REVIEW: Shell Rotella Synthetic T6 5w-40

[LuxoM3]

Yes yes yes, I know - oil has been kinda of discussed to death. But there's always the people who want to read up on brands they've considered, but never bought. So here goes...



I have a 1995 BMW M3 with 175k miles on it. It sees about 80 miles a day in city/highway commuting from the 'burbs to the city of San Francisco. My car is lightly modified (intake, chip, flywheel, exhaust, etc.) and dumps 230hp at the wheels (or 270hp if you want to compare versus stock 240hp).

This is my 2nd M3. I owned a 1996 OBD2 version.

Over the course of ownership between both cars, I've religiously used either Mobil One in the 0w-40 or 10w-30 and Castrol Syntec 10w-30. Both oils were fine, but both also tended to evaporate under my driving style to the tune of about 1 quart every 800 miles.

Some of that was due to a leaky valve cover. But even with the leak at a minimum, oil usage was still significant.

Well after eyeing the Shell Rotella on the shelf at a local auto store (O'Reily's out here in NorCal), I picked up two/1-gallon jugs at $19.99 each (about 8 quarts). I did an oil change, new filter, and new valve cover gasket.

I completely drained my oil, and filled the engine with 8 quarts of oil (7.1 plus a little more to compensate for usage or hard cornering).

I've just completed about 2000 miles of driving with this set-up.

In short - wow.

The Rotella quiets the valves on my 1995 M3 pretty noticeably - where the Mobil One gave me clatter, the Castrol some noise, the Rotella is like a new/smooth. Also, the "wet" quality of the oil seems, well "wetter"... I assume due to the 5w designation as I tend to run 10w.

Oil usage... well in short... at most, I'm down maybe 1/4 quart, as the oil level is only slightly lower than before. Driving habits still bad. One note, the valve cover looks like it's finally sealed itself off so...

In conclusion, it's only oil. My fast isn't faster or INCREDIBLY smoother, but 2k later, it's noticeably quieter and oil usage seems to have calmed itself down. If anything, the price alone of $20/gallon is significant over Mobil One or Castrol Syntec $30/gallon.

Rotella also holds euro certifications of ACEA - E9. Note this is specifically formulated for diesel/turbo applications where soot is an issue from my reading. But given the high-performance, high-compression nature of the M motors it may not be a bad fit.

(http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?...t6_detail.html)

Now before the oil police come rolling in... this review is my observation. I claim no form of oil expertise or oil engineering education. I decided on this try because the risk to me is low, the resale value of the car and it's high mileage mean that at this point, it just needs to run.

But don't me wrong. I still love my M3.

[Volf]

Interesting read. I had similar results with royal purple 10w40. Ever tried that stuff? Expensive however...

[K2sfc]

lot of people use that for their bikes

[Karuza]

Uh oh.. I thought you guys were using

Eff me now I have to go drain my oil

[K2sfc]

Uh oh.. I thought you guys were using

Eff me now I have to go drain my oil

oh thats the one people use on their motorcycles

[JETninja]

Been running it since 2002 in my old B5 Turbo Passat and in my M since I got it in '05.

[The Letter M]

Well, nice report, but frankly I'd expect you to notice a difference if you changed viscosities no matter which brand you used. I was hoping you were going to post some oil analysis data, but oh well, glad you like the oil anyway.

[Volf]

Uh oh.. I thought you guys were using

Eff me now I have to go drain my oil

[ChuckDizzle]

I've used that same oil. Its definitely a good buy compared to the price of other brands. However, I'm currently running Castrol 5w-50, I wanted to play around with a thicker oil for summer and to test whether or not it would quiet my engine. Thus far I don't notice a difference.

for the money, I'll be going back to the Rotella T6

[Karuza]

Thank god I used it for ~1000 miles to get all the extra shavings out from headgasket.. I just bought 2 more gallons today for oil change but fortunately I can return it.. I feel like a bad m3 owner now =(

[breakfast]

have you tried german castrol? (0w-30). its a heavier weight 30 that does well. its thicker than mobil 1 40 weight.

rotella is good stuff though

[The Letter M]

have you tried german castrol? (0w-30). its a heavier weight 30 that does well. its thicker than mobil 1 40 weight….

Could you please explain exactly why you believe this? Is it because you saw it in a forum, or is it because of a real oil test you have seen where the viscosities were measured before, during or after use?

[breakfast]

well I guess you got me.
I read it(multiple times) on bobistheoilguy. arguably the mecca of internet oil chat.

If the regular members there say something its generally spot on. Mobil 1 is quite thin according to those guys...who do get their oils tested more than I wash myself.

you must run mobil 1 :p

[ButtDyno]

I was hoping you were going to post some oil analysis data, but oh well,

+1

I'll be sending mine in to Blackstone soon though, been meaning to do that for a while.

[das borgen]

oh thats the one people use on their motorcycles

ui guess i m not a person

i only use this stuff in mine

[InuFaye]

Im thinking of runnning this in my M.

90k on the clock and has been shricked.

Seems to be a good buy for the money.

Looks like PO was running Mobil1 0w-40 maybe.

[bennyfizzle]

I went through about 2 qt's of this oil in 2k miles. No leaks, no oil smoke, ever, exhaust smells clean. 90K mile S52.

For comparison, with the 'old' M1 15w-50 it was down maybe 1/2 quart after 4k miles.

German Castrol I couldn't any change on the dipstick between oil changes, but that crap is $$$.

my motor consistently uses more Rotella than any other oil I've tried hands down.

all of the data on bobistheoilguy says this would be a great oil in our cars, but I'm not sure why I use so much. gonna get this next oil change analyzed.

[mweinst]

I've been running Rotella T6 for the last year and a half. The valve clatter that I hear for a few seconds at startup has decreased a little, but not significantly. I don't seem to burn much oil between fill ups.

I basically switched from Castrol 5w-40 to save a few bucks, but I have yet to see a downside. (Please, no lectures about owning an M3 and trying to save a little money).

I like the Rotella a lot better than Mobil 1. Valve clatter with M1 was horrible in the morning, and my car drank it like cheap beer.

[JETninja]

I went through about 2 qt's of this oil in 2k miles. No leaks, no oil smoke, ever, exhaust smells clean. 90K mile S52.

For comparison, with the 'old' M1 15w-50 it was down maybe 1/2 quart after 4k miles.

German Castrol I couldn't any change on the dipstick between oil changes, but that crap is $$$.

my motor consistently uses more Rotella than any other oil I've tried hands down.

all of the data on bobistheoilguy says this would be a great oil in our cars, but I'm not sure why I use so much. gonna get this next oil change analyzed.

What year is your Car? I was recently using a ton of Oil and never saw any drips or smoke. Had a blocked return line to the Pan so all went to the intake. When I pulled the intake, tons of oil. Synth's don't smoke like Dino oil, so its not a good indicator. On OBDII cars its often the Cyclone Separator needs cleaning or same issue as my '95.

[hcaleman]

Could you please explain exactly why you believe this? Is it because you saw it in a forum, or is it because of a real oil test you have seen where the viscosities were measured before, during or after use?

VOA and UOA's of GC on BITOG have pointed in this direction for a while.

Also a GC user, but may give this T6 a shot.

[TXRFan]

Could you please explain exactly why you believe this? Is it because you saw it in a forum, or is it because of a real oil test you have seen where the viscosities were measured before, during or after use?

I don't have a direct spec to answer your question, but I have looked at T6 WRT other oils on BMW's recommended list. I good site for learning about oil is bobistheoilguy. There is an oil course there on the first page that goes through the basics of viscosity and oil grades (they are not weights!). There is some overlap in what is allowed to be called a 30 grade and 40 grade oil. Anyway a simple comparison is the kinematic viscosity, which can be looked up for a number of oils (but not all - some companies do not publish it).

The following numbers were looked up on the net. The first number is the kinematic viscosity at 40C and the second number is at 100C (40C/100C). What you are concerned the most about is the 100C number, this is the oil viscosity at operating temp. You are also concerned about the low temp number.

So here are some BMW recommended oils:
Mobil 1 0w-40 78.3/14
Castrol Syntec European Formula SAE 0W-30 ??/12.1
Shell Helix Ultra AB 5w-30 64.7/11.4
Elf Excellium LDX 0w-30 65.6/11.7

Note that the Elf 0w-30 is actually thicker than the Shell Helix. Also note the Castrol European 0w-30 is quite heave for a 30 grade.

The spec for Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 is 87.0/14.2
The spec for Redline 10w-40 is 93/14.6
The spec for Redline 15w-50 is 138/19.6

I'm in the middle of determining if I need an oil cooler. I'll be taking measurements this weekend at Harris Hill Road .

With two kinematic viscosity points, one can calculate the viscosity at any temp. http://www.widman.biz/English/Calcul...erational.html Using the BMW provided "ok" oils, and temp measurements from the oil filter housing of my car, my car runs about 220F in normal driving (Houston, TX, 98F ambient). At 220F the recommended Shell Helix 5w-30 the viscosity is 10.41 (10 is common target in engine design). I picked the Helix because it is the thinest oil on BMW's list that I could find specs for. I then looked at other, thicker, oils and calculated about where they would hit about 10:

Rotella T-6 5W-40: 243F = 10.02
Redline 10W-40: 243F = 10.24
Redline 15W-50: 250F = 12.48/275F = 9.67

I'm running T-6, if my track temps exceed 250F, I'm putting in an oil cooler. One could switch to RL 15W-50 and push up to 275F, but at the expense of more wear when cold, not to mention the expense of the oil itself -- the oil cooler is cheaper in the long run and should provide better startup protection.

Anyway, FWIW. One can spend a lot of time on this if they want to. I like the price and availability of T-6. There is a whole lot more than viscosity to oil as well.

-Mike

[bennyfizzle]

What year is your Car? I was recently using a ton of Oil and never saw any drips or smoke. Had a blocked return line to the Pan so all went to the intake. When I pulled the intake, tons of oil. Synth's don't smoke like Dino oil, so its not a good indicator. On OBDII cars its often the Cyclone Separator needs cleaning or same issue as my '95.

the chassis is a 93 but that's irrelevant.

it's got all of the 95 pcv stuff, I really should clean it, there was a nice coating of oil in the intake mani and throttle body but not excessive from what I've seen.

an analysis should show if the car's burning oil though, right?

[Gatekeeper]

It was on sale at Pepboys when i bought it for $11.99 a gallon. ($30 oil change? OK!)

I've had this in my engine for the last 2k miles, figure I'd try it out. My engine is noticeably quieter as well and as the OP stated, oil loss is pretty low.

[NeilM]

I'm running T-6, if my track temps exceed 250F, I'm putting in an oil cooler.

Your track oil temps will exceed 250F under any reasonable scenario (e.g. excluding ice races...). A typical E36 M3 range is 240-265F, depending on ambient and other variables. For you in Texas a full synthetic xxW-50 minimum is essential. After a good deal of diddling around with alternatives I've returned to Mobil 1 15W-50—and I have both a 57mm PWR radiator and an oil cooler.

I'm not pushing any particular brand of oil (and heaven knows that's been done to death anyway). I use the Mobil 1 15W-50 because it's one of the better quality oils and it's readily available at a reasonable price. I can pick it up at any AutoZone at any time.

As you know, anti-wear additive package is another consideration in oil choice.

If I were you, living in TX and sometimes tracking my daily driver, I'd change oil seasonally between a 0W-40 or a 5W-40 in winter and the 15W-50 in summer.

Neil
96 M3 - street legal track car

[InuFaye]

Your track oil temps will exceed 250F under any reasonable scenario (e.g. excluding ice races...). A typical E36 M3 range is 240-265F, depending on ambient and other variables. For you in Texas a full synthetic xxW-50 minimum is essential. After a good deal of diddling around with alternatives I've returned to Mobil 1 15W-50—and I have both a 57mm PWR radiator and an oil cooler.

I'm not pushing any particular brand of oil (and heaven knows that's been done to death anyway). I use the Mobil 1 15W-50 because it's one of the better quality oils and it's readily available at a reasonable price. I can pick it up at any AutoZone at any time.

As you know, anti-wear additive package is another consideration in oil choice.

If I were you, living in TX and sometimes tracking my daily driver, I'd change oil seasonally between a 0W-40 or a 5W-40 in winter and the 15W-50 in summer.

Neil
96 M3 - street legal track car

Then what would you run in a 98 M3 car that gets driven only in the summer, and lives in Virginia. I can get into the 90s here in the summer. 15w-50? 5w-40?
Car has 0w-40 in it now.