5w-30 to 0w-40 oil on a 143k mile engine

5w-30 to 0w-40 oil on a 143k mile engine

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SoupAnxiety

Original Poster:

299 posts

109 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
Hi all,

I've got a 2009/59 E92 N53 330i with 143k miles on the clock. It's been on 5w-30 fully synthetic oil for its life (standard dealer schedules) and since my ownership from 126k miles I've been changing the oil every 9k miles. It gets through around 1/4 litre of oil every 1,000-1,500 miles and for this reason I'd like to switch to a thicker grade oil. I've Googled to death and find mixed opinions on if thicker grades are a brilliant / horrendous idea. Opie Oils and the BMW handbook recommend 0w-30, 0w-40, 5w-30 and 5w-40 fully synthetic oils. I have two boring oil questions which I cannot get a definitive answer to online...

1) Would switching to 0w oil give better winter start protection? Is it too thin when cold for a higher mileage engine? My mechanic thought it could be a bad idea. Is it really necessary for the mild UK winters or is 5w sufficient cold start protection?
2) Would switching to a thicker -40 oil upset the engine? Is it bedded in with a lifetime of -30 grade oil that switching to -40 will upset tolerances, increase oil pressure or cause bad things to happen? Will it disturb an otherwise happy engine and cause bits to behave differently?

Thanks in advance for the help :-)

Smuler

2,286 posts

138 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
SoupAnxiety said:
Hi all,

I've got a 2009/59 E92 N53 330i with 143k miles on the clock. It's been on 5w-30 fully synthetic oil for its life (standard dealer schedules) and since my ownership from 126k miles I've been changing the oil every 9k miles. It gets through around 1/4 litre of oil every 1,000-1,500 miles and for this reason I'd like to switch to a thicker grade oil. I've Googled to death and find mixed opinions on if thicker grades are a brilliant / horrendous idea. Opie Oils and the BMW handbook recommend 0w-30, 0w-40, 5w-30 and 5w-40 fully synthetic oils. I have two boring oil questions which I cannot get a definitive answer to online...

1) Would switching to 0w oil give better winter start protection? Is it too thin when cold for a higher mileage engine? My mechanic thought it could be a bad idea. Is it really necessary for the mild UK winters or is 5w sufficient cold start protection?
2) Would switching to a thicker -40 oil upset the engine? Is it bedded in with a lifetime of -30 grade oil that switching to -40 will upset tolerances, increase oil pressure or cause bad things to happen? Will it disturb an otherwise happy engine and cause bits to behave differently?

Thanks in advance for the help :-)
I had worse oil consumption than you, post 100k E46 M54, and did experiment with different grades of oil. It didn't make any difference. I would stick. I think you are doing good for 143k.



mon the fish

1,412 posts

147 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
Obviously a completely different engine, but when my R53 Mini started drinking a bit of oil (had never used any before in it's 75k miles) I switched from the 5w-30 I'd always used to 5w-40. Now no more oil consumed.

I wouldn't change 5w to 0w, but I went for the slightly thicker oil at higher temps as I suspected my rings were worn

SoupAnxiety

Original Poster:

299 posts

109 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
Thanks all. Think I'll give 5w-40 oil a go. Is 0w for very cold climates then?

bmwmike

6,918 posts

107 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
Personally if it's not broke don't try to fix it but also I tend to go for whatever ll01 or ll04 is on offer and change at 10k.

Last engine m52tub25 in an e46 323i I ran to 178k and it used no oil between services.

I now have an n53 which at 36k has had 2 oil services lol.

Congrats on getting your n53 to a decent mileage I must say that's reassuring. Have you had much expense with it?

SoupAnxiety

Original Poster:

299 posts

109 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
I will go for 5w-40, looking into temperature ranges 0w is unnecessary for UK temperatures. I'm hoping a slightly thicker when warm oil will reduce oil consumption. I hope that the thicker grade doesn't upset anything else though...

Apart from the coil pack recall it just wants for servicing. I change plugs and oil with a preventative / paranoid attitude, I've replaced shocks / springs / mounts at 130k as the originals were worn and baggy.

It has a cold start misfire for 30 seconds or so, injectors might be to blame, but being a 2009/59 model mine already has the later injector part number (there's three versions, mine is number two so not entirely sure). Coolant temperature sensor and MAF are on the list. Despite the cold start lumpiness I think the N53 issues are exaggerated, typical of most things there are always more angry voices than reports of the many owners who have no trouble at all. It's a great car and the biggest upset is explaining to a friend with an N54 335i that I did not want twin turbo!

bmwmike

6,918 posts

107 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
I doubt you'll upset anything, just make sure whatever you put in meets spec.

N53 has been great to me so far as well. I hope you are right about reports being exaggerated and actually if you search on google etc there are not really that many posts. I deliberately avoided turbo too.

Do you have diagnostic software ? Mine was lumpy the other day, second start of the day after sitting for 2 hours after a short (1.5 mile) journey. Error was stratified rough running, so switched to homogenous mode. Solution was do nothing if customer hasn't noticed... lol!

So you haven't even replaced a NOX sensor? Wow! Got a good un there. Hope I get 100k out of mine.

Gl with the oil. Cheers




SoupAnxiety

Original Poster:

299 posts

109 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
Manual lists 0w-30, 0w-40, 5w-30, 5w-40 as acceptable grades so 5w-40 will be in use after the February service next year. Got a few litres of 5w-30 left to top up with until then...!

Only sensor I've replaced is the washer fluid level sensor! Judging by forums the N53 issues went quiet in 2012ish after the coil pack recall. Googling the lumpiness finds results ranging from plugs to replacing all injectors but the latter is normally done when there's a problem when up to temperature.

I rarely get a fault code with mine, the EML has only lit up three times in one year. Code is combustion misfire, cylinder varies. It might just be a quirk of the engine, if you look into it you'll see early N53s with starship mileage like me and brand new off the line N53s with the same cold start issue. It's been a niggle for the past 20k - if you find a fix do let me know. I'll message you next year after my Indy has had a look at the car when it's in. New plugs did eliminate the issue but that was only 10k ago so perhaps something is mucking up the plugs.

bmwmike

6,918 posts

107 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
In danger of taking your thread off topic.. sorry !

But yes will let you know if I find anything.


I find this engine lumpy at idle compared to my old m52tu which was like clockwork but I think, as you say, it's as much a quirk of the engine as anything.


I did get one misfire after removing the engine cover. Cylinder 2, which strangely was the only injector I touched. Literally, touched it. Not removed, not unplugged. I have a theory that static triggers the piezo enough to leak some fuel which causes a misfire. Just a theory.

And your point about plugs, I already get the sense after only 2000 miles with this engine that it does not like short trips or babying. I think the plugs might soot up due to the lean burn and it needs a blast to clean them. Just a theory again.

Cheers


SoupAnxiety

Original Poster:

299 posts

109 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
Your static theory is interesting, the injectors were known for being finicky. An Italian tune up does work wonders. The misfire is only present on sub-10C cold starts, and last just for 30 seconds after pouring out white smoke at idle. From then on all is good. I'm expecting mucky plugs on next service after 10k miles. Think changing plugs masks the problem but it's better than the cost of a Piezo injector!

SoupAnxiety

Original Poster:

299 posts

109 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
quotequote all
bmwmike - thought I'd update you on the oil. Flushed and switched to 5w-40 at the weekend, changed the filter and chucked a bottle of Wynn's Stop Smoke (also in with the replaced oil). Misfire issue is less severe (slight judder under acceleration but less smoke at idle) but this is probably unrelated / coincidence. Noticed +3 MPG from the change, the oil which I replaced was only 6,000 miles old so this is a result (getting 30 MPG on my 8 + 8 to the office and 16 mile home commute). The oil takes a little longer to warm up which is consistent with how the car behaved when I first bought it, I suspect it's been run on a -40 weight oil and switching to -30 is why it was using oil. I'll keep you posted as I rack up more miles, and if I get anywhere with the misfire issue!

bmwmike

6,918 posts

107 months

Saturday 16th July 2016
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Hey just noticed your reply.. how's your engine going?

SoupAnxiety

Original Poster:

299 posts

109 months

Saturday 16th July 2016
quotequote all
Hi Mike. Still using oil on 5w-40, roughly 1 litre every 3,000 miles. The misfire issue is a separate N53 quirk, narrowing it down to a faulty injector. No adverse affects on -40 oil and it has reduced consumption so it's still recommended. There's a minor leak from the rocker cover gasket which is weeping but apparently the N53s like a drink unless run in properly when new.

bmwmike

6,918 posts

107 months

Saturday 16th July 2016
quotequote all
Good to hear its going well! Litre every 3k isn't bad really.

Just a thought, have you tried taking the plugs out after its been stood overnight ? Any wet plugs will be leaking injectors.

That's how I found mine anyway, 2012 car with 40k and they all needed replacing
Ho hum!


SoupAnxiety

Original Poster:

299 posts

109 months

Sunday 17th July 2016
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I've been chasing fault codes. Persistent on cylinder three, swapped coil packs and fault remained, swapped injectors and fault moved. Replaced injector with new and recoded, and fault is better but still happens on cylinder one! Will try your suggestion as it seems the fault codes do not pinpoint beyond the cylinder bank.

bmwmike

6,918 posts

107 months

Sunday 17th July 2016
quotequote all
That's right .. ecu knows something's up with bank 1 or bank 2 but can't pinpoint cylinder. As I understand it injector 3 could be leaking, but ecu sees that bank as running rich and therefore leans off all 3 injectors. Result of 2 cylinders running lean.


SoupAnxiety

Original Poster:

299 posts

109 months

Sunday 17th July 2016
quotequote all
My plan is to move #2 and #3 to bank two as I've eliminated #1 as it is the new one. Hopefully this will mean I can cure the misfire. It's a shame as I really do rate the engine and think these issues mean people overlook a gem of a car.