I got some MAGNATEC on sale to see if it helps quiet the Vanos start-up rattle. If it hasn't been reviewed for this I'll let you all know next week. I was confused(not the first time) that it is fully synthetic in the weights under 5w30 but synthetic blend above. Anyone know why?

I would be sticking with a higher quality fully synthetic oil than Magnatec.
Are you getting noise on start up only or is it continuos?

Just on start up. Overall it smooths out quick. I guess another 30 to 50k miles before a Vanos rebuild. I have other fully synthetic for the next change. But my curiosity wants to see what happens with the Magnatec and I want to know why its not in fully synthetic for all weights.

I would imagine it's just synthetic for the thinner oils because it's not possible to make them perform adequately as a semi synthetic.

Apparently Magnatec has a special additive that makes old seals soft again and seal properly. My dad didn't believe it but tried it on his old Rover and it actually worked. Maybe the additive does something to the Vanos that delays the inevitable . MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

You can buy the additive separately.

http://www.halfords.com/motoring-travel/en...leak-325ml

There are various brands.

I suspect plenty of mid range and premium branded oils have such additives already in them, along with additives for various other functions, it's just some make a point of mentioning certain additives and some mention others.

Just an FYI for UK members, I was in Asda at the weekend and noticed that they had Castrol Magnatec 5w30 C3 on offer at £21.00 per can, I didn't pay it a great deal of attention as I need 5w40 for my TD6  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Thank guys, what awful oil and petrol prices you have over there. I just got 5 quarts with a purolator classic oil filter for $24 US. I change the filter every 3k miles about and fully synthetics every 10k miles. So even if I only run this batch 5k miles I'm not out much.

if you still have vanos rattle on start up, then you might only need to renew the vanos solenoid non-return valves, they are behind the vanos solenoids, there is a small valve behind these removable solenoids, , these stick, and the oil runs back. On start up, they are then filled with oil from pump etc. and vanos goes 'quiet' they are only about £5 each i think. i did mine when i did the whole vanos job, but im sure you only need a deep socket to unscrew each vanos, and new solenoid oil seals and the return valves, at same time. it might only take an hour if the mech. has done it before....cant be sure, but im sure they are do-able without all the teardown in the link.

you can actually turn the solenoids out with just pump pliers used with some protection, on the actual solenoids as they are not supertight. its in a search of 'e39 vanos m63tu proceedure'
http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/m62tu_vanos_procedure.htm

edit, here too. (simpler version!) http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/720836/

mine are mouse-quiet at 160k

Here is what Castrol said:

Thank you for contacting Castrol North America.
Castrol GTX MAGNATEC is available in four (4) viscosity grades, two (2) of which are synthetic (0W-20 w/ dexos1, 5W-20 w/dexos1) and two (2) of which are partial synthetic (5W-30 w/dexos1, 10W-30) per a marketing decision.

As usual a cryptic non answer. So I decided to try it in my 94 325ic first. Its a bit thin for this late summer heat so I only added 3qts of the 7 total mixing it with fully synthetic castrol 10w30. The AM will be the real test but so far nothing different than any fresh oil change.
Thanks johnboyairey. I will check with PO to confirm if his was done. He did the guides, chains,waterpump,theromstat and valley pan about 18k miles ago. Can't remember if he said he checked or replaced the solenoids.

doclees wrote:

Just on start up. Overall it smooths out quick. I guess another 30 to 50k miles before a Vanos rebuild. I have other fully synthetic for the next change. But my curiosity wants to see what happens with the Magnatec and I want to know why its not in fully synthetic for all weights.

Thanks, I found a great refresher on the amsoil site. I was under the impression that a 5W30 meant that it flows like a 5 weight but lubricants like a 30 weight. I now understand that a 5W30 is tested to flow like a 5 weight at a specified Winter temp and tested to perform like a 30 weight at 100c. Never knew the W was for Winter.
But all this good info is off point. Just wanted to see if Magnatecs "sticky molecules " did anything for the vanos start-up rattle. At this point I'm guessing no.
As for the vanos solenoid check valve not functioning correctly, would this cause a fault code?

From what I have seen of the Vanos system the check valves don't give any faults. I would follow the suggestion above and replace them as it seems a very common fault so a cheap way to see if you can prevent future damage  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Yeah the W is for winter. Any oil labelled as a **W** is a multigrade oil. Back in the day people used to change to a thicker oil in summer and a thinner one in winter, multigrade did away with that.

The 'magnetic molecules' in Magnatec are just a marketing gimmick really, as any decent synthetic or semi synthetic will be formulated to do the same.

Just checked with PO. New solenoids but he, as I did, thought the check valve was part of the solenoid. Oh boy an new project.