BMW Oil

[Kasra]

Hi all!

Got a 2006 BMW 323i E90 wth the N52 engine.

In these vintage engines BMW made one of the oil passages too small and in cold temperatures the oil cannot get to the lifters until the engine is fairly warm. You get the” tick tick ticking” from the hydronic lifters. If you do highway driving the ticking never happens, however, when you do local driving the ticking happens.

Other than the annoying noise, I worry about proper lubricant. I change the oil regularly and obsess over the cars maintenance. I also use to use Royal Purple oil but once the engine started to tick I switched to Castrol Edge synthetic (a BMW certified oil) which has reduced the noice.

My question is: the car uses 5w-30, however, this winter is suppose to be particularly harsh, can I use 0W-30?

Getting the car ready for winter now while it is still warm and considering we are suppose to have our first frost the first week of October want to be particularly prepared.

Topic

[Cameron]

1. I would stick with the BMW recommendation on the oil type and grade for the winter conditions you experience in your area.

2. Check on the brand you intend to use and the specifications of that Brand’s oils in the 0w-30 and 5w-30 grades and you will likely find there is not much difference between the 2 in the cold temperatures you are likely to experience. Like this for example……………http://www.synthetic-oil-tech.com/d.cgi/1124190/which_30_weight_oil.htm

3. Changing to a 0-30 oil is not going to make the hydraulic lifter noise you are experiencing magically disappear either if that is the source of the noise.

[dan]

my suggestion to you is on a cold day when you start it up don’t drive it immediately, let the engine warm up until your temperature gauge registures some temperature like say it moves to the first notch, once it does that drive it carefully until it reaches operational temperature don’t race it.

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