oil recommendation

[davidll]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to ask some quick advice.

Have a e90 320i se automatic gearbox. Tend to use on relatively short journeys (10-20 miles a day)

I want to change the engine oil and am unsure which grade to choose...opie oils suggest either 5w30 or 5w40 fully synthetic..

The questions I have are:

Which grade should I choose and why?
Is there much difference between different brands of oil?
Could semi synthetic (eg Magnatec) be substituted for fully synthetic(eg Edge)..I initially thought not but the castrol website seems to think so. They recommend 5w30(edge) but also recommend alternatives of (Alternative recommendations: Edge 5W-30 / Edge Sport 0W-40; Edge 5W-30 / MAGNATEC 5W-30 A3/B4; Edge 0W-30 / Edge Sport 0W-40)

I would be grateful for any advice....am confused.

[Vladimir]

Best website for oil choice (IMO) is opieoils.co.uk

[davidll]

Thanks for the reply.

Opie oils suggest more than one grade of oil...Castrol suggest multiple grades....

[z4me]

did you use the 'service pack' search on opie oils? Think that gives you five options, all fully synthetic. Personally, I've used the Mobil packs for my Z4.

[E30M3SE]

Just change the oil (& filter) more regularly to compensate for the short journeys, i.e. if it normally needs a service every 2 years change annually.