130i Oil Grade

[sagarich]

The handbook is rather vague about what oil grade my 130i needs. Apart from the recommended Castrol, what grade should I use?

Also, the digital dip stick has dropped two bars. Does anyone know what a "bar" is equivalent to in volume?

A normal dipstick would be so much easier...

[driver67]

Have a look at this thread from babybmw.net :-

http://www.babybmw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26064

When required, the dash will indicate an amber oil can (zero bars).

This is it telling you to add 1 litre of oil.

The bars only measure 1 litre.

[sagarich]

driver67 said:

Have a look at this thread from babybmw.net :-

http://www.babybmw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26064

When required, the dash will indicate an amber oil can (zero bars).

This is it telling you to add 1 litre of oil.

The bars only measure 1 litre.

So there's no real official grade, so long as it's BMW spec its fine?

Do most people wait until they get the 1litre top up warning as its hard to gauge the quantity needed based on bars?

[driver67]

sagarich said:

So there's no real official grade, so long as it's BMW spec its fine?

Do most people wait until they get the 1litre top up warning as its hard to gauge the quantity needed based on bars?

Pretty much on the grade, as long as it's LL04 or equivalent.

The car should only ever need 1 or 2 litres between oil services.

Just wait until you get the Oil Can amber warning then stick 1 ltr in.

You don't want to pre-empt this in case of overfilling.

Edited by driver67 on Monday 29th June 15:11

[sagarich]

driver67 said:

Just wait until you get the Oil Can amber warning then stick 1 ltr in.

You don't want to pre-empt this in case of overfilling.

Good point, I will get a litre to keep in the boot and ignore until it asks to be fed.

[driver67]

sagarich said:

driver67 said:

Just wait until you get the Oil Can amber warning then stick 1 ltr in.

You don't want to pre-empt this in case of overfilling.

Good point, I will get a litre to keep in the boot and ignore until it asks to be fed.

That's what I do, there's an elastic holder on the left when you open the boot which is perfect for it.

[VerySideways]

I found with a 30 weight my 130 would lose a fair amount of oil, if driven hard in summer as much as a litre in 4000 miles.
When I switched to a 40 weight the consumption almost disappeared, down to a litre every 10,000 miles.

I used an LL04 specific Castrol 0W-40 in the end and that seemed to work well.

[nickfrog]

I would even get a 5w with a few miles.