Correct oil [2006 523i petrol automatic, N52 engine]?

tom_tarbucket

Got a warning message in me car earlier to say oil was low. And to top it up with a litre of oil ASAP.

My car is a 2006 523i petrol automatic with the N 52 engine.


- Can anybody tell me the exact oil I should use for my car ?

- and the cost of a litre / container ?

Atlantic Dawn

Look on castrol.co.uk and it will give the spec. Gradually load it in at a max of about 250ml a time until you reach the max. Too much oil can damage the engine.

tom_tarbucket

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Look on castrol.co.uk and it will give the spec. Gradually load it in at a max of about 250ml a time until you reach the max. Too much oil can damage the engine.

Thanks.

How much oil roughly would this car hold. ?

Atlantic Dawn

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Thanks.

How much oil roughly would this car hold. ?

The Castrol site will tell you that too, I would guess around 4 to 5 litres. You should add oil when the engine is cold to get a correct reading.

Cost would be around 35 to 60 for 4 litres depending on the grade of oil required.

SpannerMonkey

The recommended oil for that would be Castrol Edge 0w-30 you can buy it in 1 litre or 4 lite bottles

1 litre approx 20 euro
4 litre approx 60 euro
you can get it in any motor factors or halfords


this is the recommended oil and what i use on my bmws but any oil with BMW LL04 grade will do
other slightly cheaper options would be Mobil 1 ESP or Millers NANODRIVE EE LongLife



dont skimp too much though . and make sure what ever you use has BMW LL04 approval

personally id buy the 4 litre jug and you have it there if you need it in the future

if your doing a full oil change you car holds around 6.5 litres

tom_tarbucket

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

The recommended oil for that would be Castrol Edge 0w-30 you can buy it in 1 litre or 4 lite bottles

1 litre approx 20 euro
4 litre approx 60 euro
you can get it in any motor factors or halfords


this is the recommended oil and what i use on my bmws but any oil with BMW LL04 grade will do
other slightly cheaper options would be Mobil 1 ESP or Millers NANODRIVE EE LongLife



dont skimp too much though . and make sure what ever you use has BMW LL04 approval

personally id buy the 4 litre jug and you have it there if you need it in the future

if your doing a full oil change you car holds around 6.5 litres

Thanks.

So is the recommended oil for BMWs the same for petrol and Diesel engines ?

Just double checking in case your BMW is a diesel ( mine is petrol )

obezyana

BMW use Castrol but any good quality oil will be ok as long as it meets the correct spec.

Iv a e46 323 I use Fuchs oil I find it good and it's a little bit cheaper than Castrol. As has been said go to Castrols website and it will tell you exactly what you need.

SpannerMonkey

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Thanks.

So is the recommended oil for BMWs the same for petrol and Diesel engines ?

Just double checking in case your BMW is a diesel ( mine is petrol )

ya most of the standard modern bmws use 0w-30 these days .

some of the bigger engined petrols (V8/V12) and all M cars use different oils though

ford2600

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

The recommended oil for that would be Castrol Edge 0w-30 you can buy it in 1 litre or 4 lite bottles

1 litre approx 20 euro
4 litre approx 60 euro
you can get it in any motor factors or halfords


this is the recommended oil and what i use on my bmws but any oil with BMW LL04 grade will do
other slightly cheaper options would be Mobil 1 ESP or Millers NANODRIVE EE LongLife



dont skimp too much though . and make sure what ever you use has BMW LL04 approval

personally id buy the 4 litre jug and you have it there if you need it in the future

if your doing a full oil change you car holds around 6.5 litres

If only for one car doing low mileage, 4L makes sense.

I have 2-3 cars to service and there is a huge saving with 20L contsiners from oil depots.

Usually a little with 100 for top spec shell/ castrol oils

tom_tarbucket

Thanks for replies. So the on board computer says, top up with 1 litre of oil.

Is 1 litre of oil enough to top it up with or shoukd I put in 4 litres ?

obezyana

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Thanks for replies. So the on board computer says, top up with 1 litre of oil.

Is 1 litre of oil enough to top it up with or shoukd I put in 4 litres ?

To be honest if your not really sure what to do bring it to someone who does otherwise you may just cause some damgage.

dmc17

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Thanks for replies. So the on board computer says, top up with 1 litre of oil.

Is 1 litre of oil enough to top it up with or shoukd I put in 4 litres ?

Jesus, don't put in 4 litres anyway. Put in a litre and check the level.

djimi

dmc17 wrote: »

Jesus, don't put in 4 litres anyway. Put in a litre and check the level.

Put in 200ml and check the level (leave it for a couple of minutes to settle). Repeat as necessary.

If its warning you that its low then it probably needs about a litre, however I dont know at what point it starts throwing warnings (it might be when its down 750ml for example, so putting in 1L is going to overfill).

dmc17

djimi wrote: »

Put in 200ml and check the level (leave it for a couple of minutes to settle). Repeat as necessary.

If its warning you that its low then it probably needs about a litre, however I dont know at what point it starts throwing warnings (it might be when its down 750ml for example, so putting in 1L is going to overfill).

From reading the posts, the computer is specifically saying to put in 1 litre of oil.

djimi

dmc17 wrote: »

From reading the posts, the computer is specifically saying to put in 1 litre of oil.

I still wouldnt, not in one go anyway. Id sooner be 100ml underfilled than 100ml overfilled.

visual

dmc17 wrote: »

From reading the posts, the computer is specifically saying to put in 1 litre of oil.

If there is a dip stick use that as gospel as it can't tell lies unlike mr fancypants computer.

rocky

There's no dipstick.

BMW use 5w30, I changed it to 0w30 at last service.

You can put 1l if iDrive says so.

No way to check level on cold engine

tom_tarbucket

dmc17 wrote: »

From reading the posts, the computer is specifically saying to put in 1 litre of oil.

It is yeah. But is it only saying to do this to kinda "get me by "

Like the oil tank is 6.5 litres, so to properly rectify the situation, should I really be adding 5 litres of oil

rocky

No! Add 1l, you haven't burned 5l...

tom_tarbucket

rocky wrote: »

No! Add 1l, you haven't burned 5l...

Sound.

I got the warning just as I got to the airport. My car is at airport now in long term car park.

I have a 10 mile drive to my house.

Is it any harm to drive this 10 miles with the low oil warning ?

rocky

Noone can answer that. Do you feel lucky?

Bpmull

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Sound.

I got the warning just as I got to the airport. My car is at airport now in long term car park.

I have a 10 mile drive to my house.

Is it any harm to drive this 10 miles with the low oil warning ?

It not ideal tbh. But if it only just came on 10 mile should be ok just take it handy but I don't know exactly what oil level is in your car and it's always a certain amount of a risk. As said if the car says it needs a litre but in one litre exactly no more.

You seem to be possibly thinking the car is saying it has 1 litre left hence why your thinking of putting in 5 litre. The engine wouldn't still be going it would be seized as it couldn't maintain oil pressure with one litre.

The engine oil is not like fuel in the fact that no matter how much petrol you have in your tank the car will run fine once there is petrol in it. Oil is not like that there is a max and min amount of oil and if the level is not within that range then your doing damage to the engine how much damage depends on how extreme the level is. Put it this way if the car needs a litre of oil and you put in 5 litres well that's a 4 litre overfill which is completely unacceptable you wouldn't make it 10 miles before the engine completely gives up. The same way as with one litre of oil in the sump you would ruin the engine as your 5.5 litres short.

Never think of oil level like fuel level it's not a matter of just letting it almost run out and then throwing in a much as you want it's so much more exact than that. Hope this helps clear it up somewhat and hope you get it sorted.

tom_tarbucket

Bpmull wrote: »

It not ideal tbh. But if it only just came on 10 mile should be ok just take it handy but I don't know exactly what oil level is in your car and it's always a certain amount of a risk. As said if the car says it needs a litre but in one litre exactly no more.

You seem to be possibly thinking the car is saying it has 1 litre left hence why your thinking of putting in 5 litre. The engine wouldn't still be going it would be seized as it couldn't maintain oil pressure with one litre.

The engine oil is not like fuel in the fact that no matter how much petrol you have in your tank the car will run fine once there is petrol in it. Oil is not like that there is a max and min amount of oil and if the level is not within that range then your doing damage to the engine how much damage depends on how extreme the level is. Put it this way if the car needs a litre of oil and you put in 5 litres well that's a 4 litre overfill which is completely unacceptable you wouldn't make it 10 miles before the engine completely gives up. The same way as with one litre of oil in the sump you would ruin the engine as your 5.5 litres short.

Never think of oil level like fuel level it's not a matter of just letting it almost run out and then throwing in a much as you want it's so much more exact than that. Hope this helps clear it up somewhat and hope you get it sorted.

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply - excellent reply.

My oil capacity is 6.5 litres. So essentially my oil tank should have about 5.5 litres in it now. And topping it up with a litre or so should rectify the situation.

Hopefully the 10 mile drive from the airport to home won't do much harm. The warning just literally came on when I entered the airport car park last week.

Leydo10

You can use 5w/40, 0w/30, 5w/30 once BMW LL04 on the back of the bottle... Many brands available but I would only use an approved oil... Many just write BMW LL04 on the bottle but only ones approved use the word "approved".... And as other posts have suggested do not over fill the engine!! Only put in 1lt.

SpannerMonkey

dear god dont put more than 1 litre in it :eek: and tbh maybe put in 500ml first and see what the computer says then add 250 ml and then the last 250ml if it needs it . i dont think your car has a dipstick (bmw got rid of it on the newer cars unfortunately) and obviously turn the engine off before you try and top it up . as said 0w-30 is the correct grade of oil . 5w-30 would be ok aswell but i woulldnt be putting any heaver in , and also as said must be BMW LL04 approved

Delta Kilo

There is a Topaz at the airport on the way out (assuming its Dublin airport). You will be able to get a litre of oil there.

When was the car last serviced? Probably worth getting it serviced altogether, sounds like its been a while since its last service considering you have burned away a litre of oil.

djimi

The idea of a car without a dipstick infuriates me. Its the simplest piece of maintenance that anyone can do on a car to check the oil, and removing this just further enforces the mentality of drivers who have no desire/ability to perform even the basic maintenance on their car.

If I want to check the oil in my car then I want to see the bloody stuff dripping between two dots on a strip of metal! Id rather not rely on a computer for such a thing.

rocky

There's 5 lines in idrive between min and max. If it tells you to add 1l, it should be back to 5 green lines after. I don't see the point in adding less than 1l.

Do you know what oil is already in the engine?

rocky

Delta Kilo wrote: »

There is a Topaz at the airport on the way out (assuming its Dublin airport). You will be able to get a litre of oil there.

When was the car last serviced? Probably worth getting it serviced altogether, sounds like its been a while since its last service considering you have burned away a litre of oil.

You must be new to bmw petrol engines :-) . Bmw says anything less than 1l/1000 km is ok.

I still have 2/5 green lines on the idrive after 4700 km and getting worried...

tom_tarbucket

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

dear god dont put more than 1 litre in it :eek: and tbh maybe put in 500ml first and see what the computer says then add 250 ml and then the last 250ml if it needs it . i dont think your car has a dipstick (bmw got rid of it on the newer cars unfortunately) and obviously turn the engine off before you try and top it up . as said 0w-30 is the correct grade of oil . 5w-30 would be ok aswell but i woulldnt be putting any heaver in , and also as said must be BMW LL04 approved

I often see "synthetic " and then " fully synthetic "

If I choose ow 30 do I then need to choose between synthetic and fully synthetic ?

SpannerMonkey

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

I often see "synthetic " and then " fully synthetic "

If I choose ow 30 do I then need to choose between synthetic and fully synthetic ?

i dont know of any oil in 0w30 thats not fully synthetic .

the options are normally mineral oil, semi synthethic and fully synthethic . your car needs fully synthethic 0w-30 with BMW-LL04 approval anything with that will be fine

Alanstrainor

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

I often see "synthetic " and then " fully synthetic "

If I choose ow 30 do I then need to choose between synthetic and fully synthetic ?

Fully synthetic.

tom_tarbucket

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

i dont know of any oil in 0w30 thats not fully synthetic .

the options are normally mineral oil, semi synthethic and fully synthethic . your car needs fully synthethic 0w-30 with BMW-LL04 approval anything with that will be fine

Perfect thanks. I had just thought I would go in to a place and then have to make a further choice of synthetic / fully synthetic. But now I know for sure ; )

tom_tarbucket

Delta Kilo wrote: »

There is a Topaz at the airport on the way out (assuming its Dublin airport). You will be able to get a litre of oil there.

When was the car last serviced? Probably worth getting it serviced altogether, sounds like its been a while since its last service considering you have burned away a litre of oil.

Car was last serviced in March and among other things had a full oil service. It has done just shy of 2000 MILES since that.

Sobanek

Are you sure there is no dipstick? I haven't come across a 523i, but my uncle's E61 10/2005 530d does have a dipstick.

Alanstrainor

Sobanek wrote: »

Are you sure there is no dipstick? I haven't come across a 523i, but my uncle's E61 10/2005 530d does have a dipstick.

There is no dipstick in that engine. Pain in the hole.

tom_tarbucket

rocky wrote: »

There's 5 lines in idrive between min and max. If it tells you to add 1l, it should be back to 5 green lines after. I don't see the point in adding less than 1l.

Do you know what oil is already in the engine?

I don't know what oil is currently in the engine. I only have it 3 months so this is my first oil top up.

tom_tarbucket

rocky wrote: »

You must be new to bmw petrol engines :-) . Bmw says anything less than 1l/1000 km is ok.

I still have 2/5 green lines on the idrive after 4700 km and getting worried...

Why you getting worried ?

Is it cause your car is not using enough oil or wha ?

Neilw

rocky wrote: »

There's 5 lines in idrive between min and max. If it tells you to add 1l, it should be back to 5 green lines after. I don't see the point in adding less than 1l.

Do you know what oil is already in the engine?

Same as my own car, I was watching the level on the computer on mine for a while. Did a run to Newry and it asked for 1l of oil, so that's what it got. Been fine since, 5 lines and ok when the level is checked.

Op, there is a garage at the exit to the airport, I'm sure they sell oil that would suit your car.

tom_tarbucket

Neilw wrote: »

Same as my own car, I was watching the level on the computer on mine for a while. Did a run to Newry and it asked for 1l of oil, so that's what it got. Been fine since, 5 lines and ok when the level is checked.

Op, there is a garage at the exit to the airport, I'm sure they sell oil that would suit your car.

Sound. Thanks. By garage, do you mean petrol station ?

And would your standard petrol station stock this oil.

SpannerMonkey

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Sound. Thanks. By garage, do you mean petrol station ?

And your standard petrol station stock this oil.

if its a standard petrol station its very unlikely. they usually stock ****e you wouldnt put in a lawn mower :rolleyes:

some stations stock '' shell helix ultra '' though which would be grand in 5w-30 for your car .

heres a list of oils you can use in 0w-30 or 5-w30 http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-686-bmw-longlife-04.aspx

Neilw

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Sound. Thanks. By garage, do you mean petrol station ?

And your standard petrol station stock this oil.

Yes, a topaz petrol station.

5w30 stocked according to their website.
http://www.topaz.ie/Q8-oils/Q8-oils.aspx

SpannerMonkey

Q8 oils aint suitable for your car though, id only put them in if it was dangerously low, and even then id be doing an oil change soon after

tom_tarbucket

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

if its a standard petrol station its very unlikely. they usually stock ****e you wouldnt put in a lawn mower :rolleyes:

some stations stock '' shell helix ultra '' though which would be grand in 5w-30 for your car .

heres a list of oils you can use in 0w-30 or 5-w30 http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-686-bmw-longlife-04.aspx

Ok. So where is best to buy fully synthethic 0w-30 with BMW-LL04 ?

Alanstrainor

Your local motor factors, halfords, even tesco sell motor oil, but I'd try the first two!

Can't believe how long this thread is.... car needs 5w30 fully synthetic BMW-LL04 oil. A litre of it. You can pick up 4 litre bottles of it in plenty of places. Top it up, and drive on and keep an eye on it. These engines burn a drop of oil, so it's fine, if it's excessive then there may be an issue.

tom_tarbucket

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Your local motor factors, halfords, even tesco sell motor oil, but I'd try the first two!

Can't believe how long this thread is.... car needs 5w30 fully synthetic BMW-LL04 oil. A litre of it. You can pick up 4 litre bottles of it in plenty of places. Top it up, and drive on and keep an eye on it. These engines burn a drop of oil, so it's fine, if it's excessive then there may be an issue.

Long thread alright ; )

However, people seem to be suggesting to get 0w30 and not 5w30.

Which is better ?

obezyana

Ring BMW and they will tell you exactly what you need. Nice and simple.

SpannerMonkey

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Long thread alright ; )

However, people seem to be suggesting to get 0w30 and not 5w30.

Which is better ?

No real difference both are recommended by bmw 0w30 works to more extreme low temperatures like -50 or something where 5w-30 works to about -30 . Neither we need to worry about in this country.

As said this thread doesnt need to be this long go to any motor factors / halfords and pick up 1 litre of either grade with BMW ll04 and top it up.

If you want 100% what bmw will recommend get 1 litre of Castrol Edge 0w-30.



Just "castrol edge" not "castrol edge sport"

tom_tarbucket

Me again,

Got another error on the iDrive system this morning - it is attached.

I searched on Micks garage for parking light and it did not return any results, is the parking light = to the "dipped" headlights ?

Neilw

tom_tarbucket wrote: »

Me again,

Got another error on the iDrive system this morning - it is attached.

I searched on Micks garage for parking light and it did not return any results, is the parking light = to the "dipped" headlights ?

Parking light is usually a side light.

W5W according to this site.

http://www.powerbulbs.com/store/category/car-bulbs/fitting/w5w-501

wersal gummage

Haven't read many of the replies to the original message.

Be careful topping up the e60 oil. My car asked for a litre only about 1500kms after a service by a main bmw dealer (I say that only as you'd assume they'd know correct amount of oil to put it).

Rang garage, spoke to head mechanic. He said not too unusual for older car to burn a bit of oil and no big deal, top up with a litre. I still thought it was odd but topped up with a litre.

1000kms done in one weekend and oil light, add a litre, straight back on. Didn't add more oil.

Had car fully checked, compression tests, leak down tests, etc. No issues. Oil level in car was fine (in fact on the high side but not dangerously so). Seems the oil level sensor is knackered.

I'd suggest looking on eBay or the like and buying a manual dip for your car. Check the oil manually before adding any.