Anyone run 20w50 in the new 2010, 11???r1200gs

Thanks for calling...typical BMW. Kind of scary that she is going to request the manual be changed based on what a customer told her on the phone...... :huh

No shit

Dear BMW: Right hand-meet the left hand. Now, both of you reach around and see if you can find your ass. :huh

Whilst touring Italy in the summer on my twin cam, I needed to top up the oil. I was convinced I needed 10-40 but another GSA twin cam rider insisted that 20-50 was needed.

I rang my dealer, who I have great respect for, and spoke to the service manager. He stated that BMW changed their recommendations in Dec 2010 from 10-40 to 20-50 and that it depended when my bike was last serviced as to what was in.

When I had it serviced in my return, they put in 2050s

Mike

I like 20W50 and I'm sticking to it. But for kicks, I will try Motul 15W50 next time. With the latter, I may get a bit more noise on start-up especially from the chain. I live in the tropics so I see no reason to run anything lower than 15W. Anything below that is really for cold weather start-up which I never have in my neck of the woods.

Thanks Mike for your response, that makes sense to me why all the dealers are saying 20w50!

OK, so service dept would not respond to email about oil issue, so I dropped by...they looked it up and sure enough it says the same thing as my manual, 10w-40, but they said they use 20w-50. Parts guy concurs and says BMW changed spec for all boxers retroactively to 10w-40...this is not a DOHC issue. He feels it relates to gas mileage issues and wanting to increase their averages? So with everyone there recommending 20w-50, that's what I went with.

Also another major confusion on the FD fluid,....I guess BMW has been specing a fluid that has been unavailable in the US for years, so everyone just uses the BMW spectro 75w-90, so that's what I went with....

This is such BS...I feel like I own some Piece of crap North Korean made bike or something.

Not North Korean. East German.
The Gear oil is Castrol SAF-XO 75w90 and dealers are getting it. In fact you can buy it for less then half at any Land Rover Dealer. I did and have it in my bike right now BMW charges $40 a quart for it, $16 at the Land Rover dealer.
And for what its worth my dealer will not put 20w50 in. I asked, they said no. 10w40 only now. Put 10 different dealers in a room and youll get 20 different opinions. I tend to lean on the factory directions. I mean they built it.

Good info. I think I'll get the Castrol stuff from Land Rover and return the BMW stuff I bought for $25....ya I think my dealer said the Castrol was $48!!!!

Land Rover part # LRN 7591 The parts guy can show you its Castrol SAF-XO75W90 $16

20/50 works well in a warm climate.
Just sayin'

Another comment from the service department....it's ok to run synthetic oil in my R1200GS at 600 miles. Are you kidding me? This goes against everything I've ever heard about the boxer motor taking 10,000 plus miles to break in and to absolutely not run synthetic. Has something changed or is this person completely misinformed?

Even Airheads and pre-70? Any documentation to back that up?

I would take that comment and gauge it against the 20w50 comment he is giving you.

Police motors get synthetic at 600 miles, what is the difference?

Terry

My '99.5 Aprilia had a synthetic factory fill. The Triumph Daytona came filled with 10W-40 semi-synthetic, with 15W-50 full synthetic acceptable at the first (600 mile) service. I know that the 1100s were notoriously slow to wear in, the 1150s less so. I have no experience with the 1200s in terms of running in, but I know that many cars are spec'd for synthetic from the factory, and those don't have oil use issues during break in. Obviously YMMV, and getting a straight answer to the question will certainly be as elusive as a straight answer on the proper viscosity. :huh

I switched to 10W-40 "racing oil" year around in my (dry clutch) R1200GSA. The racing designation exempts manufacturers from the reduction of zinc/ phosphorus content, a sad result of emission warranty legislation. Racers commonly use these compositions in a bit thinner weight to increase horsepower... So... Imo cruising through a 105 degree Nevada desert at 95 mph is a piece of cake compared to what they're doing... I personally use Royal Purple XPR (not cheap) but have little doubt various other racing formulations are comparable. I also used RP Max-Gear 75W140 in the transmission and final drive: Several unknowing BMW techs have commented that my bike "seems to shift unusually smooth for a R1200GS"...

Finally, I strongly disagree when folks proclaim (in a positive manner) they use less oil with 10W-40 because "the piston rings scrape the oil off the cylinders better"... I'm not interested in scraping of any way shape or form inside my engine! Sticky oil does tend to remain inside the combustion chamber and, well, burn. It also helps a cold air/oil cooled and much looser tolerance GS engine sound infinitely sweeter on start-up-- well worth the hassle of checking the sight gauge a bit more frequently imo

I started using full synth oil at 20,000 miles and have noticed MPG increase from an averge of 40 to an average of 44 or so.

He did qualify the statement by saying it was retroactive for about the last 20 model years but he wasn't sure exactly.