Oil

[SpeedDemon]

so my car didn't come with a owners manual. Was wondering what oil to use. I'm going to put synthetic in it be what weight should I go with. My m3 uses 10w-40 . Was thinking about that. But what does BMW want in the car. Thanks

[jca]

I use Mobil 1 10-40 in both my ti and my wife's 2.8 Z-3. Buy it in bulk at Walmart. I was down your way not long ago to pick up some used wheels and tires. Good luck, John

[SSpeedracer]

Everyone's got an opinion on motor oil. I've used Mobile 1 in all my cars for the last 12 years UNTIL I got the Ti in 2010. My Ti was a one owner car with 320K miles on it. Original head and block. The prior owner had every maintenance record AND every oil change was Castrol 10W30.

I've since had the valve cover off and found minimal oil build up / varnish. I've only used Castrol 10W30 in the Ti. That being said, all oil manufactures changed their formula to a new NON retroactive formula a couple of years ago. In short, current oil is not formulated to work in our older M42 and M44 engines. Oil manufactures produce and sell oil with very little Zinc as compared to prior API formulas. (Less zinc results in longer catalytic convertor life, but greater wear on valves and cam/lifters.)

Regardless of what oil you prefer, I strongly suggest you use a zinc additive. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1