DIY Lubrication: What oil, fluids and filters do you use?

05-13-2026

eelnoraa's thread about 4th year maintenance got me thinking it's time I start DIYing lubrication on our 45e like I do for the rest of our fleet. What do you use for:

Engine oil

Engine Oil Filter

Transfer Case Fluid

Differential Fluid

I use Pennzoil Ultra Platinum in my GX, along with the best filter the parts store has in stock. (e.g. Mobil 1, Wix, etc.) Is that OK on these, or does BMW have some oil standard the good off the shelf stuff doesn't meet?

I use Redline, Schaffers or Valvoline in the cases and diffs of our other vehicles. Again, are they OK, or is there also a BMW spec for these that good off the shelf stuff doesn't meet?

Mark

05-13-2026

my 45e has about 35k miles (need to check) reach 4 years mark in 1.5 month, so here is my lubrication plan

- Oil + filter, every 5K ICE mile or 1 years. This time I will use Liquid Moly Toptec 6000 0W20 LL17-FE+ (super mouthful). Reason really is 7qt+filter is only $80 from FCP. I am super tempted to run 0W30 LL12FE. what do you think?

- Transfer case/Diff. My mileage is kind of low, so I will wait a bit. My previous plan was to replace these fluid when I replace plugs at 60K miles. Fluid will be OEM. They are not expansive, and I don't want to have to figure out other choices.

05-13-2026

I just did some maintenance today. Quaker State Euro 5-40 or Castrol 0-40. I generally have a myriad of 5 gallon jugs on hand. For gear oil, there was a point in time I would deviate like running Amsoil Severe Gear but I'm OE on gear fluids as such.

Filters....OE is cheap enough and has the dinky O ring for the OFH drain plug. The OEM afaik, does not include the O ring for the drain plug that is on the OFH.

I splurged for this maintenance job. I got the Nano Cabin Filters and stuck with the OE intake filters.. Never have looked to see if there was a OEM intake filter

05-13-2026

eelnoraa wrote
- Oil + filter, every 5K ICE mile or 1 years. This time I will use Liquid Moly Toptec 6000 0W20 LL17-FE+ (super mouthful). Reason really is 7qt+filter is only $80 from FCP. I am super tempted to run 0W30 LL12FE. what do you think?

You guys know these engines better than I do, so I'll respond with a couple of questions:

1) Has the B58 had higher viscosities spec'd for the US market in the past?

2) Does it have higher viscosities spec'd in other markets today?

If either of these answers are 'Yes', and particularly if they both are, then it's safe to assume the current US spec is for political reasons, not technical ones, and running a slightly higher viscosity is perfectly safe.

If they are both 'No', then I'd make the (admittedly hopeful) assumption that the engine was designed around the current spec, and continue to use it.

Mark

05-13-2026

ScaldedDog wrote
eelnoraa's thread about 4th year maintenance got me thinking it's time I start DIYing lubrication on our 45e like I do for the rest of our fleet. What do you use for:

Engine oil

Engine Oil Filter

Transfer Case Fluid

Differential Fluid

X5 40i
Engine oil: Liquid Moly top tec 6600 0W-20
Engine oil filter: Mann
Xfer case: DTF 1 BMW Group 83225A4F016
Front diff fluid: Hypoid G5 BMW Group 83222471487
Cabin air filters: Beck Arnley and Hengst (Hengst are a few mm too side, won't buy again)

05-13-2026

Mahle for cabin is supposedly the OEM

I did use that on my previous cabin change and while it fits…….i cannot recall all the details on why I made it a point to order OE the next time, but the OE filters fit better. If I’m going off memory, it was just a hair larger in either width or thickness but it definately was noticeable that I remembered the next time around, I'll stick with OE

I don’t read much into the CAFE…..and even older LL01 is fine for me…as long as weight rating meets the engine

A splurge upgrade would probably be a fill of Motul Specific LL FE if I was to deviate from my usual suspects

05-13-2026

2023 X5MC
HPL Euro 5w30, oem filter
Redline 75w85 front diff
Redline MT-LV transfer case
BMW oem rear diff

05-13-2026

The Liqui Moly 0w20 TopTec kit from FCP.

With their lifetime replacement guarantee it only costs me $20 after return shipping.

05-13-2026

M a r t y wrote
X5 40i
Engine oil: Liquid Moly top tec 6600 0W-20
Engine oil filter: Mann
Xfer case: DTF 1 BMW Group 83225A4F016
Front diff fluid: Hypoid G5 BMW Group 83222471487
Cabin air filters: Beck Arnley and Hengst (Hengst are a few mm too side, won't buy again)

I wish I see this yesterday. I just order Hengst cabin filter. Oh well, there is always next time.

05-13-2026

eelnoraa wrote
I wish I see this yesterday. I just order Hengst cabin filter. Oh well, there is always next time.

It is what it is, you may need to squeeze the width to get them in but they will go in. Let me know your experience to see if it matches mine. Unfortunately this increases the time you are in a contorted position, makes it a PITA

05-13-2026

eelnoraa wrote
I wish I see this yesterday. I just order Hengst cabin filter. Oh well, there is always next time.

M a r t y wrote
It is what it is, you may need to squeeze the width to get them in but they will go in. Let me know your experience to see if it matches mine. Unfortunately this increases the time you are in a contorted position, makes it a PITA

Hengst are too fat to fit in mine correctly.

05-14-2026

ooshnoo wrote
The Liqui Moly 0w20 TopTec kit from FCP.

With their lifetime replacement guarantee it only costs me $20 after return shipping.

Out of curiosity, do you also ship back the old oil filter, crush washer (all components) from the oil change kit? I am still in disbelief that FCP runs this program. Who do you use for shipping??

L

05-14-2026

Luftpost wrote
Out of curiosity, do you also ship back the old oil filter, crush washer (all components) from the oil change kit? I am still in disbelief that FCP runs this program. Who do you use for shipping??

I've been using fcp for years. It's amazing. They recycle the oil they do free shipping. All you have to do is return the oil and pay for shipping back. I even do my cabin filters once a year. Send them back and I get a credit. It's the best place for any and all maintenance items that you may need for your car because of their lifetime warranty.

05-14-2026

I found FCP make sense for more frequent maintenance items that is easy to ship back. For longer term maintenance items, I am not so sure if the system helps.

For heavy stuff such as oil, I am in CA, not sure how much it will cost me to shop 7qt of oil back, never try this.

At this point, I have these parts in my garage pending to send back but not sure when it will be
- fuel pump, engine mount, pulley, tensioner and belt, window regulators, valve cover, expansion tank, lower control arms, bushing and carrier, fuel filter, brake rotors and pads ....

I just don't know when would be the next time I need to replace any of these. They sure are taking up spaces in garage. Just matter of time, home CEO will ask me to clear out garage.

05-15-2026

Dumb question: With no dipstick, how does one know how much engine oil to add after a change? Add I don't have to register the oil, right...

Mark

05-15-2026

ScaldedDog wrote
Dumb question: With no dipstick, how does one know how much engine oil to add after a change? Add I don't have to register the oil, right...

Mark

Blind faith!

Provided you drained all the engine oil out, you add the required amount, via your user manual, then stop. At that point you need to perform the oil measurement procedure, also via your manual, then read the bar level.
When I do it, I don’t add the final 1/2 bottle till after the measurement to see where the top of the bar is. There’s no registration, just a reset of the CBS.

05-15-2026

M a r t y wrote
Blind faith!
Provided you drained all the engine oil out, you add the required amount, via your user manual, then stop. At that point you need to perform the oil measurement procedure, also via your manual, then read the bar level.
When I do it, I don’t add the final 1/2 bottle till after the measurement to see where the top of the bar is. There’s no registration, just a reset of the CBS.

Thanks man. I should have known this thing has an electronic dipstick. [FacePalm] I do it exactly the same way on my simpler cars, but I noticed tonight this thing's electronic dipstick doesn't work 'till the engine is at operating temperature. Pity the fool who leaves the level well short before checking.

Mark

05-15-2026

Luftpost wrote
Out of curiosity, do you also ship back the old oil filter, crush washer (all components) from the oil change kit? I am still in disbelief that FCP runs this program. Who do you use for shipping??

L

Yes. I ship back everything. I use UPS but buy the label from pirateship.com as the rates you get there are much cheaper than UPS.com

05-15-2026

ScaldedDog wrote
Thanks man. I should have known this thing has an electronic dipstick. [FacePalm] I do it exactly the same way on my simpler cars, but I noticed tonight this thing's electronic dipstick doesn't work 'till the engine is at operating temperature. Pity the fool who leaves the level well short before checking.

Mark

Yeah, it's so disappointing not to have a physical dip stick. BMW started doing this awhile back, I had a 2011 X3 without a dipstick. The oil level sensor failed so there was no way to know how much oil you had in the engine. Same with the X5, just complete nonsense.

There are certain conditions that must be met before the car will measure the oil level, the manual tells you what they all are but if you forget and are trying to take the measurement and it refuses to do so, its frustrating as hell and makes me think back to the simple dipstick method that never failed!

.

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DIY Lubrication: What oil, fluids and filters do you use?