Hi,anybody know if you use castrol 0w 30 in a 2009 or 2010 bmw 320d 184bhp would it damage the engine.on the castrol website it says you

should use 5w30 for diesel,so what harm can 0w30 auctually do.the oil i have is LL01 approved,

thanks,tony

WOW a difference of 5 (FIVE) degrees will not affect the engine.

People will argue that diesels need THICKER oil, therefore the lower the number the better, plus less chance of infiltrating the piston rings.

Best answer I could give you today is why not use it?

HTH Daz

To be honest, I'd be wary of using anything not recommended by the manufacturer. Remember, they perform extensive testing on their products before releasing them to the market, and they make recommendations for good reason.

Beside lubrication, one of the main mechanical properties of a oil is it ability to resist shear stress. Another is to remove heat from component parts, i.e. the underside of pistons. If an oil is too thin,its ability to resist shear stress is reduced, it will break down causing a film, burn and accelerate wear. Think of the pressure the big-end and con-rod bearings are under every time the fuel ignites in the cylinders.

I haven't got the energy right now to write a full explanation, but try this article, and see what they say about thin oils and diesel engines.

My link

Good luck.

To be honest, I'd be wary of using anything not recommended by the manufacturer. Remember, they perform extensive testing on their products before releasing them to the market, and they make recommendations for good reason.

Beside lubrication, one of the main mechanical properties of a oil is its ability to resist shear stress. Another is to remove heat from component parts, i.e. the underside of pistons, etc. If an oil is too thin, its ability to resist shear stress is reduced, it will break down, form a film, burn and accelerate wear. Think of the pressure the big-end and con-rod bearings are under every time the fuel ignites in the cylinders. At 1500 rpm, those bearings are resisting that shear stress at 25 times per second... a lot of work.

I haven't got the energy right now to write a full explanation, but try this article, and see what they say about thin oils and diesel engines.

Sorry, tried that link and it didn't work, so try Googling: www.jeepfan.com/tech/motoroil - faq.htm

My link

Good luck.

I think the main question is the oil's quality as you get what you pay for... Garbage in, Garbage out !!!

0w50 is fine... I even use Diesel oil in my 2.0 Passat and it loves it !!

You are right about recommended lubricants, Biff... But who still has recommended tyres on?

tyres are slightly diff dabs, i agree with sticking to what BMW want in there engines, its recommended for a reason

Yeah, Dabsy, working for a main dealership for a well known Swedish Truck maker, I did the same in my 3.9 V8 Rangie. And why? Because they only specify the highest quality engine oil due to the high loads diesel engines, and in particular, the turbochargers are subjected to. Use a thin oil in diesel engine for a while, especially one with a variance of '30' between the lowest and the highest figures ( more polymers added to acheive the 'W' rating, while still trying to meet its high temperature viscosity) and check the results. Black burnt smelly oil, depositing itself who knows where in your oil-ways.

I've only ever used top quality oils (Castrol) because cheap oils are usually recycled oils, with the additives put back in. Where do you suppose all those thousands of gallons of used oil from oil changes goes. A tanker comes in and takes away to the engineering equivalent of a maternity ward!

My yardstick is "If you're not sure, don't do it". All the information you could ever want is at your finger tips. Go look.

Cheers.

On a new car maybe...

Let me sidetrack and suggest that if anyone ever thinks of using additives (Slick50 and other comedy fluids) to engine oil then they should be banished to Libya !!

Do you remember that phenomenon from the 80's with hot hatches... the "Black Death", and hence the development of synthetic oils... mmmmmmm!

Do you remember that phenomenon from the 80's with hot hatches... the "Black Death", and hence the development of synthetic oils... mmmmmmm!

Yes I effin do Biff LOL Maybe we should use Slick50 on our windscreens and bonnet to deflect bugs... Hahaha Effin science eh?