, 24,000 miles between changes (VW TDI PD 130) and then we get a load of "has been drips under pressure" who say that you should change it every 6,000 miles maximum?
I remember reading a long time ago, when 12,000 miles or annual changes became the "state of the art" that the limiting factor was the filter. Larger, better filters enabled the extension from 6,000 mile intervals to 10,000/12,000 miles.
Why is there so much prejudice against going over 6,000 miles? - especially when some engines have built-in sensors that monitor the oil's condition? Even HJ seems allergic to the extended intervals!
Merry Christmas to 1 and all.
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I take it by your reply that you think 14,000 miles is fine and dandy to leave oil in a Diesel engine..
VW have this policy of so called "longlife" oils...I talked to the Service manager at a main dealer (VW) and he told me on the quiet that if it was his car there was no way on earth he would leave the oil as long as the service schedule recommended!
He reckoned that the "longlife" policy adopted by various manufacturers was a marketing ploy to win customers from the fleet sector..It gives the illusion that the running costs are less on Brand X than Brand Y, due to lower servicing costs...
At the end of the day the average fleet buyer does not care two figs if the engine is wrecked after 2 years or so..
I think I shall be changing oil according to my own uneducated common sense rules.
S.
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I can only say that as a BMW owner, that the Castrol SLX 0 - 30w, which is "as thin as dishwater" when initially filled, becomes quite thick and tarry in appearance after only 6 to 7k miles.
As a privately owned vehicle, which I hope to keep for approx 6 years, there is no way I intend to run until 14k oil changes, which is blatantly directed towards fleet service managers to reduce servicing costs, with little regard for the long term serviceability of the engine.
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Totally agree with you both - and the Service Manager.
Goodnight and Happy Christmas!
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn/problems.msnw?Page=1 - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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Could be down to lack of knowledge what has been done before is normal.There is the problem that manufacturer`s say one thing and it won`t work.I am not saying that it applie`s to all.but it doe`s seem strange that a lot will stick to what they know rather than change.I cannot see that changing for a while
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Simon, I had a similar experience when I bought my Vectra TDi from new five years ago. I always use Morris oil and asked their reccomendation. They said not to use their diesel oil but to use Morris Multivis. Their reason was that this engine not only needs an high diesel spec but also a high petrol one which meant I needed a spec of ACEA A3 and B3.
They did go into detail and was to do with experience of high speed continental driving which caused some problems primarily with Ford and GM in the 80s.
alvin
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