Winter Driving the M3... 0w40? Or 10w60?

So I know this might be a beaten to death topic but would you guys do 0w40 for winter/low temperature engine protection or would you just stick to the recommended 10w60?

On the east coast here in Canada we see negative temperatures quite often, so I'm wondering if it would be wise to switch to a different oil.

Any advice?

Thanks!

gordon@ wrote

So I know this might be a beaten to death topic but would you guys do 0w40 for winter/low temperature engine protection or would you just stick to the recommended 10w60?

On the east coast here in Canada we see negative temperatures quite often, so I'm wondering if it would be wise to switch to a different oil.

Any advice?

Thanks!

I?m in Calgary and I?m running the 10W 60 in the winter.. no issues just let her idle for a minute after cold starts to get the oil flowing before you put any load on the engine and you?ll be fine

I run 0W40 year round in NH. Been doing that since I changed the rod bearings at 60k, about 30k miles ago. No track use. I an aware that BMW specifies 10W60.

Read your owners' manual. It advises that the required synthetic is good for all normal climates, and that if you are going to be operating for extended periods at temperatures below -20C you should contact BMW for advice concerning a suitable replacement.

I like what this guy has written about oil viscosity. Might not be applicable to all cars, but it is an interesting, though controversial, perspective and I am not aware of any retraction in the subsequent decade:

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/motor-oil-all-chapters-inclusive-copy-and-save-this.136052/

I live in Green Bay, WI and I daily drive my M3. I use 10w60 and have not had any issues. As mentioned, I let my car idle for a bit an then drive slowly and keep the rpms under 4k until it is properly warmed up.

I spoke to IND and they mentioned that in Chicago winters they have clients running 5W40 without any problems. I'm going to do this and change the oil in spring anyways. Thanks for the heads-up guys, that Ferrari Chat article is a long read, will save it for later.

i'd stick with 10W60.
Majority of rod bearing damage occurs during cold-temp engine usage.
With the bearing design of our E9X M3, doesn't really matter if it's 0W-40, 5W40, 10W-50 or 10W-60.
As long as you warm up the engine properly before using higher rpms, you should be fine

So no cars that have been warmed up before high rpm are used have had bad rod bearings? All the rod bearing failures are the fault of the owners? If only it was so simple.

10w60

pbonsalb wrote

I like what this guy has written about oil viscosity. Might not be applicable to all cars, but it is an interesting, though controversial, perspective and I am not aware of any retraction in the subsequent decade:

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/motor-oil-all-chapters-inclusive-copy-and-save-this.136052/

I read the article and found it fascinating. It begs the question as to, if his conclusions are correct and there aren't other considerations that would negate this, why don't all manufacturers insist on variable grade oils that begin at a zero weight?

there are lots of oils that are lighter than tws for winter. i used amsoil 5w50 last oil change i did on my old m3. point being there are lots of other options/weights. imo its much more important to change the oil frequently with a quality oil than what weight is used.

I'm going to stick to 10W60. Got some Liquimoly 10w60 cheaper than 5w40.
So I'm just going to stick to that with some Molyslip MOS2 Oil Supplement.
That should keep the car safe during the winter cold-starts.

Liquimoly is thicker than Castrol or Shell.

0w40 or 5w40. I think you'll ended up switching once you experience how poorly 10w60 acts in freezing temperatures. Expect warm up to take 20 minutes.

oolas3 wrote

0w40 or 5w40. I think you'll ended up switching once you experience how poorly 10w60 acts in freezing temperatures. Expect warm up to take 20 minutes.

I live on long island and have a fairly short commute to my local train station to get to the city.

I run 0w-40 all year round and the car loves it. It heats up the Drive train much quicker in freezing temps and the car is overall less prone to jerkyness in cold conditions running 10w-60.

For me the thinner 0w-40 on startup makes sense and offers pleanty of protection at operating temp....

gordon@ wrote

I'm going to stick to 10W60. Got some Liquimoly 10w60 cheaper than 5w40.
So I'm just going to stick to that with some Molyslip MOS2 Oil Supplement.
That should keep the car safe during the winter cold-starts.

Molyslip ftw

oolas3 wrote

0w40 or 5w40. I think you'll ended up switching once you experience how poorly 10w60 acts in freezing temperatures. Expect warm up to take 20 minutes.

While it might make sense to switch from a 10W-60 to a 0W-60 for winter driving up north (fortunately I don't live in a climate where this is a concern), I don't think that it makes sense to switch to an oil with a hot viscosity of 40. Even in cold weather the engine will reach normal operating temperature, and at that temperature the 40 weight is not likely to provide adequate lubrication.

I think the 40 weight is likely to provide adequate lubrication even on hot weather. Its what I and others have run for years.

gordon@ wrote

I'm going to stick to 10W60. Got some Liquimoly 10w60 cheaper than 5w40.
So I'm just going to stick to that with some Molyslip MOS2 Oil Supplement.
That should keep the car safe during the winter cold-starts.

Heads up, LM 10w60 is technically thicker than shell/castrol 10w60. It was great for hot Texas summers, but when it got "cold" it took forever to warm up to operating temperature.

I think it makes perfect sense to use 0w40 in climates that see below freezing ambient temps for a significant part of the year.

If you take 10W60 out and try to pour it in anything below 32F it comes out like molasses, if you are not taking it to the track while using 0W40 and you are just daily driving it, especially if you don't drive enough to get it to full temp at least once while driving that day then it will work perfectly in those scenarios.

That being said I use 10W60 because I live in central Texas and it rarely gets below 40F and when it does its not more then a few days, however it does get over 110F for 3 months out of the year and I don't want to be switching oils, not to mention I have at least a 15 min commute to work with no traffic, which is a Christmas miracle and never happens, so I always get it up to temp even in winter before shutting her down.

10w60 is literally like glue if you haven't touched it, I would not run that in the winter