Great R&D 007, very healthy contribution to the AM community. Looking forward to seeing the differences.

 

Yep, that's the ONLY oil BMW allows for the M3 (and all newer M cars). And just like 007, I also think it's ridiculous not to allow a lighter weight for winter months. Even Lamborghini only recommends 10/60 for track use, and 10/40 for normal use. I wanted to change to a lighter oil since I rarely push the car hard, but fear of a warranty issue made me stay with TWS. My fear is the same as 007: unnecessarily high wear at start up in cold weather.

That oil is a group III synthetic, which is NOT a true synthetic. TWS is the best oil you can have, which is a group V. Group IVs are also true synthetics, and more than enough when not using the oil for 10K+ miles. TWS is not the right oil for places where it freezes in winter, and if you don't drive your car hard a lot, even less. I have to use it for fear of a warranty issue with the damn main bearings. Yes, some V8s are also having issues with the bearings. It could be for the lack of cold lubrication with such a heavy oil for all I know . If car was out of warranty, I'd switch immediately. Not that it's a bad oil, because it's probably the best oil you can buy, but it's the wrong oil for me.

 

"That oil is a group III synthetic, which is NOT a true synthetic. TWS is the best oil you can have, which is a group V. Group IVs are also true synthetics, and more than enough when not using the oil for 10K+ miles."

Well my first reaction is, "Here we go again sticking it to consumers". I had no idea there were so many "Groups" of synthetics. I thought once it says "Full Synthetic" that is what I am getting and the only difference in the Full Synthetic Oils is their addititive package. I'd sure like to know more about the different groups, and how do I know whether I'm getting group III or V and are there also Full Synthetic group I and II?

 

Well I drank the Royal Purple Cool Aid and now I have to spit it out. I have a 14,000 mile well keep V8V with a manual transmission. I have never had a problem with the way the car shifted except when it was cold I had the usual sluggish 1 to 2 shift problem. I was thinking about changing fluid to maybe Red Line before I read this post to help in the cold shifting problem. I thought great I will give Royal Purple a try. I saw little to no improvement in the shifting while hot and the cold shifting problem is worse. A lot worse. There is a mechanical fix for the cold shifting problem that entails changing a linkage on top of the transmission that I think I will try. I will be draining the Royal Purple and going back to the OEM Shell fluid. AM now uses a Castrol Fluid that I understand is "the best" but at 4 times the cost of Royal Purple I don't know if I will go that route.

 

I used Max Gear 75w-90.

 

I just had the RP Max Gear 75w-90 installed. Will post impressions when I get a few miles of driving.

 

I am glad you are happy with the RP. The first chance I get I will be switching to the Castrol lube that is now coming standard in the new Astons. RP was worth a shot for me but is not the answer for me.

 

any more feedback from others?

 

I switched to RP last week. I still feel the notchiness (sp?) when cold. It does, however, feel much, much smoother once the car has warmed up.

I haven't driven the car much, so I'll update as I get more miles with the fluid.

 

I have maybe 300 miles w/ RP fluid vs 2k miles w/ new/previous stock fluid - a few weekends of driving only. No real difference in feel yet. Not worse for sure and RP was less expensive fluid. Maybe need some more miles to get a full feel/effect.

 

My dealer installed AM's newest version of the fluid on my last service and the difference is night and day. Way smoother shifting, especially when cold.

 

thanks for your post, just ordered 6 quarts of RP. I will report my findings since I have an 06 with a notchy trans when cold.

 

The dealer replaced one of the shifing arms (bell crank) with one of a "different design". I only saw the one that was removed and presume the new design has a different arm length and/or mounting position and along with the change in lubricant, with different viscosity characteristics, allows easier shifing into first gear when cold. Shifing has been noticably improved after the modifications. Again, this linkage modification is for model years '06 and '07.

 

It was done while the car was still under the three year factory warranty, thus no cost to me. I don't have a clue as to current charges. You'll have to ask your dealer for parts pricing and labor charges , or see if AM will retrofit as a no cost goodwill measure, as there was a service bulletin issued on the problem - as far as I know, it was corrected only if the customer complained!

 

Anymore updates from other adopters of RP fluid?