All,
I know this is probably a dead horse, but I'd figure I'll step up to take my turn beating it again.
My situation:
I currently reside in Europe with the military. I was able to secure a MINI F56 through BMW military sales, and will be taking it back to the states in January. I have been keeping up with the service interval, and am due for an oil change in December. I currently hate the fact that I have to stomach 300$+ in order to have my oil change done (because of the cost/taxes on oil in Italy). I was able to get my hands on some LL01 equivalent oil, and am wondering what to do next. Should I stomach the 300$+ to change my oil, and then change it again when I get to the states (since BMW tech literature states not to use LL04 outside of Europe and LL01 outside of USA), or would I be ok with having them change the oil with my MOTUL LL01 equivalent, and then get an additional oil change when I get back to America 2 months later (since changing my oil 2 times will still come in at 2/13 the price of having the dealer change the oil with the approved LL04)?
An additional thing to point out is that I emailed BMW corporate with my situation, and they told me to speak with a dealer as they would know the technical restrictions best. I directed my question to a dealer that is close to home back in the US, and they said that they would have to do some digging with the BMW/MINI techs at corporate to figure out an answer.
TL;DR
Is it ok to change my oil with LL01 in Europe for a short period of time, or should I change the LL04, and drive it in the US for a brief period until I can flush out the LL04 in the states?
Again, sorry if this is a dead horse.
I know this is probably a dead horse, but I'd figure I'll step up to take my turn beating it again.
My situation:
I currently reside in Europe with the military. I was able to secure a MINI F56 through BMW military sales, and will be taking it back to the states in January. I have been keeping up with the service interval, and am due for an oil change in December. I currently hate the fact that I have to stomach 300$+ in order to have my oil change done (because of the cost/taxes on oil in Italy). I was able to get my hands on some LL01 equivalent oil, and am wondering what to do next. Should I stomach the 300$+ to change my oil, and then change it again when I get to the states (since BMW tech literature states not to use LL04 outside of Europe and LL01 outside of USA), or would I be ok with having them change the oil with my MOTUL LL01 equivalent, and then get an additional oil change when I get back to America 2 months later (since changing my oil 2 times will still come in at 2/13 the price of having the dealer change the oil with the approved LL04)?
An additional thing to point out is that I emailed BMW corporate with my situation, and they told me to speak with a dealer as they would know the technical restrictions best. I directed my question to a dealer that is close to home back in the US, and they said that they would have to do some digging with the BMW/MINI techs at corporate to figure out an answer.
TL;DR
Is it ok to change my oil with LL01 in Europe for a short period of time, or should I change the LL04, and drive it in the US for a brief period until I can flush out the LL04 in the states?
Again, sorry if this is a dead horse.