fiat_freak
Member
Recently came across this article in a BMW Help Forum which make you think
""""The question of whether to use synthetic or traditional “dinosaur” oil often comes up among car buffs. Consumer Reports (July 1996) ran an extensive test on the two types of oil, using many different brands. The testers installed freshly rebuilt engines in 75 taxicabs, and then ran them through the harshest conditions on the streets of New York City. Placing different brands, weights, and formulations in the cars, they racked up 60,000 miles on the engines, tore them down, measured, and inspected the engine components for wear. The oil was changed at 3,000 miles in half of them, and the rest were changed at 6,000 miles. Results: regardless of brand, synthetic or dino, weight, and oil change interval, there were no discernable differences in engine component wear in any of the engines. Their conclusion? Motor oils and the additives blended into them have improved so much over the years that frequent oil changes and expensive synthetics are no longer necessary.
Still, some people swear by synthetic oil. In practice, I don't recommend using synthetic oil if you have an older car with old seals in the engine. There have been many documented cases in which the addition of synthetic oil has caused an otherwise dry car to start leaking. If you own an older car that doesn’t have fresh seals in the engine, I would stick to the non-synthetics.""""
""""The question of whether to use synthetic or traditional “dinosaur” oil often comes up among car buffs. Consumer Reports (July 1996) ran an extensive test on the two types of oil, using many different brands. The testers installed freshly rebuilt engines in 75 taxicabs, and then ran them through the harshest conditions on the streets of New York City. Placing different brands, weights, and formulations in the cars, they racked up 60,000 miles on the engines, tore them down, measured, and inspected the engine components for wear. The oil was changed at 3,000 miles in half of them, and the rest were changed at 6,000 miles. Results: regardless of brand, synthetic or dino, weight, and oil change interval, there were no discernable differences in engine component wear in any of the engines. Their conclusion? Motor oils and the additives blended into them have improved so much over the years that frequent oil changes and expensive synthetics are no longer necessary.
Still, some people swear by synthetic oil. In practice, I don't recommend using synthetic oil if you have an older car with old seals in the engine. There have been many documented cases in which the addition of synthetic oil has caused an otherwise dry car to start leaking. If you own an older car that doesn’t have fresh seals in the engine, I would stick to the non-synthetics.""""
