Bennyben

Member
Evening all, I'm trying to find a suitable oil for my 06 TD4. Haynes states 5w30 to ACEA A3/B3 but I am working in Spain right now and cannot find anything suitable. What's more important - 5w30? Or ACEA A3/B3...?

Any help gratefully received, thanks

BB
 
5 30 and then look for something with diesel printed on the label, same stuff goes in a transit if that helps
 
Is fully synthetic the recommended choice?
I gave a volvo v70 with a 2.4 d5, I use castrol edge volvo mix rather than the BMW version.....its just about the dearest oil available the BMW version is so much cheaper.
Even at 195,000 miles it doesn't smoke.......
My freelander is just a pup with 97,000 on an 06 plate if that's relevant?
 
Fully synthetic is the one, I did think about using a long life C3 oil, it's better for cats and egr valves as it has a lower ash content but not to sure if BMW recommend it for a td4.
 
My brother in law used to be a BMW mechanic. He said I should use castrol edge in the td4 just thought I'd see what the general opinion was. Thank you
 
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( from previous post oil-bible link )

" It doesn't matter what sort of fancy marketing goes into an engine oil, or how many naked babes smear it all over their bodies, or how bright and colourful the packaging is, it's what's written on the packaging that counts. Specifications and approvals are everything.

There are two established testing bodies. The API (American Petroleum Institute), and the European counterpart, the ACEA (Association des Constructeurs Europeens d'Automobiles - replaced CCMC in 1996). Most people will never have heard of either of them, but their stamp of approval will be seen on the side of every reputable can of engine oil.

The API The API classifications are different for petrol and diesel engines: For petrol, listings start with 'S' (meaning Service category, but it can also be thought of as Spark-plug ignition), followed by another code to denote standard. 'SN' is the current top grade but 'SH' is still the most popular.
For diesel oils, the first letter is 'C' (meaning Commercial category, but it can also be thought of as Compression ignition). 'CJ' is the highest grade at the moment, (technically CJ-4 for heavy-duty) but 'CH' is the most popular and is well adequate for passenger vehicle applications.

Note:
Castrol recently upgraded all their oils and for some reason, Castrol diesels now use the 'S' rating, thus completely negating the little aid-memoire above. So the older CC,CD,CE and CF ratings no longer exist, but have been replaced by an 'SH' grade diesel oil.

The CCMC/ACEA The ACEA standards are prefixed with an 'A' for petrol engines, 'B' for passenger car diesel, 'C' for diesel with particulate filter, or 'E' for heavy-duty diesel. (The older CCMC specifications were G,D and PD respectively). The ACEA grades may also be followed by the year of issue which will be either '04 or '07 (current). Coupled with this are numerous approvals by car manufacturers which many oil containers sport with pride.

The full ACEA specs are:

A1 Fuel Economy Petrol †
A2 Standard performance level
A3 High performance and / or extended drain
A5 Fuel economy petrol with extended drain capability †
B1 Fuel Economy diesel †
B2 Standard performance level (now obsolete)
B3 High performance and / or extended drain
B4 For direct injection passenger car diesel engines
B5 Fuel economy diesel with extended drain capability †
† Not suitable for all engines - should ONLY be used in engines specifying this fuel efficient grade. Refer to the manufacturer handbook of contact your local dealer if you're not sure.

Mineral oils:
E1 Non-turbo charged light duty diesel
E2 Standard performance level
E3 High performance extended drain
E5 (1999) High performance / long drain plus American/API performances. - This is ACEAs first attempt at a global spec.
E7 Euro 4 engines - exhaust after treatment (EGR / SCR)

Part / full synthetic oils:
E4 Higher performance and longer extended drain
E6 Euro 4 specification - low SAPS for vehicles with PDF (see below)
Low SAPS diesel (Sulphated Ash, Phosphorous, Sulphur):

For diesel engines fitted with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) - a filter unit in the exhaust that takes out the microscopic soot particles. Regular diesel oils used in engines that have a DPF can cause the filter to become blocked with ash.
C1 Low SAPS (0.5% ash) fuel efficient
C2 Mid SAPS (0.8% ash) fuel efficient, performance
C3 Mid SAPS (0.8% ash)
Many OEM are now using their own specifications to capture these specifications. eg. Mercedes 229.31/51, BMW Longlife 04, VW 507 00 etc.
There is also a trend now towards manufacturers requiring their own specifications - in this case the OEM specification is the one that needs to be adhered to. If it says BMW Longlife 04, the oil must say this on the pack to be suitable for use. "

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Castrol edge is C3. years ago we had one oil for our fleet now we have six different types and we still buy the occasional 5ltrs because of an odd ball. Half of it is to do will long mileages between oil changes, keeps the consumer happy.....not!
 
i use 5/30 fully syn as this protects as soon as the engine starts, 10/40 semi does not , if engine has been on fully from new like mine has then i would continue to use it ,if you:ve been using semi then you may as well stick to it.
 
My 05 TD4 has always been serviced at 12 month intervals using synthetic oil, now covered 51000 mls, just wondered what intervals people use to service theirs.
 
Change my oil and filter every 6000 miles. Fully synth. Works out about 2/3 times a year. Now on 160000miles
 

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