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   3-16-12

   Mr FF says:

   < What the finders found >

   Get oiled

   This may sound like a silly idea, but stick with me: Open your glovebox, dig under the napkins and the 5 years of expired insurance and registration slips, and pull out the owners manual. Look under “Oil” in the index. Should be in there.

   Lube news you can use

   All kidding aside, that’s just one of many options. If your car is a little older, the “best” choice may have changed as oil technology has improved. For example, BMW originally shipped my (1998) car from the factory with 15w40 (check out this link for more info on how to decipher those numbers), but now recommends 5w30 or 5w40. Does that mean following the manual is bad? No, of course not. But how to find out what’s best?

   Here are some ideas:

   • Call your dealer. Ask their service department what they recommend for your car, in your climate, based on its mileage. These folks are factory-trained, and see nothing but your brand of car day in and day out.

   • Ask the internet. Find an enthusiast forum for your particular car by searching Google for your car make and model plus words like owner and forum. These days, everything from Ferrari to Kia has at least one active community. On these community boards, you can get feedback from real people with real world experience.

   • If you’re more geeky/techy/mechanically obsessive, check out Bob Is The Oil Guy. There’s a huge wealth of information here, both in articles on the site and in the forums, which are full of knowledgeable folks.

   The most important thing — no matter what exact weight of oil you choose — is to use a quality, name brand oil and filter, and change them both regularly. Every 3000 miles? Probably not. 5000-7500 miles is fine for most modern cars in average driving. That, along with other regular maintenance, is sure to keep you motoring happily for many years.

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