Which Oil for tracking?

[bigjae46]

For our engines, there's only one party that has done that testing, and that's BMW M. That means the only oil backed by that level of knowledge is BMW's own 10W-60. Everything else is a guess (varying levels of educated).

Agreed. I've seen too many S54s run a long time on OE oil. Its a known quantity. Although I think I could lower peak temps with another oil, I still run the OE10w-60.

[Tbonem3]

BMW M didn't base their oil partnership decisions on any science lol. Well modern $cience maybe. BMW M oil was castrol for years, then a brief stint with Shell, now back to Castrol.

[bigjae46]

BMW M didn't base their oil partnership decisions on any science lol. Well modern $cience maybe. BMW M oil was castrol for years, then a brief stint with Shell, now back to Castrol.

The only science involved was could the oil maintain the 15,000 mile oil change interval fiction.

[Tbonem3]

The only science involved was could the oil maintain the 15,000 mile oil change interval fiction.

Every modern full synthetic oil can.

[bigjae46]

Every modern full synthetic oil can.

Is Mobil 1 a full synthetic? That does not meet BMW's LLF requirements.

[IamFODI]

BMW M didn't base their oil partnership decisions on any science lol. Well modern $cience maybe. BMW M oil was castrol for years, then a brief stint with Shell, now back to Castrol.

There have been various posts on BITOG and on the old M3Forum with info from Doug Hillary, a lubricant engineer with with direct and indirect knowledge of TWS and BMW's various engine developers, describing how Castrol collaborated with BMW's engineers and third parties. Castrol made special formulations for BMW (including a version of TWS for M engines), BMW's engine development involved input from Castrol. E.g.:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/bmw-and-the-10w60-thing.204781/page-3#post-3148080

https://web.archive.org/web/20200222162902/http://m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=295656

Leaving all that aside, I find it highly unlikely that a company can develop and mass-produce reliable 8k+ RPM engines with >100 hp/L NA but then when it comes to lubricants just be like "eh, whatever, this oil is fine; just use it because the manufacturer is hooking us up." The more I learn about this stuff, the more the reality seems like the exact polar opposite of that. Guess I can't speak for everyone...

[D-O]

I have used nothing but Castrol 10W-60 since I purchased the car about seven years ago. First TWS, and then Edge Supercar once TWS disappeared. Do we have any reliable information as to whether the Edge Supercar is the same formulation as TWS?

[IamFODI]

o we have any reliable information as to whether the Edge Supercar is the same formulation as TWS?

Same as current or old TWS?

[Slideways]

I have used nothing but Castrol 10W-60 since I purchased the car about seven years ago. First TWS, and then Edge Supercar once TWS disappeared. Do we have any reliable information as to whether the Edge Supercar is the same formulation as TWS?

You'd have to send in a sample of both for oil analysis to confirm, but I would guess they are the same. I don't think Castrol would want the added cost of making two different 10w60s.

[IamFODI]

Unless I'm missing something on Castrol's website, it looks like Edge Supercar / Edge Euro Car 10W-60 is the only 10W-60 available from them now. That tells me any Castrol-branded 10W-60 with a different name will be an older product, so almost guaranteed to be a different formula. Formulas change all the time for various reasons, even when the branding/label doesn't change.

Private label stuff (e.g. BMW TwinPower Turbo 10W-60) might be a straight-up rebadge, or it might be a tweaked formulation. As Slideways said, can't tell without an oil analysis (and might not be able to tell even with one).

[samthejam]

Agreed. I've seen too many S54s run a long time on OE oil. Its a known quantity. Although I think I could lower peak temps with another oil, I still run the OE10w-60.

By OE do you mean the original TWS oil or do you mean the current "Twin Turbo" oil from the dealer?

[bigjae46]

By OE do you mean the original TWS oil or do you mean the current "Twin Turbo" oil from the dealer?

both

[fourmula1]

Used the Castrol 10w-60 supercar for like 10k track/race miles. Just switched to Redline 10w-60. I am going to assume it will all be fine. I change every race weekend.

[BL92]

Just throwing some jet fuel on this thread

In Australia we have this oil, currently not mentioned

It's a BMW approved LL-98 oil

[IamFODI]

Just throwing some jet fuel on this thread

In Australia we have this oil, currently not mentioned

It's a BMW approved LL-98 oil

Looks like a great product for older flat-tappet engines, or maybe certain race cars. I would not consider this a substitute for BMW 10W-60 or the other known-quantity engine oils for these cars for street use.

They list BMW LL-98 as a "performance level," not an approval. IOW, they think it performs at that level, but it hasn't been approved. Very common for aftermarket engine oils.

One thing I've noticed about high-ester oils: They also tend to have monstrous ZDDP levels. Not a surprise IMO given that ester competes with ZDDP at the surface of the metal. IOW, I'm sure that 1800+ ppm of ZDDP is doing good work, but it probably isn't doing what it seems like it should. And you'll still get the downsides of massive ZDDP levels, like ash.

100% PAO/ester with a ton of ZDDP looks great because none of the major OE-affiliated brands do it this way. But when none of the major players in a field do something, you can bet there's a reason.

To me, this looks like a band-aid product for when you need anti-wear at all cost. In a street-driven or even mixed-use M engine, I would expect the anti-wear benefit to be minimal-to-none and not worth the downsides.