[eppisgood]

At 45k miles I had the routine maintenance with oil change done at the dealer, I'm sure they used "BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil". I'm at 51k miles now and got the oilcan icon with the squiggly mark underneath it, did a oil level check and got the "+1 Qts" indicator on my oil level display. Did some reading and Mobil 1 0W-40 appears to meet BMW's LL01 requirement, and it's readily available down the street at O'Reilly Auto Parts for <$9/quart. Question is, is it OK if I use Mobile 1 0W-40 to fill it back up & should I use the entire quart? Thank you.

[barkles]

I wouldn't put the full quart in, just put half in, drive around and see where the oil level is. I don't know why they're using 0W-40... I had that in my 4.2 V8 S4 and it was rated as turbo diesel heavy duty oil (semi, tractor, etc). At 9.50 a quart it's hard to find too. I would switch back to 5W-30 next oil change if it were me... especially living in southern california.

[Higgs1]

I use Mobil 1 0w-40 in my 330i and have since I got it about 4 years ago, never an issue.

Rated BMW LL-01 and runs great.

[Meeni]

When the car tells you add a quart, just do that, add a quart.

Don't try to infer from the "intermediate" indications if it needs 1/2 quart, this is not accurate and it -will- result in overfill.

M1 0-40w is an appropriate fit for the car. Don't know if it has blending issues with the BMW oil, I doubt it.

[lolwut]

Originally Posted by barkles

I wouldn't put the full quart in, just put half in, drive around and see where the oil level is. I don't know why they're using 0W-40... I had that in my 4.2 V8 S4 and it was rated as turbo diesel heavy duty oil (semi, tractor, etc). At 9.50 a quart it's hard to find too. I would switch back to 5W-30 next oil change if it were me... especially living in southern california.

M1 0W40 is a very thin 40W. it shears to a 30W within a few thousand miles infact. it has a Cst of just above 13.3, and the minum for a 40W is 12.5 (up to a maximum of 16.3)

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=268386

Considering almost all OTS 30Ws will shear down to a 20W within the same mileage, I wouldn't hesitatate to use it.

[eppisgood]

OK thank you. Since the consensus is that it wouldn't conflict I'll add the quart. I am doing a complete oil change in about 2k miles anyway, first one I'll be attempting by myself. Found some good DIY threads on here.

[fun2drive]

One thing to keep in mind when you do long duration oil changes and don't drive a lot of miles to burn off condensation is that the oil level indicator can get confused and not read accurately. My source is Mike Miller who writes for Roundel and Bimmer Mag. As a long term BMW wrench in contact daily with BMW techs that is what they have indicated to him. Those that run highway miles and get the engine up to operating temps all the time this would not apply.
Mike reports that when there is a problem the techs just drain the oil pull the sensor and put a new sensor in place. In this case the reading could be accurate or could be giving a false reading.
Just reporting what I read in Roundel a while back. My experience has been my oil level indicator reads accurate all the time but then I live in a warm climate...

[VMRWheels]

Best bet would to add half, run the engine for a good minute or so. Shut it off, check the oil level and if it's low, add more.

[jzchen]

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

Best bet would to add half, run the engine for a good minute or so. Shut it off, check the oil level and if it's low, add more.

No dipstick, only electronic level indicator in which car needs to be run some before a level is indicated.

[eppisgood]

Don't call him a dipstick, he was just trying to help. Just kidding, I know you were referring to the car not having a dipstick.

I added the entire quart, drove 10 miles and did the oil test and said the level was fine. Checked it again after another 20 miles and said the same, so I feel everything is as it should be.

[jzchen]

Since the title of this thread is Mobil 1 0W-40, I thought I'd post that the 5 qt special is going on at Autozone right now for $33.99. I'd get a filter for another car...

[Socom]

Originally Posted by eppisgood

At 45k miles I had the routine maintenance with oil change done at the dealer, I'm sure they used "BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil". I'm at 51k miles now and got the oilcan icon with the squiggly mark underneath it, did a oil level check and got the "+1 Qts" indicator on my oil level display. Did some reading and Mobil 1 0W-40 appears to meet BMW's LL01 requirement, and it's readily available down the street at O'Reilly Auto Parts for <$9/quart. Question is, is it OK if I use Mobile 1 0W-40 to fill it back up & should I use the entire quart? Thank you.

YES! ANY OIL WITH LL0-1 ON BOTTLE IS WHAT YOU WANT TO USE

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by eppisgood

At 45k miles I had the routine maintenance with oil change done at the dealer, I'm sure they used "BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil". I'm at 51k miles now and got the oilcan icon with the squiggly mark underneath it, did a oil level check and got the "+1 Qts" indicator on my oil level display. Did some reading and Mobil 1 0W-40 appears to meet BMW's LL01 requirement, and it's readily available down the street at O'Reilly Auto Parts for <$9/quart. Question is, is it OK if I use Mobile 1 0W-40 to fill it back up & should I use the entire quart? Thank you.

its all I use, hands down my favorite! Make sure it says "European formula".

[jacobsed]

Originally Posted by jzchen

Since the title of this thread is Mobil 1 0W-40, I thought I'd post that the 5 qt special is going on at Autozone right now for $33.99. I'd get a filter for another car...

The stealership charged me $7.45/qt today. That's 65 cents more per qt than the Autozone sale. Not much of a price difference.

I think Walmart usually has the Mobil 1 0W-40 for about $25 for the 5qt bottle.

[jzchen]

Originally Posted by jacobsed

The stealership charged me $7.45/qt today. That's 65 cents more per qt than the Autozone sale. Not much of a price difference.

I think Walmart usually has the Mobil 1 0W-40 for about $25 for the 5qt bottle.

Uh, the Autozone deal comes with a filter valued at up to $12.99. $6.80/ qt X 5 is $33.99. That is before the filter. If you subtract the $12.99 from $33.99, you get $21.00. That is the price for 5 qts. More like $4.20 / qt if you look at it this way...

Never seen one of those 5 qt jugs with 0w-40 on it. I must confess though I haven't checked in about a month. The Walmart did look stocked though for the Christmas season, and to qualify this was specifically the one in Monrovia/Duarte. Different Walmarts do sometimes stock different items...

[VTECaddict]

Originally Posted by jzchen

Since the title of this thread is Mobil 1 0W-40, I thought I'd post that the 5 qt special is going on at Autozone right now for $33.99. I'd get a filter for another car...

Thanks for the heads up. Need to stock up.

[jacobsed]

Originally Posted by jzchen

Uh, the Autozone deal comes with a filter valued at up to $12.99. $6.80/ qt X 5 is $33.99. That is before the filter. If you subtract the $12.99 from $33.99, you get $21.00. That is the price for 5 qts. More like $4.20 / qt if you look at it this way...

Never seen one of those 5 qt jugs with 0w-40 on it. I must confess though I haven't checked in about a month. The Walmart did look stocked though for the Christmas season, and to qualify this was specifically the one in Monrovia/Duarte. Different Walmarts do sometimes stock different items...

Oh ok, with the filter that is a darn good deal. Too bad they don't have the MANN filters for our cars. My wife's Merc runs Mobil 1 so I'll have to pick some up.

[rbaldwin28]

I have used mobile1 0w40 in betweeen each 15,000 at the dealer and evry 7500 after that. Funny thing is I would only get oil overheat limp on the BMW 5w30 never the mobil. And I live in San Diego. I think its the fact that 0w rated oils flow better plus it protects better at cold start and ambient air temps. Recomended!