Oil for 2006 BMW 523i. E 60

obi604

My last oil change, I used this oil

https://www.micksgarage.com/d/engine-oils-and-lubricants/products/177103/total-quartz-ineo-mc3-5w30-fully-synthetic-engine-oil-5-litre

its BMW LL04

I will need to give the oil a top up soon of 1 litre

Is it ok to use the same grade oil: 5w30 fully synthetic . BMW LL04 -- >> but from a different manufacturer.

GerryDerpy

I would always stick to the same oil where possible. But if you can’t then it is much better to put in a different LL-04 oil than to let it go below the min!

Is she using much oil? What is the mileage.

Top tip: change out the CCV (crankcase ventilation) valve if not already done. This is a valve that allows the crankcase to let off pressure. If it fails, and they always do on these engines, the crankcase is always under pressure and the valve seals start swelling, resulting in excessive oil burning.

Cost to change valve & associated hoses is about €250-€300 at a BMW specialist.

obi604

GerryDerpy wrote: »

I would always stick to the same oil where possible. But if you can’t then it is much better to put in a different LL-04 oil than to let it go below the min!

Is she using much oil? What is the mileage.

Top tip: change out the CCV (crankcase ventilation) valve if not already done. This is a valve that allows the crankcase to let off pressure. If it fails, and they always do on these engines, the crankcase is always under pressure and the valve seals start swelling, resulting in excessive oil burning.

Cost to change valve & associated hoses is about €250-€300 at a BMW specialist.

Hey,

Thanks for reply.
She is using about 1 litre of oil every 2000 miles, I only do about 5000 miles a year. This may seem excessive but from looking at multiple forums, seems ok, and does not bother me as the car is running fine and only costs me a few quid a year in oil. (some others will argue its not ok and the car will explode using this much oil etc)
The car has 77,000 miles on the clock.

hmmm, so you reckon to change this CCV. ill see , already have enough expense with Christmas etc coming up.

B00056718

obi604 wrote: »

My last oil change, I used this oil

https://www.micksgarage.com/d/engine-oils-and-lubricants/products/177103/total-quartz-ineo-mc3-5w30-fully-synthetic-engine-oil-5-litre

its BMW LL04

I will need to give the oil a top up soon of 1 litre

Is it ok to use the same grade oil: 5w30 fully synthetic . BMW LL04 -- >> but from a different manufacturer.

It's perfectly fine. Once it meets the grade requirements, brand name wouldn't play a massive role.

obi604

B00056718 wrote: »

It's perfectly fine. Once it meets the grade requirements, brand name wouldn't play a massive role.

Thanks , any opinions on the Total Quartz oils?

GerryDerpy

obi604 wrote: »

Hey,

Thanks for reply.
She is using about 1 litre of oil every 2000 miles, I only do about 5000 miles a year. This may seem excessive but from looking at multiple forums, seems ok, and does not bother me as the car is running fine and only costs me a few quid a year in oil. (some others will argue its not ok and the car will explode using this much oil etc)
The car has 77,000 miles on the clock.

hmmm, so you reckon to change this CCV. ill see , already have enough expense with Christmas etc coming up.

Change your CCV in the next few months, otherwise she will be using 1 litre every 500 miles this time next year!

obi604

GerryDerpy wrote: »

Change your CCV in the next few months, otherwise she will be using 1 litre every 500 miles this time next year!

its consistently been using a litre every 2000 miles for the last 3 years with no change, so might just leave it, car will be 12 years old next year, so don't want to be spending much money on it as will probably soon get rid anyways.

Leonard Hofstadter

If it's always been using that much then I'd leave it. As long as it's an approved BMW oil then it will be fine. You could look at going to 5W40 to stop it using so much. I'm guessing its an N52? I thought those engines didn't burn any but obviously not (they don't have the CCV problem the M54 has in any case).

GerryDerpy

Take the chance if you want. I’m just a guy on the internet afterall. If you want to get 300k km from the car change the valve.

obi604

captainspeed wrote: »

If it's always been using that much then I'd leave it. As long as it's an approved BMW oil then it will be fine. You could look at going to 5W40 to stop it using so much. I'm guessing its an N52? I thought those engines didn't burn any but obviously not (they don't have the CCV problem the M54 has in any case).

Hi. Mine is the N52 engine.
I always use the approved oil.

So are you saying the CCV fix that was mentioned earlier does not really apply to my N52 engine?

Leonard Hofstadter

obi604 wrote: »

Hi. Mine is the N52 engine.
I always use the approved oil.

So are you saying the CCV fix that was mentioned earlier does not really apply to my N52 engine?

Well the only six cylinder engines that really had the CCV problem were the M54s. Having said that, you wouldn't think a CCV would fail again 4,200 miles after it being replaced yet it happened to my M54 engined car - so never say never!

To test the CCV, try opening the oil cap with the engine running. If it's very difficult and/or you get a suction type noise from around the oil cap then that's your clue that the CCV is blocked.

I don't know about the N52 engine but there's very distinct symptoms when the CCV gets blocked with an M54 - as well as the oil cap being very difficult to open when the engine is running you will definitely get the MIL on with fault codes P0171 and P0174 system too lean bank 1 and bank 2, there will be more smoke, performance and fuel economy all deteriorate and the car starts to make hissing sounds under harder acceleration.

I can't imagine the symptoms are that much different if an N52 was to get blocked oil breathers to be honest.

obi604

captainspeed wrote: »

Well the only six cylinder engines that really had the CCV problem were the M54s. Having said that, you wouldn't think a CCV would fail again 4,200 miles after it being replaced yet it happened to my M54 engined car - so never say never!

To test the CCV, try opening the oil cap with the engine running. If it's very difficult and/or you get a suction type noise from around the oil cap then that's your clue that the CCV is blocked.

I don't know about the N52 engine but there's very distinct symptoms when the CCV gets blocked with an M54 - as well as the oil cap being very difficult to open when the engine is running you will definitely get the MIL on with fault codes P0171 and P0174 system too lean bank 1 and bank 2, there will be more smoke, performance and fuel economy all deteriorate and the car starts to make hissing sounds under harder acceleration.

I can't imagine the symptoms are that much different if an N52 was to get blocked oil breathers to be honest.

Thanks for reply

obi604

What do people make of KAST oil:
Micks garage have 30% off on it today.

https://www.micksgarage.com/d/engine-oils-and-lubricants/products/2342676/kast-5w30-euro-fully-synthetic-engine-oil-5-litre

Moanin

My opinion on oils are, once they meet manufacturers requirements brand means nothing.... so If Kast meets your cars requirements why not buy it?

obi604

Moanin wrote: »

My opinion on oils are, once they meet manufacturers requirements brand means nothing.... so If Kast meets your cars requirements why not buy it?

Cause other thinks it will blow up the car

commited

GerryDerpy wrote: »

Take the chance if you want. I’m just a guy on the internet afterall. If you want to get 300k km from the car change the valve.

My car uses a bit of oil and the CCV is fine - it's pretty common with these BMW engines!

B00056718

commited wrote: »

My car uses a bit of oil and the CCV is fine - it's pretty common with these BMW engines!

It's pretty common with most of the modern engines. Trade off for becoming more efficient.

Tin Lizzy

Moanin wrote: »

My opinion on oils are, once they meet manufacturers requirements brand means nothing.... so If Kast meets your cars requirements why not buy it?

Would you rather use oil that sees the ''manufactures requirements'' as a goal or as a starting point?

Leonard Hofstadter

I'd favour sticking with a known brand, such as Petronas (as used by my BMW specialist) or Mobil 1. Most important thing is it's an oil that is approved by BMW though.

Foxhole Norman

obi604 wrote: »

Cause other thinks it will blow up the car

I had issues before running cheap oil. In my 525i I serviced it once with North Sea oil that met my engines spec as my brother could get it for a good price. After a week or two I started hearing noises from my chain when setting off. I changed the oil to Petronas and it was dead quiet again and Petronas is now always the oil I use and currently in my 540.

Heres Johnny

I've 2006 523i as well and it uses a bit of oil. It's very well known in these engines. Even the idrive has a warning please add 1 litre of oil programmed into it. Wouldn't worry about it I just top up when needed. Car runs sweetly.