freeelander td4 engine oil make and grade

nfn said:

When we visited the "expert" said that if an engine has been running on syn from new then it would be good to carry on through its life, but if an engine has done more than 25k on semi or mineral and then you change to Syn its a waste of money , it will not do it any harm but it will not provide the benefits of Syn as the engine has not been run from new with it, plus they said most engines could run on very low grade oil but it needs changing more often (4-6k) but as long as it was changed would not wear or harm the engine any more than expensive oils.

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Imagine you are running a factory/refinery and you must delegate someone as tour guide for a group of visitors. Do you choose one of your good people, whose knowledge and time is valuable to you, or someone not too bright but good at shooting his mouth off? The one eyed man .............

Dick head ! the "guide" was there technical manager as they were pitching for our business so it was there top guy ! not there YTS ! who would you trust to secure a million pound contract ? the low paid YTS ?

i'm not saying all oil is the same but if it meets a spec than its good stuff and no amount of magnetic this or liquid enginering that, makes it any better !

nfn said:

Dick head ! the "guide" was there technical manager as they were pitching for our business so it was there top guy ! not there YTS ! who would you trust to secure a million pound contract ? the low paid YTS ?

i'm not saying all oil is the same but if it meets a spec than its good stuff and no amount of magnetic this or liquid enginering that, makes it any better !

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No offence meant nfn as your visit was obviously an exception but I still think it unwise to take as gospel many of the quotes from so called "experts".
Incidentally IIRC Millers used to discourage the use of fully synthetic during the first 10k miles since it did not help the bedding in of cylinder walls. I believe that for turbo chargers a fully synthetic oil will withstand the heat on switch off better than a semi synthetic. Not many people remember to idle an engine for a while when stopping after hard driving.

I apoligise my use of term was well strong but i'm with you on the info, high power turbo like RS and evo's etc.. that reply very heavy on turbo power rather than grunt from the engine reach red hot temps ! and good oil and warm down is needed, but on low psi turbo's like on diesel cars do not reach these temp's so its unlikey semi syn would be any less effective.

on older cars you used to have to "bed" in engines and most used a very crude oil to do this for a 1000 miles or so before it would be changed for good oil, motorcycles still use this method but its only run for 600 miles on basic oil until its changed for semi (full syn burns out the clutch on motorcycles)

but modern cars like the td 4 BMW engine do not need this method on run on good oil from the start.

there no right or wrong really but fussing over what oil to put in a 60k plus engine is all about peace of mind and putting in top spec full syn would not harm in any way just be heavy on your pocket (seeing how it takes 6.9ltrs) when using a semi syn sub brand that meets the spec will be just as good but cheaper !

we have this debate all the time on my motorcycle forums , as motorcycle have to be run in at certain revs for the first 600-1000 miles some just thrash them from brand new (me included) and this results in a higher BHP figure but the engine will use more oil and shorter engine life but its not mine by then others run them in as per book but may have less BHP this is all gospel many magazines etc.. have run dyno tests !

so fill it with super better than everyone else turbo power oil at 18.99 a ltr if you want but my £5 a ltr semi syn will be just as good !

nfn said:

so fill it with super better than everyone else turbo power oil at 18.99 a ltr if you want but my £5 a ltr semi syn will be just as good !

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Thanks for your post (comment appreciated, thank you nfn) but I don't think your £5 a ltr semi syn will be as good as my 5W/40 fully synthetic A3.B3.B4. @ £8.97 per TWO litres from Tesco!

Tesco's ermmm! thats a good deal ! its the B4 that matters as this meets or exceeds the direct inj diesel engine spec.

sounds like you know your oil ! as most people would go and buy full syn B4 and pay through the nose for well "marketing" who refines Tesco's oil ? you can bet its a big well known refinery ! the Esso plant was filling containers/tubs with label's and brands i had not seen or heard of before and they were quick to point out that they had many contracts !

most peeps would be paying £25-30 for 5 ltrs of fully syn B4 so proves my point that it does not make it any better oil than your Tesco B4 that is bloody good oil but great value as well.

wheres my coat i'm off to tesco's to get some top up oil !

nfn said:

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wheres my coat i'm off to tesco's to get some top up oil !

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Must point out I have only found it in the larger stores. You could try at a Tesco store that has a filling station, I assume it will be the same price there. Good luck!

OUr td4 is due for its last service under warranty I rang up the suits and was quoted £472 for the 24k service well bugger that, I have sourced all original parts including the crank case breather filter for £110 thats including 2 gallons of fully synthetic oil my local vat registered garage quoted £80.00 plus vat so thats £210 and it doesnt affect the warranty !!!