Synthetic or Conventional?

[CuriousBikeRider]

Hey,

 

I'm heading in for my 600 mile service on the 2013 rt. I'm getting conflicting info on what's best for the physical and emotional well-being for my new RT: regular oil or synthetic? Money is not a concern on this one.

 

So I've heard that conventional wisdom was that boxers take forever to break-in and you should stick with regular oil for a while. Now, the mechanic says you can go ahead and do the synthetic right away if you want because the boxer has changed.

 

Please chime in here with great words of wisdom if you would be so kind.

 

TIA

 

CBR

 

 

[Fubar]

Oh, no, another oil thread!

 

If the previous threads are accurate, your bike shipped with full synthetic in the crankcase so replacing it should be no problem. All else fails, read the manual for its recommendation.

For what its worth, mine was semi-synthetic OEM and I held off switching to full synthetic until 6K miles for cost reasons (dealer service at initial, I do them now).

[beemerboy]

Hey,

 

I'm heading in for my 600 mile service on the 2013 rt. I'm getting conflicting info on what's best for the physical and emotional well-being for my new RT: regular oil or synthetic?

 

Wars have been started over this question and now you've gone and done it again. Simply put, you don't have nearly enough miles on your new RT to merit synthetic oil. Now, some may chime in with a counter argument but the generally accepted course of action is to accumulate at least 20K miles before switching over to synthetic.

 

Blast away, fellow BMWST'ers......

[cris nitro]

Well that makes me feel better, because my 05 with 17,000 miles is still buring oil. I thought the damn thing would be broken in by now.

[CuriousBikeRider]

Oh no, and I'm new here. Sounds like I just put a turd in the pool. Sorry. Ir's really a Baby Ruth bar (what's that from - Caddyshack?)

[GRB60]

Split the difference with semi-synthetic. I get mine from BeemerBoneyard. Bike hasn't used any oil since it had the first oil change at 600 miles.

[Dave_in_TX]

I don't know about the 2013 but for the 2007 boxers, BMW recommended waiting until 6k to switch to synthetic. My personal opinion, is that the only reason to hold off on making the switch is the expense.

[malcolmblalock]

My 05 RT stopped using oil at about 28K miles.

 

YMMV

[RTJohn]

I waited until 18k to switch to synthetic (BMW). Took a 6500 mile trip the next day. The bike used zero oil during that time. Great bike.

[dirtrider]

Evening CBR

 

Yes, BMW has changed the Boxer engine as well as the engine oil requirements.

 

In the older hexheads there used to be a warning in the riders manual to wait until 10,000 km to use synthetic engine oil.

 

I haven't looked in the 2013 riders manual but AFAIK that warning was eliminated from the later camhead manuals.

 

In any case it doesn't make much difference. One of the problems you will have is finding a (quality) conventional engine oil that meets the 2013 oil viscosity requirements. (most of the 2013 oil chart is for synthetic viscosity ranges)

 

The10w50 is great all around engine oil for the camheads & that is about impossible to find in a conventional engine oil & even if you did most 10w50 isn't a good choice in a conventional oil as the low to high viscosity spread is too wide for conventional oil to meet without excessive viscosity (VI) improvers.

 

Bottom line here-- your dealer is the one that will probably provide any engine related warranty service. For that reason I would recommend you use what they (your dealer) recommends as that will make it difficult for them to give you any guff based on engine oil usage.

 

[mwood7800]

Conventional oil works just as well and cheaper. My bikes seem to make less engine noise with Dino oils.

[RTinNC]

Have used conventional BMW brand 20w-50 in my oil heads and hex-heads and never burned a drop! Using conventional BMW 10w-40 in my new 2012 Cam-head and at 2500 miles no oil consumption.

 

For me since I change it every 2500 miles I just stick to conventional. I figure I should not try and fix what ain't broke. So far no problem finding BMW 10w-40

[elkroeger]

Where did I read about that guy who bought a new bike and never changed his oil - ever?

 

Too much is made of very little difference. Just stop and buy whatever's on sale.

[lkchris]

Are BMW's ever "on sale?"

 

Are they ever the cheapest choice?

 

BMW won't approve dino oil for their cars. Their cars in fact come with synthetic factory fill. Save for combined engine/transmission oil bikes, there's no difference between a motorcycle motor and a car motor.

 

If dino is so (bad?) that it causes breakin wear, why would anyone ever use it at all?

[beemerboy]

Oh no, and I'm new here. Sounds like I just put a turd in the pool. Sorry. Ir's really a Baby Ruth bar (what's that from - Caddyshack?)

 

See what I mean?? Now, let's see you take a bite out the "Baby Ruth bar."

[RTinNC]

Are BMW's ever "on sale?"

 

Not sure about anyone else but my GS sure was. Saved over $2500 off list price.

 

 

 

 

 

Are they ever the cheapest choice?

 

 

I guess it depends on how you define cheapest and how you compare. For me BMW was the best value for what you got both when I bought my RT and my new GSA. Were they the absolute cheapest ...nope but on a relative basis they were certainly the best value.

 

 

 

 

BMW won't approve dino oil for their cars. Their cars in fact come with synthetic factory fill. Save for combined engine/transmission oil bikes, there's no difference between a motorcycle motor and a car motor.

 

If dino is so (bad?) that it causes breakin wear, why would anyone ever use it at all?

 

I am not sure the BMW motorcycle manual says dino is bad and for me I use what the owners manual says and have never ever had an internal engine issue. Only use synthetic in my wife's Saab because the manual says USE SYNTHETIC. But just because the Saab manual says use 0w=40 synthetic does not mean that in my Ford Explorer I should use the same ... in it I use 5w-30 Dino as the manual says. Not sure you can infer if "X" is good for one engine it is good for all. But hey... if that works for you then go for it. Like others have said before ... it probably does not really matter so we all do what works for us.