What oil do YOU use?

[digger]

Ok, so it is not the zinc, but the zinc:detergent complex that offers anti-wear properties. These detergents needed to have counter ions and Ca2+, Mg2+ did not work well. Calcium and magnesium tend to form oxide crystals which can be really bad for an engine. The article did not provide any specific data on wear. I would be interested to see actual comparison between oil with and without zinc:detergent additive. How much more wear can one observe or measure without the use of additive? Is this a marketing scam to get us buying more expensive oil for a miniscule improvement in wear? I can see that race car drivers can benefit from the use of expensive oil, but for average drivers are we wasting money?

the issue is elemetal zinc and phosphorus by themself do not form ZDDP so its more complicated than just looking at the ppm of the elements but is better than nothing. Also too much is not a good thing apparently.

http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28070&hilit=ZDDP

http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28365&hilit=ZDDP

[stubble88]

just changed mine here in socal
its been a little cold
i start the e30 early in the morning, drive a very short distance to work. I dont think the car ever really gets warm.
So after running kendall 20w-50 I switched to castrol 10w-40. added half a quart of lucas oil stbalizer for fun. Bosch filter

[85e325]

Just switched to Mobil 1 15w50 with a fram extra gaurd filter. I'm interested to see if I can notice a difference from the Castrol syntheic blend 20w50

[Jafxod]

Rotella

[Ayman]

Nutella?

[dannyyisntt]

Mobil 1 10w30 in the ix and undetermined in the 335i, but it will be something in the mobil 1 family

[603Racing]

the issue is elemetal zinc and phosphorus by themself do not form ZDDP so its more complicated than just looking at the ppm of the elements but is better than nothing. Also too much is not a good thing apparently.

http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28070&hilit=ZDDP

http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic...365&hilit=ZDDP

Good info, i had not read that. I'll stop spouting "facts" about Z and P levels from lab test. :)

I'll still use Brad Penn though, track tested by me, in my car, for a lots of damn miles on track.

[straightsixe30]

10w-40 in summer, 10w-30 in winter, each time Valvoline non synthetic max life.

[dnguyen1963]

the issue is elemetal zinc and phosphorus by themself do not form ZDDP so its more complicated than just looking at the ppm of the elements but is better than nothing. Also too much is not a good thing apparently.

http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28070&hilit=ZDDP

http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic...365&hilit=ZDDP

If you want to fully understand what ZDDP is, look up this website.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_dithiophosphate

Elemental Zinc and Phosphorus do not offer any protection. They are most likely contaminants carried over from the refinery. Initially, many of the posts here suggested that zinc element is critical for anti-wear protection and I could not figure out the mechanism until I look up the info for ZDDP. It is actually the R groups of ZDDP that are responsible for the protection. The zinc in ZDDP helps raise the boiling temperature of ZDDP and; therefore, its anti-wear properties.

[603Racing]

More good info. For us not-so-scientific, could it be said the higher Z and P levels might be a "side affect" of oils designed to have good lubrication properties and less of the detergents that might harm older motors?

I know they're not there by accident, but more likely left there for processing reasons.

[oxymoron]

olive oil

[BrandonG]

15w40 all day i use mobil one oil and filter did the same on my aba in my vw and it ran strong forevor :) btw my m20 has 300k and runs like a champ ;)

[dnguyen1963]

More good info. For us not-so-scientific, could it be said the higher Z and P levels might be a "side affect" of oils designed to have good lubrication properties and less of the detergents that might harm older motors?

I know they're not there by accident, but more likely left there for processing reasons.

Crude oil coming into refinery could be from anywhere in the world. I doubt that the oil industry monitor the amount of elemental metals in their products because it is costly prohibitive to remove ppm level contamination. Therefore, from batch to batch, the amount of elemental metals will be different. Further processing by other companies to make different types of commercial oils can create more confusion. Cheaper brand, like those of Walmart, reports only the amount of elemental zinc. Other companies report the amount of zinc derived from ZDDP that they added to their formulation and not the total. The bottom line is that we should buy oil from a reputable brand and change oil religiously. Have you guys noticed how many different brands are used in these posts? All the cars are operating fine using these many different types of oils. If we perform statistical analysis then the final answer is that it does not matter which type of oil you use. The frequency of oil change and how well we take care of the car are more important.

[85e325]

Anybody use Royal Purple??? I have heard A LOT of mixed reviews about that stuff

[Hey_You]

I use whatever is on sale, and thick enough weight. Maybe once I finish my build it will get better treatment, but who wants to spend lots of money on a stock m10 oil change? Not I my friend, not I.