Advice to a young driver

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Wed 24 Oct 2001 15:11
Advice to a young driver - Andy
Have just acquired a 1986 E30 BMW 316 which has done 96k and is in very good condition.

I would like to change the oil and filter but do not know which oil and which grade to choose.

Honest John states in the Car by Car Breakdown that the E30 is a "prime candidate for fully synthetic oil (engine won't last forever without it)".

I would like to strike the right balance between cheap motoring and keeping the car in as good a condition as possible. In view of this, would a premium brand of oil be a waste of money or would the cheapest oil fail to adequately protect the engine?

Help...!

Yours

Andy
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Wed 24 Oct 2001 15:49
Re: Advice to a young driver - Richard Hall
Has your BMW had regular oil changes in the past? The reason I ask is that if oil changes have been skipped, the inside of the engine will be clogged up with black tarry deposits. If you now start using a high quality, high detergent oil it will loosen all this black gunge. Some of it will get into the bearings and score them, most will accumulate round the oil pickup strainer in the sump and block it with catastrophic consequences. I once had an Audi 80 put a rod through the side of the block due to exactly this problem.

When you unscrew the oil filler cap, if the mechanicals inside look clean and shiny you should be OK. I use Quantum semi-synthetic (about £8/gallon from German & Swedish) in my 132,000 mile Audi Coupe and it seems fine. I wouldn't use anything cheaper.
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Wed 24 Oct 2001 16:04
Re: Advice to a young driver - Darcy Kitchin
Andy

There's lots of discussion about oils earlier in this site. use the search facility.

I use Morris semi-synthetic and have managed to get satisfactory (100K+) mileages out of a variety of Citroens. Others prefer Millers.

Read the posts, decide on your budget, then choose, but don't neglect the frequency.
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Wed 24 Oct 2001 17:51
Re: Advice to a young driver - Guy Lacey
Unipart Silver semi-synth.

Used this in 170,000mile Golfs without probs.
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Wed 24 Oct 2001 19:45
Re: Advice to a young driver - ChrisR
I've always run cars over eight years old and my system has always been to buy cheap oil (the cheapest I can find) and change it often (3-3.5K miles). The cars have always lost their appeal before the engines died (my last was a Pug 309D that I had for five years and sold in May for 350 quid at sixteen years old on a dubious 110K). And I've always been able to sell them, too, rather than scrapping.

Chris
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