Amsoil's 5W-40 European Oil (EFM) for a BMW 328xi

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Amsoil's Product Lookup Guide shows the 5W-40 (EFM) as their only oil for a 2011 BMW 328xi. I sent a question to Amsoil because the BMW oil for this car is 5W-30. Amsoil's response is "You will want to use the AMSOIL 5w-40 European Oil (EFM) for this BMW 328xi vehicle. This oil falls within the accepted viscosities that BMW allows for this vehicle and also meets the LL-01 spec requirement that they call for." In addition the Amsoil 5W-40 oil is a Full SAP oil. I have been running Amsoil for over 15 years in my other vehicles and I am very pleased with it. This is my first BMW and want to make sure this is a good oil to use.
I would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks
 
The SAE viscosity grade doesn't matter too much. What matters is that the oil meets the BMW LL-01 spec.

For the record, that Amsoil oil doesn't officially meet BMW LL-01 spec. It is only "recommended for". For some people it's good enough. Others worry that BMW could give you a hassle should you ever had an engine lubrication warranty claim. And if BMW refuses to step in, then the assumption is that Amsoil would.


I think Amsoil is in the process of having some of their Euro oils officially certified. Not sure if or when this particular oil will be.
 
You are proposing using an unapproved oil for your application, one in which oil issues are a proven concern, The path of least resitance is to use one of the superb LL01 products from Mobil or Castrol or others.
 
Originally Posted By: Dave13
Amsoil's Product Lookup Guide shows the 5W-40 (EFM) as their only oil for a 2011 BMW 328xi. I sent a question to Amsoil because the BMW oil for this car is 5W-30. Amsoil's response is "You will want to use the AMSOIL 5w-40 European Oil (EFM) for this BMW 328xi vehicle. This oil falls within the accepted viscosities that BMW allows for this vehicle and also meets the LL-01 spec requirement that they call for." In addition the Amsoil 5W-40 oil is a Full SAP oil. I have been running Amsoil for over 15 years in my other vehicles and I am very pleased with it. This is my first BMW and want to make sure this is a good oil to use.
I would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks

That oil is nothing special.
Amsoil is claiming that they are Full Synthetic oil, using only synthetic base stock, but numbers are just average.
It is not base oil, it is final product that matters.
If you want to use 30 weight oil, go with Castrol 0W30. It meets BMW LL-01 specs.
If you want 40 weight oil, use either Mobil1 0W40 or Castrol 0W40. You can find them in Wal Mart, and both oils IMHO are better then that Amsoil.
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw
It is not base oil, it is final product that matters.

OK, so from that standpoint, what's wrong with it?
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: edyvw
It is not base oil, it is final product that matters.

OK, so from that standpoint, what's wrong with it?

Oh no, nothing is wrong with Amsoil 5W40.
Question is: Is it worth of paying that money for that product when you can find better products cheaper.
I was even considering Amsoil, but close to $12 for a quart of oil that has NOACK of 8.7% or 10% in Mid-SAPS version, flash point of 224c, and below average pour point, is I think not worth it.

That being said, I think if he susses he will be fine.
 
And if you are a preferred member I think I paid less than $5.50/qt for a case of 12. I just bought this oil. Trying it out this weekend. Been using AFL for years and years in My 2001 S4 and still years but not as many in my 2004 A4.
 
Originally Posted By: Wheel366
And if you are a preferred member I think I paid less than $5.50/qt for a case of 12. I just bought this oil. Trying it out this weekend. Been using AFL for years and years in My 2001 S4 and still years but not as many in my 2004 A4.

I was looking web site, being interested in their Mid-SAPS 5W40 oil. However, since numbers are not anything special, I just gave up.
 
Really wanted to try the 5w30 low saps, but the ll-04 performance with American high ethanol fuel, especially here in the corn belt where I can hardly find ethanol free 91-93 worries me about OCI's over 6k with tbn retention.
 
I appreciate all the input and because of the input I checked again with Amsoil and their response to me is as follows -

"The information provided to you comes from BMW Corporate directly. They allow oils that meet the LL-01 specs along with the following viscosities: 5W-30, 0W-30, 5W-40, 0W-40"

Gonna give it a try
 
I have been using Amsoil Euro 5w-40 full SAPS in my 2008 328xi for one year, 10,600 miles. The reason for the 10.6 OCI was that I recently came back from an 8k west coast trip. Including stop and go city, interstate stretches in NV, SD, WY, etc., Mountain roads with long 2nd and 3rd gear runs like Bear Tooth pass. The car was driven all day, sometimes hard.

The report from Blackstone reads "The TBN of this oil reads 4.1. We consider the TBN to be too low for extended use one it reaches 1.0, so there is plenty of life left in this oil. Plus, wear metals are looking pretty nice after 10,600 miles of use, so from what we are seeing in these results, the engine and oil held up pretty well. The thin viscosity is not a big deal. There really in not much of a change with metals between this sample and the last, even though this latest sample saw more than twice as much use. That is a great sign that this engine is running well. You could try 12,000 miles next fill. Nice!"
Just a sample of metals, AL =7, Iron = 9, Copper =15, Lead =1. Viscosity @210F = 64.6, Flashpoint = 425, Insolubles =0.1 (mann filter)

So I am pleased with this run on Amsoil Euro 5w-40 full SAPS, now if only my other cars that I service reports came back as well.
 
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With all the talk about full saps why couldn't a person just use a hedo.. rotella, delo, and delvac all offer 10w30 and 5w40 oils? I know that it doesn't have the BMW ll approval , just wondering why not run something like those.

It would seem that either one of these oils would cover everything except the ll approval. So why not use?
 
Originally Posted By: simplistic
With all the talk about full saps why couldn't a person just use a hedo.. rotella, delo, and delvac all offer 10w30 and 5w40 oils? I know that it doesn't have the BMW ll approval , just wondering why not run something like those.

It would seem that either one of these oils would cover everything except the ll approval. So why not use?

Only if it is Synthetic oil!
 
Originally Posted By: simplistic
It would seem that either one of these oils would cover everything except the ll approval. So why not use?

Why not? Precisely because it does not have that LL approval. If you're still under warranty, like the OP's car, why would you risk it? Of course the OP chose to ignore that advice anyway, but it's his car...

Now once off warranty, I've seen quite a few people run HDEO 5w-40 oils such as Rotella T6 in their older BMWs with no ill effects. But then, M1 0w-40 has the proper LL approval and is the same price or less at Walmart, so again, I don't really see a good reason to use HDEO instead.
 
It's too easy to buy the right stuff like M1 0W-40 or Castrol 0W-40 at the local store.

If Amsoil were LL-01 and sitting on the store shelf, I might be tempted.

But why go out of your way for something that does not meet spec and is more costly.

Just trusting the blender that their product is suitable for an application requires an unnecessary leap of faith.
 
Originally Posted By: SilverC6
It's too easy to buy the right stuff like M1 0W-40 or Castrol 0W-40 at the local store.

If Amsoil were LL-01 and sitting on the store shelf, I might be tempted.

But why go out of your way for something that does not meet spec and is more costly.

Just trusting the blender that their product is suitable for an application requires an unnecessary leap of faith.



Amsoil 5w40 European car Formula...

Manufacturer Approvals:

BMW Longlife-04
MB-Approval 229.51
Porsche A40


While Amsoil doesn't meet every spec the big names do they are pretty respectable with everything they do.
 
If Amsoil 5w40 European car Formula is actually certified by BMW as an LL-01 oil that is news to me...
 
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