OEM BMW Oil
06-22-2010, 06:28 AM
#41
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My Ride: 2007 BMW 550i Sport Pkg, 6MT
I emailed Bavauto this morning, and quickly got a response. Here is the email I received from Ken Brown in regards to LL-04 Lubro Moly........
" Keith,
Thank you for your inquiry.
The Lubro Moly is perfectly safe for your car. The exact same engine in Europe uses the LL04 and we have been selling thousands of liters of it a year for the past few years as well as running it in our own vehicles. I believe the BMW US recommendation is based more on the fact that Castrol (the US oil suppler for BMW) doesn't have an LL04 oil available yet. LL04 is used everywhere else in world in the exact same engines.
The ethanol has nothing to do with it. If that were the case BMW wouldn't use it in South America, where ethanol blends are far higher content than they are here in some areas. When BMW USA needed an oil for the new diesels in the US market they made up a new formula and it's LL04. But of course diesel specific. I'm sure as soon as BMW's contract with Castrol for the 5W30 runs out for they will up the spec to LL04 here also."
" Keith,
Thank you for your inquiry.
The Lubro Moly is perfectly safe for your car. The exact same engine in Europe uses the LL04 and we have been selling thousands of liters of it a year for the past few years as well as running it in our own vehicles. I believe the BMW US recommendation is based more on the fact that Castrol (the US oil suppler for BMW) doesn't have an LL04 oil available yet. LL04 is used everywhere else in world in the exact same engines.
The ethanol has nothing to do with it. If that were the case BMW wouldn't use it in South America, where ethanol blends are far higher content than they are here in some areas. When BMW USA needed an oil for the new diesels in the US market they made up a new formula and it's LL04. But of course diesel specific. I'm sure as soon as BMW's contract with Castrol for the 5W30 runs out for they will up the spec to LL04 here also."
"Longlife-04 oils are only approved for spark-ignition engines in Europe (EU+Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein). They must not be used outside this area as problems are often encountered with fuel quality"
This is also from BMW TIS (from separate section):
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/BMW-O...s-and-Recs.pdf
BMW said "must not", not "should not" or "may not", including South America. I don't know how he concluded on South America. Some one is using it in South America doesn't mean its approved by BMW.
I choose to listen to BMW. It's entirely up to you who you listen to. If one doesn't believe what BMW says, why bother with BMW spec (LL-01/LL-04) at all?
06-22-2010, 04:35 PM
#42
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This is from official BMW TIS:
"Longlife-04 oils are only approved for spark-ignition engines in Europe (EU+Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein). They must not be used outside this area as problems are often encountered with fuel quality"
This is also from BMW TIS (from separate section):
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/BMW-O...s-and-Recs.pdf
BMW said "must not", not "should not" or "may not", including South America. I don't know how he concluded on South America. Some one is using it in South America doesn't mean its approved by BMW.
I choose to listen to BMW. It's entirely up to you who you listen to. If one doesn't believe what BMW says, why bother with BMW spec (LL-01/LL-04) at all?
"Longlife-04 oils are only approved for spark-ignition engines in Europe (EU+Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein). They must not be used outside this area as problems are often encountered with fuel quality"
This is also from BMW TIS (from separate section):
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/BMW-O...s-and-Recs.pdf
BMW said "must not", not "should not" or "may not", including South America. I don't know how he concluded on South America. Some one is using it in South America doesn't mean its approved by BMW.
I choose to listen to BMW. It's entirely up to you who you listen to. If one doesn't believe what BMW says, why bother with BMW spec (LL-01/LL-04) at all?
06-23-2010, 10:14 PM
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06-27-2010, 08:43 PM
#45
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Bro, simple as day: BMW oil is 1. cheaper and 2. seems to be easier on the engine. What substance can you add to negate that?
I'm not saying all other oils are bad. I have not tried all of them. I've tried Castrol European Formula and Mobil One. Now that I put in BMW oil, the engine runs noticeably smoother and revs more readily. The lifter knocking has almost disappeared as well. I posted this thread to share my experience. Maybe you have experience you'd like to share? I'd love to read/hear it!
06-28-2010, 03:41 PM
#46
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I agree with previous post. I've changed my stance on oil. I have never used BMW LL oil. I've used several other Synthetics in my BMW's such as Castrol, Mobile 1 and Napa Fully Syn.....pretty much went with Napa since it is a cat 3+4 fully syn blend vs. the others which are cat 3 only. Of course I wasn't using the "European Formula" either. Bottom line is that BMW LL states 5W-30 but appears thicker than conventional 5W-30 Fully Syn oils. I notice the car is quieter and performs better. And come on for $5.95 a quart you better go with the BMW LLO
06-28-2010, 10:16 PM
#47
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Sounds like you're the one who's been brain-washed by some mom-n-pop shop into running something else, other the BMW oil - no offense
Bro, simple as day: BMW oil is 1. cheaper and 2. seems to be easier on the engine. What substance can you add to negate that?
I'm not saying all other oils are bad. I have not tried all of them. I've tried Castrol European Formula and Mobil One. Now that I put in BMW oil, the engine runs noticeably smoother and revs more readily. The lifter knocking has almost disappeared as well. I posted this thread to share my experience. Maybe you have experience you'd like to share? I'd love to read/hear it!
Bro, simple as day: BMW oil is 1. cheaper and 2. seems to be easier on the engine. What substance can you add to negate that?
I'm not saying all other oils are bad. I have not tried all of them. I've tried Castrol European Formula and Mobil One. Now that I put in BMW oil, the engine runs noticeably smoother and revs more readily. The lifter knocking has almost disappeared as well. I posted this thread to share my experience. Maybe you have experience you'd like to share? I'd love to read/hear it!
BMW oil is Castrol.....so you tried European Castrol and it wasn't as good????? It's the same oil dude yet you claim you can hear the difference......real scientific data
I don't use a "mom and pop" shop or do I subscribe to the masses.....I change my own oil and use oil anylysis from Blackstone Labs to determine the quality of oil/filter and OCI!
06-28-2010, 10:23 PM
#48
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BMW oil is Castrol.....so you tried European Castrol and it wasn't as good????? It's the same oil dude yet you claim you can hear the difference......real scientific data
I don't use a "mom and pop" shop or do I subscribe to the masses.....I change my own oil and use oil anylysis from Blackstone Labs to determine the quality of oil/filter and OCI!
I don't use a "mom and pop" shop or do I subscribe to the masses.....I change my own oil and use oil anylysis from Blackstone Labs to determine the quality of oil/filter and OCI!
Perhaps Castrol European Formula and BMW oil are the same - I don't know. I know that after I put in the BMW oil, the car runs better. In all fairness, the oil that was there before was Mobil 1, so it was not a "back to back" comparison.
Also, I have not received any blackstone labs analysis yet - just collected the first sample and am about to send it in.
06-29-2010, 07:00 AM
#49
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My Ride: '06 550i
'84 Nissan S12 Turbo
After using Mobil 1 and Lubro Moly now for 25k miles or so, I think maybe I'll try a round of BMW oil next change and see if I notice any difference. I do have a lifter noise or something.....but I only notice it if I hold the rpms up around 4000 and then lightly punch the gas....full throttle or cruising I don't hear it. It's been doing that for so long, I can't remember if did it when the engine was under warranty and only got BMW oil, or if it started after I started using the others.
I'm still waiting for the BavAuto rep to hear back from Lubro Moly..............
Keith,
I'm waiting for confirmation from Lubro Moly but looking at some of their literature it appears that this whole LL04 vs. LL01 issue regarding this particular oil may be a completely moot point. The exact same part numbers for the oil were labeled as LL01 before the new LL04 standard was introduced. I'm thinking they probably re-tested it and it met the LL04 criteria so they simply changed the spec on the bottle. Lubro Moly is a primarily European company and it would certainly make sense for them to do this.
I had emailed him the link posted about not using LL04 oil in gas engines outside Europe.
I'm still waiting for the BavAuto rep to hear back from Lubro Moly..............
Keith,
I'm waiting for confirmation from Lubro Moly but looking at some of their literature it appears that this whole LL04 vs. LL01 issue regarding this particular oil may be a completely moot point. The exact same part numbers for the oil were labeled as LL01 before the new LL04 standard was introduced. I'm thinking they probably re-tested it and it met the LL04 criteria so they simply changed the spec on the bottle. Lubro Moly is a primarily European company and it would certainly make sense for them to do this.
I had emailed him the link posted about not using LL04 oil in gas engines outside Europe.
06-29-2010, 07:44 AM
#50
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My Ride: 2005 530i (Silver-Gray, Gray Lthr., Anthracite Maple) with Steptronic, Prem. Pkg., Logic 7, Xenons & Chrome factory wheels.
More scientific than just making a blank statement without backing it up
Perhaps Castrol European Formula and BMW oil are the same - I don't know. I know that after I put in the BMW oil, the car runs better. In all fairness, the oil that was there before was Mobil 1, so it was not a "back to back" comparison.
Also, I have not received any blackstone labs analysis yet - just collected the first sample and am about to send it in.
Perhaps Castrol European Formula and BMW oil are the same - I don't know. I know that after I put in the BMW oil, the car runs better. In all fairness, the oil that was there before was Mobil 1, so it was not a "back to back" comparison.
Also, I have not received any blackstone labs analysis yet - just collected the first sample and am about to send it in.
When the warranty ran out on my '05 530i, I switched to Mobil 1 0W-40 and found that the engine was actually quieter than it was with BMW 5W-30.