BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

http://www.bmw-moto.it/en/index.do?Shel ... _for=%21X1

In the 2012 RT Rider's Manual, BMW recommends Castrol.  ???

I use Castrol Power 1 Racing 4T 10w-50 Fully Synthetic.

What oil do you use?

As of today in UK BMW recommend only Castrol.  for all air/oil cooled ones its Power 1 Racing 15-50. For LC ones its 5-40.  I think the 15-50 might be semi while I know the 5-40 is fully synthetic. Would never trust an article in an Italian based mag as gospel.

http://www.shell.com/global/products-se ... plier.html

BMW (in conjunction with Castrol), have downgraded the engine oil specification from 10w-50 Fully Synthetic API SL to 15w-50 Part Synthetic API SJ.

Whilst I can obtain the 10w-50 Fully Synthetic for £10 per litre, I will continue to use the higher specification oil which was originally recommended by BMW for the Twin Cam Models.

The 15w-50 viscosity range is not one of those recommended in the 2012 RT Rider's Manual.

Yes, Castrol Power 1 Racing SAE 5W-40, API SL / JASO MA2 is recommended for LC Models.

Seem to remember BMW changed the oil specs for all models irrespective of age in 2013. 5-40 first appeared in all K models back in 2011 and then in the LC boxers this year.

Castrol Technical Data Sheets:-

10w-50:- http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/castrol/ ... 10w-50.pdf

15w-50:- http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/castrol/ ... 15w-50.pdf

A reason given for the change from 10w-50 to 15w-50 by a BMW dealer was because it's cheaper, not if you know the right place to purchase it. 

5w-40:- http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/castrol/ ... -5W-40.pdf

Reading a bit more it seems we will be offered BMW branded Shell oils from Jan 15 at our local friendly dealer. Bet its the same price as Castrol.

I usually purchase my oils from http://www.opieoils.co.uk/, they offer a "Price Beater " deal.

An example, Castrol Power 1 Racing 4T 10w-50 is £16.99 per litre at Halfords, OPIE currently offer it for £15.76, Moto-Oil http://moto-oil.co.uk/ have it for sale at £10.00.

I prefer to deal with OPIE, use the "Price Beater" offer and get it for £10.00 per litre.

RTman10 wrote:Reading a bit more it seems we will be offered BMW branded Shell oils from Jan 15 at our local friendly dealer. Bet its the same price as Castrol.

Looks a safe bet, OPIE have both Shell & Castrol 15w-50 for the same price.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-69342-shell ... e-oil.aspx

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-79229-castr ... e-oil.aspx

Although again, Moto-Oil have Castrol cheaper at £8.99, http://moto-oil.co.uk/motorcycle/castro ... -4t-15w-50

and for LC Models, Castrol 5w-40 is available for £9.98 per litre, http://moto-oil.co.uk/motorcycle/castro ... g-4t-5w-40

A local BMW Dealer is charging £21.60 for 15w-50 & £16.80 for 5w-40.

I have just bought 8 litres of Castrol Power 1 Racing 4T 5W40 from Germany cost per litre including VAT and delivery £7.77 Order to my door took 5 days. Check out eBay. Makes you wonder what BM get the oil for and then have the cheek to charge us silly price.

Levisp wrote:Makes you wonder what BM get the oil for and then have the cheek to charge us silly price.

Do you do your own servicing or will you be supplying the oil to a BMW Dealer.

(Please could you provide a link to where you purchased it from, thanks.)

Planning on doing my own servicing. Have a RT LC model and the servicing on it is so simple. I changed the oil and filter at 3000 miles just to see if anything came out of it, and glad to say it was clean. Plan to service now at the recommended 6000 miles intervals. However I am going to change the final drive oil every 6K BMW service schedule is 12K. Why ? First its easy to do and its cheap. The final drive takes 180 ml of oil works out at £3 I'm going to document everything to help me fight any warranty claims. To help this process I think I'll take the bike to dealer at 6K to get service reminders reset, check for fault codes and any software updates. Maybe next year buy GS911 when it becomes fully functional.


Oil was from Frinken-Racing Germany.

On my first 2007 RT, I changed the oil & filter myself every 3,000 miles in between getting it serviced at a Dealer or Independent every 6K.

(The oil was 20w-50 Mineral at about £5 per litre.)

The engine partially seized on both cylinders after 10,000 miles & 6 months, it wasn't an issue under warranty.

Going to fit a magnetic sump plug at the next oil & filter change on the 2012 RT:-
http://www.nippynormans.com/products/k1 ... -24140-000

Levisp wrote:The final drive takes 180 ml of oil works out at £3.

This was one of the gripes I had with Cooper Sunderland.

On the 2007 RT, they changed the final drive oil at 600 miles and charged me for 1 litre of oil at around £27 per litre.

On the 2010 RT, Barrie Robson (York), charged for 0.2 litre (£6.63), the cost per litre was £33.12.

The same oil can be purchased from OPIE for £16.81, http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-737-castrol ... 5w-90.aspx, the remainder can be used in the gearbox, 1 litre will do both.

Looking at the invoices I've had, the Dealers use the cheaper 80/90 Gearbox oil.

David thats a bit cheeky of the dealers. I bought the Castrol Syntrax 75W90 for £15. As the LC only uses it in the final drive 1 litre will give me 5 changes, hence the £3 / change.

Levisp wrote:David that's a bit cheeky of the dealers.

Exactly, one of the many reasons I haven't been back to Coopers Sunderland.

Levisp wrote:I bought the Castrol Syntrax 75W90 for £15.

Motorworks sell this oil for £15.26:- http://www.motorworks.co.uk/vlive/Shop/ ... 5_35_DA_70