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Quote:

Originally Posted by supersteve

Be careful with running Deisel oils in cars equiped with catalitic converters. The deisel oils have a compound which is deadly to converters (magnesium I believe). I also use Shell Rotella synthetic 5 w 40 in my motorcycle; but, it doesn't have a CC.

The compound is ZDDP, containing both zinc and phosphorus; both of which can possibly "poison" catalytic converters. I've got three gasser cars(Honda Civic and VWNB - daughters' cars - in addition to the X5) running RotTSyn for the past 4 years with no problems - prob'ly over 100k miles total experience with them alone. The X5 has approx. 110k total miles with over 60k on RotTSyn. I'm not sure what the expected life span is for it's catalytic converter, but the ones that I've replaced on other cars generally failed at around 100k.

From Shell's web site:

Quote:

Shell Rotella® T Synthetic SAE 5W-40 is a fully synthetic heavy-duty diesel and gasoline engine oil developed especially to meet the requirements of North American driving.

and

Quote:

Recommended for new and older diesel- and gasoline-powered vehicles, including personal vehicles and commercial vehicles such as on-road, off-the-road, truck rental, pickups, delivery, utility, and school bus fleets

Most, if not all, "new" on-road gasoline and diesel powered vehicles sold in North America have catalytic converters. The diesels use a different catalyst, but they're still subject to "poisoning". I don't think Shell would be recommending this oil for gasser use if this was a real problem.

I guess that I'd be more concerned if any of my cars burned oil and they were driven mostly around town. "Poisoning" supposedly can be reversed by high temperature operation of the catalytic converter. With the miniscule amounts of zinc and phosphorus reaching the cat - both are around 1,000ppm in the oil and the X5 typically goes thru a quart about every 4k - I figure the amount of highway driving we do during a normal week takes care of it.

Please note - I'm not trying to be argumentative and I'm not saying that it's what you should do, but it's working for me... ;)

I'm glad to hear your successes with the Rotella T Syn. I have been wanting to put it in all my vehicles because I think it is the best oil for the money. Now I will.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kendall

No, Castrol Syntec 5W 30 sold in the U.S. is not the same Castrol sold at BMW dealers... The BMW castrol is the european formula which is a full synthetic.. Castrol Syntec is a hybrid...

This didn't seem right to me. So I visited an auto supply store yesterday and looked at the 5W-30 Castrol Syntec sold there. The labelling explicitedly says full synthetic! There was no further description of the contents ....

Does it really seem likely that this U.S. version is somehow different???

The US Castrol synthetic oil does not have the ACEA A3, or BMW LL-01 rating.

drs

Quote:

Originally Posted by X5WannaBe

Yes, it is. Apparently it isn't a full synthetic. Mind you, I used it once and it didn't make any difference at all (in fact, it ran just like the BMW Synthetic). The German Castrol is BMW LL-01 complaint. I do seem to get slightly better fuel mileage, perhaps due to the slightly lighter oil (it is a 0W-30 versus a 5W-30).

But I really wonder how significant this difference is....