Final drive oil semi synth?

iain1067

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I have a bottle of 75w90 GL5 semi synthetic that I am thinking of using in the final drive do you think this will be ok as I know fully synth is usually the flavour to use I will be changing it every year.

thanks

Iain
 
Its often said, any oil is better than no oil

Then again £600+ is more than £15+ which is the ballpark costs of a rebuild

go buy the right stuff ;)
 
GL5 IS the right stuff ! :rob :blast

Personally I have for about 10 years used 85W140 GL5 in all FD services

It's a personal preference But that change has lowered the number of folks looking FD's rebuilt after 50 K as far as I can see

The only figure that you need to see is GL5 it does not really matter what the rest are BUT heavy Truck Tractor Diff Oil is just right If you know what I mean :green gri :green gri :green gri

:aidan
 
On 1200 twins of this era, BMW recommended Castrol SAF-XO fully synthetic 75w90 which may well be in your owners manual.
 
I bought an 1150 second hand years ago. The final drive Shat itself. Previous owner admitted he put gl4 in the final drive. He payed for the Motorworks final drive. That one was shot and Dr farkoff stood up for me with Motorworks. Yet another FD arrived. ThanksDoc.

Don’t use gl4
 
GSite said:
On 1200 twins of this era, BMW recommended Castrol SAF-XO fully synthetic 75w90 which may well be in your owners manual.
Click to expand...

Yes On release that drive was supposed to be "Sealed for Life!"

And we all know how well that worked out well for them!

Things change ! :rob
 
Hwr1983 said:
And we all know "...For Life" doesn't mean "Forever" :)
Click to expand...

BMW car gearboxes of a certain era were sealed for life, consequently very few reached 100,000 miles but as BMW pointed out that was the life of the gearbox, some gearboxes in vehicles run by police forces got 50,000 mile oil changes and after only 3 years and in many cases over 150,000 hard miles they were absolutely fine
 
iain1067 said:
I have a bottle of 75w90 GL5 semi synthetic that I am thinking of using in the final drive do you think this will be ok as I know fully synth is usually the flavour to use I will be changing it every year.

thanks

Iain
Click to expand...

If you're only changing it once a year why not use what is specified, fully synth.
If you were changing it weekly and in large amounts i could understand the temptation of using the slightly cheaper oil as the cost difference spread over a year would be significant (but still sod all in the great scheme of things).

But using 200cc a year of the more expensive oil spread over a year would cost less than one pence a week extra than the cheaper inferior oil
 
Steptoe said:
But using 200cc a year of the more expensive oil spread over a year would cost less than one pence a week extra than the cheaper inferior oil
Click to expand...

Spoilsport!
This is a "whatoil" thread so clear off with your sensible answers!
 
so in the end I did both the gearbox and final drive using Motul 300 fully synthetic 75w90, I appreciate all your comments and input. i never get over how old trans oil stinks, having been out for a short test ride it's so far smooth as butter.
 
iain1067 said:
so in the end I did both the gearbox and final drive using Motul 300 fully synthetic 75w90, I appreciate all your comments and input. i never get over how old trans oil stinks, having been out for a short test ride it's so far smooth as butter.
Click to expand...

:okay That's the way :thumb2
 
The FD on the hexheads are known to fail more often than one would like. BMW was likely aware of that they pushed things to the limited in the FD design in an attempt to reduce weight coming from the 1150. They recommend Castrol SAF-XO, which satisfies GL5 requirements but which might very well exceed those in certain areas. Using "just any" GL5 oil might just fall short that extra protection.

As has been said before, at 180ml per change, 1 liter will obviously last for 5 years even with yearly changes, which makes a potential cost saving on the oil irrelevant. Therefore I can't really see the point of not using the recommended oil :rob
 
jogo said:
The FD on the hexheads are known to fail more often than one would like. BMW was likely aware of that they pushed things to the limited in the FD design in an attempt to reduce weight coming from the 1150. They recommend Castrol SAF-XO, which satisfies GL5 requirements but which might very well exceed those in certain areas. Using "just any" GL5 oil might just fall short that extra protection.

As has been said before, at 180ml per change, 1 liter will obviously last for 5 years even with yearly changes, which makes a potential cost saving on the oil irrelevant. Therefore I can't really see the point of not using the recommended oil :rob
Click to expand...

I buy 1 litre of 75w 80 and do the gearbox and final drive with it.
 
Don't like to be agreeable too often, but can't help myself on this occaision, agreed 100%

jogo said:
The FD on the hexheads are known to fail more often than one would like. BMW was likely aware of that they pushed things to the limited in the FD design in an attempt to reduce weight coming from the 1150. They recommend Castrol SAF-XO, which satisfies GL5 requirements but which might very well exceed those in certain areas. Using "just any" GL5 oil might just fall short that extra protection.

As has been said before, at 180ml per change, 1 liter will obviously last for 5 years even with yearly changes, which makes a potential cost saving on the oil irrelevant. Therefore I can't really see the point of not using the recommended oil :rob
Click to expand...
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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