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Engine oil RAVENOL or OEM BMW
From personal experience I have always changed oil every 3500-5k miles depending on how I drove. I used to do 6500-7500k and I noticed on my 540i last winter on days when it got below 20 degrees the engine was very noisy during the first 5-10 mins driving. It was so noisy I was convinced it was piston slap or something. It wasn't a low oil "thunking" sound though. Always kept it under 3k rpms and was very gentle on those cold mornings. This was when my oil had 4-5k+ miles on it and it was last changed in Sept 2024 and this was Jan 2025 back then. So I scheduled an oil change worried my oil was low or something and the noise went away. Oil quantity came out normal no burn or leak! After that I reduced my intervals to 5k max and I also always changed the oil before winter/summer (mid-late Oct and early-mid April) ever since following this personal guideline of mine I have never experienced that cold rough engine sound in the winter anymore. Also two examples of manufacturer oil recommendation being shite is the B58 states 0w-20 but the manual says 0w-30 is acceptable. I also noticed that switching to 0w30 the engine sounded/felt smoother especially on cold idle. Second example is N63tu2 BMW used to recommend 5w-30 but then they dropped it down to 0w-30. Many cases of those motors particularly found in 2018 M550i's etc were consuming 1qt every 3k-4k+ miles yikes! But once switching back to the original 5w-30 recommendation all consumption ceased.
Pros: smoother engine, no cold noise, no oil consumption
Cons: noisy engine with old oil, oil consumption with 0w-30
Vehicle:
BMW
I’m up to 150k miles on my B58. Oil changes every 10k miles from new. Still running smoothly, not burning any oil, pretty sure it’ll go another 50k miles at least. Personally, through 5 BMWs, I’ve always just stuck with the factory recommendation and never had the slightest issue. It’s always been the rest of the car which has gone before the engine.
Pros: engine running smoothly, no oil burning
Vehicle:
BMW
Mileage: 150000 km
I've been using Ravenol VMP for the past year, reviews show it as a high end oil. Lots of VAG tdi people swear by it here in Europe.
Pros: high end oil
Just a suggestion to other Sebring drivers. I know there are lots of "the best oils" out there, but they are not made for this kind of punishment, they will sheer apart.
Pros: good for racing
Cons: not discount brand
I run 0W20 that is approved by BMW and have 255K KMS. No issues at all.
Pros: no issues
Vehicle:
BMW
Mileage: 255000 km
I went down a rabbit hole with engine oil a while back and settled on ravenol. I get that most top tier oils are good enough but my issue was I was consuming more oil than I'd like with my f10 m5 and since switching, it is consuming considerably less oil
Pros: less oil consumption
Vehicle:
BMW
I maintained 0w-30 factory spec on my F85 and did 2 oil analysis and Data was great. I just changed to 5w-50 leichluf.
Pros: Data was great
Vehicle:
BMW
Mileage: 75000 km
160k miles on mine. Most reliable car I’ve owned. Just do your regular maintenance like plugs, coils, filter, oil, other fluids and they’re rock solid!
Pros: reliable, regular maintenance
Vehicle:
BMW X3
Mileage: 257495 km
In my case, the oil consumption was also high—I had to refill it constantly, though BMW claims that’s 'totally normal.'
Pros: loved it!
Cons: maintenance is pricey
Vehicle:
BMW
0W-20 at 5K interval. 74k miles.
Gen 1 B58 with plastic oil pump. Increasing oil viscosity is a recipe for failure, especially in cold climate.
Cons: recipe for failure
Vehicle:
BMW
Mileage: 74000 km
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Which engine oil to choose — RAVENOL or OEM BMW?
If choosing engine oil across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare engine oil across these categories:
- PR Score.
- Overall ranking.
- Vote balance.
- Average rating.
- Number of reviews.
- Feature ratings.
- Car owners’ choice.
Which engine oil are better — OEM BMW or RAVENOL?
In March 2026 on PartReview, engine oil RAVENOL were overall better than OEM BMW.
- RAVENOL received a PR Score of 89 out of 100, and OEM BMW scored 82 points.
- RAVENOL ranked 10 in the overall ranking, and OEM BMW ranked 20.
- The average rating is higher for OEM BMW (4.3) than for OEM BMW (4.3).
Which engine oil are more popular — RAVENOL or OEM BMW?
In March 2026 on PartReview, engine oil RAVENOL were overall more popular than OEM BMW.
By vote balance, engine oil RAVENOL surpassed OEM BMW:
- For RAVENOL, the ratio of positive (147) to negative (18) votes is 129 votes.
- For OEM BMW, the ratio of positive (92) to negative (20) votes is 72 votes.
By number of reviews, engine oil RAVENOL surpassed OEM BMW:
- For engine oil RAVENOL there are 54 reviews: 47 positive, 3 neutral, 4 negative.
- For engine oil OEM BMW there are 36 reviews: 28 positive, 4 neutral, 4 negative.
Which engine oil do car owners prefer — RAVENOL or OEM BMW?
In March 2026, according to PartReview, engine oil RAVENOL and OEM BMW have not taken top places in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding your review about these manufacturers.
Other comparisons of engine oil
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of engine oil RAVENOL with: Mobil, Castrol, LIQUI MOLY, MOTUL, Shell, AMSOIL, VALVOLINE, PENNZOIL, RED LINE, OEM Toyota.
Also available: comparisons of engine oil OEM BMW with: Mobil, Castrol, LIQUI MOLY, MOTUL, Shell, AMSOIL, VALVOLINE, PENNZOIL, RED LINE, OEM Toyota.
You can also see who is better among other engine oil manufacturers: Mobil or Castrol, Mobil or LIQUI MOLY, Mobil or MOTUL, Mobil or Shell, LIQUI MOLY or Castrol.