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I need to do an oil change on my car. Oil prices seem to have gone up exponentially since I last did it 15k miles (18 months) ago.
I've always used Castrol Edge 5W30, as recommended by BMW, but that's coming in at £85 for oil & filter. For £65, I can get a "lesser" brand (Shell/Millers/Catrol Magnatec) that still meets BMW LL04 standard.
So is there any benefit to paying extra for the best stuff? Or is it all good so long as it meets the m/f's standard?
Cheers!
If it meets the standard then the rest is flowery w@nk IMO. I used to work for a mini major (or was it major mini?) and our own brand was Millers rebranded and half the price.
Try Euro carparts they often have deals on oil at the weekend.
I just tried some of Eurocarparts Triple QX fully synth in the Freelander. Meets the BMW specs that the manual dictates and was on sale at £13 for 5L (need 6.8L for the Freelander).
I normally use this place: http://www.nielsencdg.co.uk/ (they have an ebay store too) or get my filter supplier (AEP direct) to price match them for Total Quartz 9000 I use in my peugeot but I might just switch the Triple QX stuff for that now at the price.
can't say I have noticed oil prices go up tbh. What spec and volume do you need?
30% off and a free filter so £13 delivered including a Mann filter for our LR.
Spec is 5w30 or 0w30 to BMW LL04, need 5.5 litres.
(to be fair, I think the last service, I had some oil left over from the service before that, so only had to buy a 4l bottle, which is obviously much less hard on the wallet!)
Been looking at ECP, Opie Oils and Halfrauds. Doesn't seem much differnce across the spectrum. About £46 for 4l of Castrol Edge.
Car has done 137k, but needs to last me at least another 2 or 3 years, so I'm on for looking after it properly, but I'm not looking to waste cash needlessly either!
£36: http://www.nielsencdg.co.uk/acatalog/Castrol-Edge-5W-30-FST-Engine-Oil-CAS_2056_7065-4.html#SID=78
Or £57 for 6 litres: http://www.nielsencdg.co.uk/acatalog/Castrol-Edge-5W-30-FST-Engine-Oil-CAS_2056_7065_6.html#SID=78
I worked at a bus garage where vehicles where overdue oil changes by up to 2 years. The same oil was used for all makes of vehicles also. Never had any engine wear related problems, most vehicles being 10-20 years old.
So the potential difference (if there actually is any bar the price) in reduced engine wear will be so negligible that the car will most likely be in a scrap yard before any adverse effects start.
The only advantage is that if you have owned the car from the start and have always serviced it using Castrol Edge 5W30 and can prove you did so, it may be an advantage when it comes to selling it. Otherwise in my eyes as a commercial vehicle mechanic there is no point at all.
edit:
Car has done 137k, but needs to last me at least another 2 or 3 years, so I'm on for looking after it properly, but I'm not looking to waste cash needlessly either!
If you want to look after it, it's better to change the oil more frequently, as contaminants will have built up inside the engine due to high mileage. Changing with cheap oil more frequently will have a greater impact on engine life than, filling up with "super fancy" oil once in a blue moon.
Andyl - good spot! 🙂
Muckytee. Kinda with you on the service intervals. The variable service thing on the car tends to try and flash up oil changes at 19k miles, which seems a hell of a long time. I'm doing them at 15k, which is still a big leap - my previous car was 10k, the one before that 6k (although I did seem to spend all my time under that bloody thing at 20k miles per year!). Maybe I should look at reducing the 15k further still.
IMO so long as you aren't exceeding them. In a high mileage engine a sort of sludge builds up, so any new oil becomes contaminated as soon as you pour it in, but there is ofcourse a case of diminishing returns here with regards to servicing more frequently.
Good quality filters are worth the money however.
+1 - always use OEM quality filters as not all filters are equal.
I buy genuine Peugeot (oil made by Purflux, branded pug, diesel by Bosch) filters for my peugeot (AEP Direct) and get OEM service packs for the Landrover (Land Rover specialist).
I think the LR pack cost me £33 including a new cabin filter which when I changed it looked like it had never been done.
Never had any engine wear related problems, most vehicles being 10-20 years old.
Yeah, busses not necessarily the same as cars though.
The variable service thing on the car tends to try and flash up oil changes at 19k miles
The 10k service interval is a safe bet, because you MIGHT be only doing short trips or flogging your car or whatever else is bad for the oil. The point about variable service intervals is that it monitors the oil temperature and engine revs so that it knows how hard the oil's being worked. That's how it can calculate a service interval, and if it says 19k then do it at 19k.
If it makes you feel better about it, it will also do the opposite if you abuse the car and shorten the service interval below 10k.
If you do use Eurocarparts then go to their website and enter "summer30" in the basket for 30% off. You can arrange to pick up from your local branch and still get the discount
I used to buy a 25 litre drum of Comma oil for around £35 and change the Landy engine oil three times a year, twice in winter and once in summer. After seven years of that it ticked over like a happy sewing machine and with 225,000 miles on the clock it burned very little between changes.
Always use oil that meets the manufacturer's spec and viscosity, and change it when you're told to.
BMW diesels in particular used to be known for doing turbos every 50-70k or so, and one of the major reasons for turbo failure is bad lubrication.
The actual brand itself is far less important. Comma and Tetrosyl produce most of the high street own brand oils. Comma also produce Mobil 1.
The people who run the bottling lines obviously like to run the same shape of bottle as far as they can - as a result you can generally tell who's buying oil from the same place.
another vote for euro car parts. Some goods deals and sensible pricing is my experience although you may need to work out the basics of what you need beforehand although i think their website/staff also select compatible ones.
and for those using ECP but getting it delivered try . carparts4less - sister company doing mailorder only. Often cheaper (but not always)
and also for ECP you get view online, check stock and reserve.
Opie always seem good value to me, there's usually an offer on too 15% at the moment
There's always someoen somewhere who got the same oil cheaper, or wouldn't touch 'x' or 'y' oil with a gummed up dipstick, but my philosophy for my focus petrol is, get the cheapest out of:
Castrol Magnatech
Mobil 3000
Ford OEM
and use a ford filter.
The halfords own brand isn't usualy any cheaper than the Ford OEM, certainly less than the cost of petrol driving from one to the other. And I figured that sticking with the 'branded' or OEM oils and recipts would go some way to offsetting the fact it has no garrage service history since 30,000 miles when I come to sell it!
Changeing at 10k rather than 12k does seem to noticably reduce how black the oil gets and as a result you're flushing more of that sludge out of the engine not just diuting it. I usualy aim for 8k, then only get arround to it at 10k and the oil often still looks as good as new when it comes out.
Halfords were doing there own brand fully synthetic for £12 for 4litres the other week.
I got some for my Renault dont know if the offer is still on though.
As others have said as long as the spec is correct for your engine dont get too caught up in 'Brands'.
Its worth spending a bit extra for decent quality Oil and Fuel filters though.