What kinna oil should I use for a 93 325is?

[WiCkEdWiLL]

Hey guys it's been 6 month since i bought my used 93 325is and it's now time to change the oil (my first beemer) I currently bought some valvouline 20w>50w oil but before i go ahead and do change it i rather ask you beemer pimps if that was the right choice or should i change it for a diff oil

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

BTW my car as 103k miles

[tdc]

Check your owner's manual. Also, since you bought it used, check what the previous owner put in.

You don't want to go to a mineral oil if the previous owner started putting in synthetic.

[WiCkEdWiLL]

Tdc: i bought it off a used dealership and not even the car's maual it's there what i'm going to do it's flush the engine to get all the old oil out of there thoguht... what do you think?

[tdc]

The dealer should have a record of the vehicle's service history. If not, they can find out for you. Plus, they should have replaced the missing Owner's Manual.

Well, to be safe I'd just start using synthetic oil from this point on. It won't hurt the engine if you go from mineral oil to synthetic.

[MLOVE]

I would not go to synthetic. My reason being is if there are no leaks and you use synthetic, you will probably end up with a leak. I don't recomend it. 20W-50 regular is fine. Most likely the engine is running non-synthetic oil. I had a 1993 325is w/ around the same miles and I started using synthetic. The car ended up leaking oil into the spark plugs. I replaced the valve cover and went to non-synthetic and the car never leaked again. Synthetic oil has been known to find weak spots, which causes leaks. If the engine was new or rebuilt, I would say synthetic all the way. But, since that is most likely the original engine w/ 103,000, save your repair money or for the price of synthetic for extra modds for the car. I hope this helps. Good luck w/ the new ride.

[WiCkEdWiLL]

thanks alot for the help guys! I did go with the 20w-50, I flushed the engine and put the the new oil in... Thanks for the advises from both of you guys and keep those beemers pimping

[Dashel]

MLove: I also have a 325is and have been using synthetic for awhile now. I changed the plugs a few weeks ago and noticed oil around the plugs. So it looks like my next project will be replacing the valve cover. Shouldn't replacing this part take care of the problem whether or not I continue to use synthetic or switch back to a regular oil? If as you say synthetic has a tendency to find weak spots, shouldn't there be no more of these 'spots' once the valve cover is replace and hence no more oily plugs?

[MLOVE]

It might just be the valve covering gasket. I just know that switching from regular to synthetic when the car is used to regular is risky. Synthetic only works when the car or engine is new. The thicker regular oil is fine (20W-50). There is know point in my opinion to spend triple the price of regular oil on a car that is most likely used to regular oil. Synthetic oils don't really show any benefits on high mileage engines. If you have been using synthetic from the beginning, then keep using it. I would change the valve covering gasket and drive it for a week and then take the valve cover off and check it out. If there is still oil in the plugs, switch to regular 20W-50 and I am 95% sure the problem will go away. You want to fix this problem rather quickly because if that oil stays down in there and heats up, you could be replacing your wiring harness soon ($1000). Good luck.

[Dashel]

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into that.

[WiCkEdWiLL]

hey now that we're into this conversation and i'm still in the tuneup mood what spark plugs should i get for my car? are NGK any good or it's there anything that will do better?

[MLOVE]

Bosch Platinum 4 is just fine.