engine and drivetrain Synthetic Oils In 02S

[billjecks]

anyone out there tried synthetic oil in your 02? I put 10w/40 amsoil for collectors cars in mine and it seems

to be sprouting leaks. Whats your experience?

 

Bill

vancouver bc

73 tii

[coolwnc]

I use Mobile One....No problems! Buy the 5 qt. container at WalMart for $22+.

[Cyclone101]

Synthetic oils are fine if your seals/gaskets are new, old seals might leak with synthetic and not with dino, it's usually because of the lower viscosity.

Our engines run forever on dino anyway, so unless cold temperatures are the problem, I don't see much benefit of synthetic.

[photog02]

A long time ago, when synthetics first came out, they could cause leakage. Newer synthetics have been formulated to not cause those problems with seals. You will be fine running about any high-quality synthetic. Or semi-syn. Or dino. I ran Mobil1 in my first 2002 when she was in her mid-20s with no issues. I run Brad Penn in my 40 year old 2002 now, again with no issues.

 

Check out the forums on Bob is the Oil Guy (bobistheoilguy.com/forums/) and you will learn more than you ever cared to about oil. Also, their sales forum is worth keeping an eye on if you have a vehicle that you don't have dedicated to one oil brand.

[DonP]

so unless cold temperatures are the problem, I don't see much benefit of synthetic.

 

Couldn't agree more!

[Buckeye]

Valvoline VR-1 20w-50. Readily available, not too expensive, good zinc content.

[Mike87]

Been running 20W50 Red Line for about 80K miles now and all is well.

[M3M3]

Our engines run forever on dino anyway, so unless cold temperatures are the problem, I don't see much benefit of synthetic.

dino or synth has nothing to do with outside temperature.  viscocity is viscocity.  15w40 is 15w40 whether dino or syth.

 

the advantage of synth is in its ability to maintain that viscocity in harsher use and for longer periods of time before breaking down or losing its detergent ability.   an engine will run forever on any kind of oil base if changed often enough for the type of base and used within the range of the that base.

 

me....all my cars/trucks are run on synth oil, except one.  the e30 325e.  why?  well, it is an eta...

Edited July 12, 2013 by mlytle

[jrhone]

anyone out there tried synthetic oil in your 02? I put 10w/40 amsoil for collectors cars in mine and it seems

to be sprouting leaks. Whats your experience?

 

Bill

vancouver bc

73 tii

 

 

Try a 20w/50 oil....10w/40 is a little thin for our engines.  I was thinking of switching to synthetic, but I change my oil every 3 months anyway so Dino oil is just fine.  Like Mlyttle said, Synthetics will maintain its viscosity over longer periods of time.  I just like to change every 3 months...it gives me an excuse to look around and do visual inspections at the same time.

[jimk]

I get so damned tired of somebody claiming synthetics cause leaks.  Look around and fix the leaks before synthetic is put in then there wont be any leaks from a tired old set of gaskets.  BTW synthetic oils are as much different from each other as brands/types of tires.  Some are garden variety (hydrocracked crude oil) and some are special.  All it takes is a bit of research to find the good ones, not by asking the next guy in line at the hamberger stand.

 

Edit,I forgot to check my spelling.

Edited July 12, 2013 by jimk

[nicktahoe]

I run Royal Purple 20w/50. Leakage is minimal. A little expensive but I think its worth the price. 

[Slightly Larger Roundies]

Jimk... That was your 2002 post! sweet!  

 

+1 on Valvoline VR-1 20w-50...

[Chris_B]

This stuff is pretty interesting for 02 motors:

 

http://www.penngrade1.com/Products/High-Performance/SAE-20W50.aspx

 

The price is right and it seems to have all of the right stuff for an older design like the 02 motor.

 

I agree that synthetic motor oil does not in and of itself cause problems with motor seals. As many have said, virtually all modern synthetic oils have seal conditioners that prevent seal shrinkage. One conceivable scenario that could increase leaking past seals is that synthetic oils (and any quality non-synthetic) have high detergent formulations, so they will tend to dissolve deposits blocking seals. This presumes that you previously were not maintaining your oil and allowed crap to build up on your seals and then suddenly started using high quality oil with frequent changes (or inhereted a motor with a poor maintenance history from a PO...). 

 

Anyway, this stuff sounds really good and I have been using it. So far, seems good, but I realize my statistical sample of one is meaningless, and I am an obsessive oil changer, so non-synthetic would probably do me just as well.

 

 

[Chris_B]

P.S.: this is a good source for oil and other chemicals. Good guy and BMW fan.

 

www.apexportgroup.com

 

Not much of a web site, but send Marco an email about what you want and he will take care of you.

[roadhog0]

I run Amsoil 20w50, just the basic Amsoil and it works darn good! Only thing that sucked in my 02 hard core was some 10w40 I ran cause man, did it get sucked by the valve stem seals!