BMW Approved Oils ?

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Corvette Owner

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My son get bought a 2011 BMW X4. All maintenance is covered (free) by BMW up to 48,000 miles. This includes oil changes at 10,000 miles.

He doesn't want to wait 10,000 miles on first oil change and I agree. So we were thinking about changing oil at 3,000 miles.

The following is a list of BMW approved oils, found at
http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/Owner/SyntheticEngineOils.aspx


"The oils listed below meet BMW's Long-life rating and are acceptable for use in BMW Passenger vehicles and SAVs in the US market with gasoline engines.

BMW Long-life rating LL-01 Approved Synthetic Oils for the US Market:

* Castrol Syntec European Formula SAE 0W-30

* Mobil 1 SAE 0W-40

* Pennzoil Platinum European Formula Ultra SAE 5W-30

* Valvoline SynPower SAE 5W-30"

My questions are:

1) Are any of these oils available here in the US ?

2) I was surprised to see Valvoline SynPower SAE 5W-30 on the list ! Is this a GREAT oil ? I don't seem to hear much about it on here?

3) I guess "Pennzoil Platinum European Formula Ultra SAE 5W-30" is not the regular Ultra, I checked the bottle and it doesn't mention LL-01 ?
 
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Castrol Euro Forumula is Syntec 0W-30. It will say made in Germany available at Pepboys/Autozone. You Can find M1 0w-40 anywhere, Walmart has at like $6.37/Qt, no jugs. Oreilly's has M1 for $4.99/qt on special this month. PP Euro 5W-30 can be ordered online. That Synpower is not the plain jane Synpower. It is the MST version, most likely you can find it online. Maybe NAPA can order that flavor.
 
Is he going to use the free changes when they come up? I am on my 2011 135i. I called Dan at United and got OE oil and filter so I have a good receipt and log.

I assume he bought the vehicle? If leasing it is irrelevant.
 
I used Google and found some answers. Apparently Valvoline SynPower MST SAE 5W-30 is the oil rated for LL-01, and is difficult to find.

So, are any of these oils available and where?

Just saw you guys posts, thanks for the info !
 
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Originally Posted By: Corvette Owner


So, are any of these oils available and where?

Just saw you guys posts, thanks for the info !

M1 0w-40 is available at most auto part stores. Some Walmarts carry it too.

Castrol Syntec 0w-30 is available at AutoZone and PepBoys. Just check to make sure it says "made in Germany" on the back label.

By the way, BMW X4? There is no such thing.
 
You can get the BMW 5w-30 oil from the dealers, normally at a pretty competitive price. Several online BMW parts shops also offer the BMW 5w-30, ECS Tuning, Turner Motorsports etc.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Corvette Owner


So, are any of these oils available and where?

Just saw you guys posts, thanks for the info !

M1 0w-40 is available at most auto part stores. Some Walmarts carry it too.

Castrol Syntec 0w-30 is available at AutoZone and PepBoys. Just check to make sure it says "made in Germany" on the back label.

By the way, BMW X4? There is no such thing.

Yeah, sorry about that, it is an X3 !
 
Originally Posted By: bodeh6
That Synpower is not the plain jane Synpower. It is the MST version, most likely you can find it online. Maybe NAPA can order that flavor.


Not according to the Valvoline website and their "calculator" CRMO for the correct oil for a 2010 X3...

...is SynPower 5W-30.

If you "think it is a performance car" or tow, etc. and/or it has over 75K miles they still recommend...

SynPower 5W-30

Cheers!

p.s. I'd guess that there would have been a MaxLife Synthetic recommendation in there for over 75,000 miles, but apparently not...
 
Originally Posted By: Norm Olt


Not according to the Valvoline website and their "calculator" CRMO for the correct oil for a 2010 X3...

...is SynPower 5W-30.


If you look at Synpower's data sheet, ( http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/SynPower.pdf ), then only the 5w-40 HST has formal OEM approval for the LL-01 spec which his car requires.
 
Norm, how did you get the Valvoline tool to spit out a specific grade? When I plug in the make/model/year data, it only tells me it recommends Synpower, but no mention of specific grade.

The regular Synpower 5w-30 carries ACEA A1/A5 spec, which means it has to have HT/HS below 3.5. On the other hand, BMW LL-01 spec requires the HT/HS to be at least 3.5 or higher. Therefore, it is not possible for Synpower 5w-30 to be the appropriate oil for this car.
 
Originally Posted By: bodeh6
You Can find M1 0w-40 anywhere, Walmart has at like $6.37/Qt, no jugs. Oreilly's has M1 for $4.99/qt on special this month.

If you can get M1 0W-40 for that price it's the no-brainer first oil choice.
What I find interesting it that you're getting a 3.8 HTHS oil but due to it's high 185 VI it's lighter on start-up than all the 30wt oils mentioned. GC for example only has a VI of 167 consiquently is heavier than M1 at all temp's below 75C and a full 10% lighter at 25F.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Norm Olt


Not according to the Valvoline website and their "calculator" CRMO for the correct oil for a 2010 X3...

...is SynPower 5W-30.


If you look at Synpower's data sheet, ( http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/SynPower.pdf ), then only the 5w-40 HST has formal OEM approval for the LL-01 spec which his car requires.


People should pay attention to this since BMW doesn't specify which 5W-30 and Valvoline has three products in that grade. Regular Synpower doesn't meet A3/B3/LL-01 requirements, and both it and MST can't do extended intervals. HST (the approved one) is probably a good oil but only available in bulk.

Out of the approved oils the BMW oem oil is probably the worst. BMW's oil spec is one of the least demanding out of the German OEM's. Castrol 0W-30 and M1 0W-40 are both good, and M1 0W-40 is the better of those two since it also has Porsche A40 and Mercedes AMG approvals. M1 goes on sale for $4.99/qt regularly these days (currently at OReilly for that price).
 
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Originally Posted By: vinu_neuro

People should pay attention to this since BMW doesn't specify which 5W-30 and Valvoline has three products in that grade.

Exactly. As far as I know, multiple people (including members here) tried contacting BMWUSA to correct this list of approved oils, or at least make it more specific. Alas, BMW did nothing about it.
 
Originally Posted By: shanneba
You can get the BMW 5w-30 oil from the dealers, normally at a pretty competitive price. Several online BMW parts shops also offer the BMW 5w-30, ECS Tuning, Turner Motorsports etc.


Plus one! very good for most BMW's and priced reasonably around $1 less than M1 0w-40 Euro
 
I own a 2002 530i and have been using Castrol Syntec 0W-30 at 6 month intervals since its city use >>highway use. I just did a valve cover gasket and VANOS seals change, and the top of the engine was beautiful (not even any varnish). If the vehicle you mentioned were mine (purchased rather than leased), I would do the following:
1. Change oil at 1200 miles per Mike Miller who writes for Bimmer magazine.
2. I would use the BMW 5W30 synthetic when your son does his changes since your son will likely get a discount for parts/supplies at the dealership. The BMW oil (Castrol blended) is respected here. You will find some posts if you do a search.
3. I would ask the dealership to use the BMW 5W30 oil when they do the changes. (They of course sell it, but their bulk oil may be something different and might not meet the BMW LL01 spec). I like the idea of using the same oil for a long stretch.
4. If this is a turbo engine, better think shorter OCIs. There are some posts in this forum that he should read.
 
Originally Posted By: GhostFlame
add Castrol 5w-40 syntec and Kendall full syn 5w-40 (if you can find it)


Castrol 5W-40 is not a LL-01 oil. Only LL-98.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Norm, how did you get the Valvoline tool to spit out a specific grade? When I plug in the make/model/year data, it only tells me it recommends Synpower, but no mention of specific grade.

The regular Synpower 5w-30 carries ACEA A1/A5 spec, which means it has to have HT/HS below 3.5. On the other hand, BMW LL-01 spec requires the HT/HS to be at least 3.5 or higher. Therefore, it is not possible for Synpower 5w-30 to be the appropriate oil for this car.


Pete: I just plugged in the info and it came back with SynPower... Perhaps I presumed 5W-30 in error (as you have pointed out). mea culpa, mea culpa, etc.

Is it the same BMW spec for the 2011 as 2010 cars? Were there even turbocharged X3's in 2010?
 
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