Napa Motor Oil 5w-30 SAE , Ok for 2003 x5 4.6?

[bosanci28]

Hi, Quick question to you all!

At the time i purchased our 4.6 2003 , x5 ,the guy changed oil with the

Napa brand sae 5w-30

this one here.,

or pictures here:





and my question is ,should i continue with this brand or get the dealer brand?

i know there is price difference between the dealer and the napa brand.

Thanks for your advice !

[pezho405]

Id say its fine but if i were you id put something alittle less generic. however ive found that alot of times the dealer oil is cheaper than alot of the store oil. Also walmart is a good place for oil its pretty cheap, ive used the walmart 10-40

[JCL]

That oil is an API SM/SN in the correct 5w-30, so it is just fine.

The bigger question is what oil filter was used. If it was a generic NAPA filter (whatever that turns out to be) then I would swap in the OE filter from the dealer. You can do that without draining the oil if you want.

[puddinboo]

I`d stick with bmw or castrol oil myself JMHO.

[bosanci28]

Hi, Thanks to all for the advice!

The napa brand oil 5w-30 is on sale at $3.49 / qt right now.

The oil filter used was the "gold filter brand" at $17 each.

this: here

Thank you.
b.

[pezho405]

You need to go with the mahle or Mann filter. the filter is very important

[bosanci28]

Hmm,never heard about those brands of oil filters... are those made in Germany?

I see they are like 5,6$ on ebay with free shipping! interesting...

[pezho405]

Originally Posted by bosanci28

Hmm,never heard about those brands of oil filters... are those made in Germany?

I see they are like 5,6$ on ebay with free shipping! interesting...

Yeah they are very good quality, ive seen some people come in with the off brand chineese oil filters that are either collapsed or fall apart when you touch them. And yeah they are german, and are used by the dealers as well possiby. Well thats what we used in the shop i worked at.

[bosanci28]

Ok,i see! thanks for the tip! will be getting few of those for next oil change.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by bosanci28

Ok,i see! thanks for the tip! will be getting few of those for next oil change.

The lowest risk filter is the one from the dealer.

Ones like the NAPA filters are referred to as "will fit" filters because the only spec that you can judge is that they are the same physical size. There is no filtering performance spec, no dirt capacity spec, no flow spec, and so on. This doesn't mean that it is necessarily a bad filter, just that it is an unknown quantity.

The Mahle and Mann filters may be fine as well. They are both reputable companies. But just like the filter above, there is usually no spec on how well they work. Filter companies make different products targeting different price points, in the same physical size, and those companies make both very good filters and discount filters. How do you tell which one you are getting? Even if they did publish a spec, BMW haven't published a spec on what the filter needs to flow, and how it needs to perform to meet the engine's filtering requirements, so you take your chances.

The final thing to consider is that filters are notoriously easy to counterfeit. If you buy a name brand filter, OE or otherwise, buy it from someone you are sure is actually getting it from the manufacturer who's name is on it, and not an offshore factory that spends more on the fake packaging than the filter itself. eBay is the sort of place that those cheap filters are usually sold.

For all of the above reasons, I just bought my filters from the dealer. Your choice, but don't just throw anything on there, it matters.