Occasionally, motor oils are manufactured to spec for the manufacturer and are unique. Toyota’s 0W-20 available at the dealer is manufactured for them by Mobil, but it has a significantly different additive package than the 0w-20 you buy off the shelf from Mobil. Similarly, Castrol makes “European Formula” oils that meet standards like BMW’s LL-01 for extended drain intervals. That one you can buy off the shelf, but again, is very different than its other oils that are identical in viscosity, but that are not engineered to meet that standard. You’ll want to find out if this applies to your vehicle, as it will impact your decision. I think the “Bob is the oil guy” website is the best place for that.

People tend to correlate viscosity to quality, but that is less true today than ever before. Toyota has recently introduced a 0W-8 for one of its hybrids. Looks like diesel fuel going in, but is highly engineered specifically for the purpose. A lot of this is driven by the Fed’s CAFE standards mandating increased economy standards for vehicle manufacturers. Is it good or bad for the vehicles? Hard to say with certainty, but it has certainly pushed technology in these oils.

Castrol here for the engine, OEM for the drive train this is a track car so it gets changes often.
Pics?

My '19 Bullitt (480 HP Coyote) gets fed 5W-30 Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic, despite Ford's recommendation of 5W-20. It's a 10 quart sump!

I run Redline in the Getrag manual gearbox, and Royal Purple in the Torsen rear end.

The X3 M40 get's BMW oil as it has some odd specifications.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
I’m going to recommend Motul oil; my Porsche mechanic didn’t like Mobil 1, in spite of the fact Porsche recommended it. Do some research on Motul before you make your purchase. Yes, they do have a 5w50.

Motul is my number 1 followed closely by Liqui-Moly.

What a week. Thanks for all the help; I was able to find Mobil 1 5W-50 on the NAPA site, it should be here Saturday. That should work for this change, and give me a little bit more time to research what I use in the future.

I finally had a chance to toss up some photos. Here you go. Apologies, I haven't had a chance to resize them yet.

Photos, size warning

Sweet ride!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
I only use Mobil 1 in my cars.

The Nissan Frontier truck has over 300,000 miles on it.

Even though it's a 10k mile oil, I change at 5000 no matter what they recommend.

My BMW recommended 15k oil change intervals, but I changed at 5k and the insides of the engine looked brand new when I sold it at 200k.[/QUOTE
Same with my turbocharged Audi's, every 5,000 miles.Never had ay engine issues.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
Sweet ride!

Thanks! It's great fun to drive so long as I don't have morons packed around me. I'm adapting quickly to learn how to deal with that, though.

quote:

Originally posted by MMSIG229:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
I only use Mobil 1 in my cars.

The Nissan Frontier truck has over 300,000 miles on it.

Even though it's a 10k mile oil, I change at 5000 no matter what they recommend.

My BMW recommended 15k oil change intervals, but I changed at 5k and the insides of the engine looked brand new when I sold it at 200k.[/QUOTE
Same with my turbocharged Audi's, every 5,000 miles.Never had ay engine issues.

You know, I can't disagree. The V6 got ridden hard and put away wet a number of times (the mileage got so ridiculous for a while I moved to quarterly changes). I never really pulled it apart, but I never had any troubles either.

Dad's Porsches all used Mobil 1 too. Other than his turbo drinking oil like water (something apparently normal for those engines) he's never had an issue. I don't know what oil he uses in the BMW.

This all started because I had trouble finding a 5W-50 from Mobil 1. They were my first choice.

As an aside, I had my local dealer's diff guy do a ridealong because of a whine - he recommended a slightly heavier gear oil (manual calls for 75W-140, he suggested going up to a 85 or 90), so it looks like that's next on my list of to-do's. The good news is that he also said he was confident the car would last to 100k+ as-is. It's just annoying.