[galahad05]

Originally Posted by aus

Don't get the regular Mobil 1 5W30 or the regular Castro 5W30 synthetic's at Costco/Target/Walmart. They're NOT the same as the oil sold at the Dealer.

Like other's have said, the dealer 5W30 is a Euro blend. The only other oil to get would be the Mobil 0W40 or 5W40 (not easy to find), which are Euro blends that meet BMW LL-01 spec's for extended intervals.

What's the difference between the regular and Euro blends? This has me curious...

[742]

Originally Posted by galahad05

What's the difference between the regular and Euro blends? This has me curious...

Most 5W-30 oils in the United States are on the "thin" side with an HTHS of 3.0 or less. Germans like higher HTHS values, 3.5 or better.

For example if you look at Mobil 1 5W-30 in America the European approval will be ACEA A1 with an HTHS of 3.09, while the BMW approvals are based on ACEA A3 and its higher HTHS (among other things). And sure enough, in Europe you can buy a version of Mobil 1 5W-30 that is ACEA A3, BMW LL04 and "thicker" than the American version.

In my experience if a German car needs any fluid it is NOT going to be found at the local American auto parts store, let alone Walmart. The only exception being brake fluid, but even there I am careful/picky about what goes in the car.

[EDIT--Mobil 1 0W-40 can be found at some parts stores, and does carry BMW, VW and MB approvals]

[NPDAN]

If you go to the dealerships here in so cal and buy oil they'll give you Castrol full synthetic 5w 30 with a BMW label on it.

[Stinger44]

Manual says: "Only use approved BMW High Performance
Synthetic Oil. If BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil is not
available, you can add small quantities of other synthetic oils in between oil changes. Only use oils with the specification API SH or higher.
Your BMW center will be glad to answer any questions regarding BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil or approved synthetic oils."

Other BMW approved high performance Synthetic Oil? I don't buy that use our special synthetic oil for our cars BS.

So who has the list of the "approved" BMW synthetic oils? I'm curious. With all the different car manufacturers producing high performance engines, and most all manufacturers do, BMW is so special that there's very few oils that work well in their engines? Whatever.

[ZBMW]

If you think you need a top up of oil all you have to do is go to your BMW dealer. They are more than happy to provide any additional oil between scheduled changes.
And God, I hate these threads that get anal about something as prosaic as motor oil. Any high quality synthetic will work great in your car! BMW recommends the thinner blends because of engine tolerances and gas mileage. Nothing will happen if you use something else. Honest!

[742]

Originally Posted by Stinger44

Manual says: "Only use approved BMW High Performance
Synthetic Oil. If BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil is not
available, you can add small quantities of other synthetic oils in between oil changes. Only use oils with the specification API SH or higher.
Your BMW center will be glad to answer any questions regarding BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil or approved synthetic oils."

Other BMW approved high performance Synthetic Oil? I don't buy that use our special synthetic oil for our cars BS.

So who has the list of the "approved" BMW synthetic oils? I'm curious. With all the different car manufacturers producing high performance engines, and most all manufacturers do, BMW is so special that there's very few oils that work well in their engines? Whatever.

All of the German manufacturers, and many others, have specific oil standards. A quick look at Mobil 1 0W-40 shows approvals under BMW LL-01 (that is us), Mercedes Benz 229.3 and 229.5, VW 502 and 505, SAAB and Porsche. Other oils will show approvals for Ford, GM and Chrysler specs.

This is nothing new. We Amercans are just stupid. We buy oil by looking for an antiquated viscosity rating and a brand that is in our mind from whatever advertising we have seen, both of which tell us nothing. All we need to do, and let me say that again:. ALL WE NEED TO DO, is buy oil that meets the specification for our car.

In this case BMW LL-01 or LL-04. In the United states that is the BMW oil from the dealer, Mobil 1 0W-40, Valvoline SynPower 5W-40, Castrol 0W-30 (check the back) and a few others. The label will have BMW LL-01 or LL-04 in small print on the back.

I also own a 1.8T Passat. This car, along with the Audi A4 with the same engine, went through a bad sludge problem. And in the end it boiled down to simply this--those who used oil meeting the VW 502 spec did not, and will not, have a problem. Brand does not matter. However those who were lazy, mislead (by dealers) or simply mindless trashed perfectly good engines that can easily go to 200,000 miles by dumping in good-ol-American 5W-30 Whatever.

[alan93rsa]

There were a few debates on the 996 list about Mobil 1 0W40. In the end I believe it was agreed that that particular oil was not the run of the mill Mobil 1.

[Stinger44]

Originally Posted by 742

All of the German manufacturers, and many others, have specific oil standards. A quick look at Mobil 1 0W-40 shows approvals under BMW LL-01 (that is us), Mercedes Benz 229.3 and 229.5, VW 502 and 505, SAAB and Porsche. Other oils will show approvals for Ford, GM and Chrysler specs.

This is nothing new. We Amercans are just stupid. We buy oil by looking for an antiquated viscosity rating and a brand that is in our mind from whatever advertising we have seen, both of which tell us nothing. All we need to do, and let me say that again:. ALL WE NEED TO DO, is buy oil that meets the specification for our car.

In this case BMW LL-01 or LL-04. In the United states that is the BMW oil from the dealer, Mobil 1 0W-40, Valvoline SynPower 5W-40, Castrol 0W-30 (check the back) and a few others. The label will have BMW LL-01 or LL-04 in small print on the back.

I also own a 1.8T Passat. This car, along with the Audi A4 with the same engine, went through a bad sludge problem. And in the end it boiled down to simply this--those who used oil meeting the VW 502 spec did not, and will not, have a problem. Brand does not matter. However those who were lazy, mislead (by dealers) or simply mindless trashed perfectly good engines that can easily go to 200,000 miles by dumping in good-ol-American 5W-30 Whatever.

I agree, the automaker determines the specs for anything put in our cars. I do however get the impression from reading about ACEA standard is that the biggest benefit tends more to extended oil changes. They do use more phosphorus in their oil standard as well. Obviously that's a plus for lubrication but a minus for catalytic converters which we're (US) forced to have installed on our cars. The newer oils (even US brands) are using high P levels and they get around the US requirement by not classifying their oil as energy/fuel conserving. As far as viscosity, I run my car in the warmer months so the 0W-40 is almost irrelevant to my operating environment. I'll probably stick with 10 or 15W-40 oil if I do more frequent oil changes from those specified by BMW. Thicker tends to be better.

[rrosen]

Originally Posted by Stinger44

Thicker tends to be better.

Not necessarily. For example, Porsche uses very small oil passages in the Cayman S and thicker oil tends to cause those parts fed by those passages to starve for oil.

Don't know about BMW but it's hard to go wrong following the manufacturers recommendations.

But, as I always say, your car and you can do what you want.

[Stinger44]

Originally Posted by rrosen

Not necessarily. For example, Porsche uses very small oil passages in the Cayman S and thicker oil tends to cause those parts fed by those passages to starve for oil.

Don't know about BMW but it's hard to go wrong following the manufacturers recommendations.

But, as I always say, your car and you can do what you want.

Thicker is better as a general rule; there are exceptions of course.

[hov333]

lol, so wut do you guys think about royal purple?

[Sniz]

I've been using Mobil 1 0w40 but just did an oil change w/ the BMW oil that I bought at the dealership (couldnt find any mobil 1)

I have noticed an increase in oil temps w/ the BMW oil over the mobil 1.

anyone else notice that?

[nmcampbell]

In my experience, the other brands' synthetic oils aren't that much cheaper (if at all) then the price of the BMW-labeled Castrol oil so why not go with what BMW recommend? Example: Costco sells Mobil 1 in a six-pack for $29.99.

Dealer prices vary (from about $6.00 to $12.00 a quart) so shop around if you can. Tischer sells it online for slightly less than $6.00 per quart but the shipping charge they hit me with for eight quarts plus a filter was about $16.50 which made the actual price about $8.00 a quart.

[san~man]

Costco had the Mobil 1 case for 20.XX with the coupon last month

[Brock]

AMSOIL 0w-30 or 5w-30, used Mobil 1 for many years in cars and motorcycles and been using AMSOIL for about 10 years now on everything I own. Helps also on pricing as dealer