Originally Posted By: DS9
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: THafeez
I think it's a money thing. Mobil 1 FS 0W40 in the US has porsche A40, VW and Benz approvals. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Mobil has to pay for the certification and if BMW has a certain preference, say for example Pennzoil pays them to promote their product, they'll pull the certification. I looked at the Australia PDS
HERE and it shows M1 0W40 still having the same certifications as the previous Mobil 1 0W40. Anyway, thats my 2 cents.
BMW charges approval process/testing like all other companies.
I was involved in testing and certification of VW 504.00/507.00oil,
and VW charged 3,200 euros for certification.
Car companies do not make money granting approvals. It is actually in their interest to have as many oils approved as possible because that makes maintenance of their cars easier and more appealing.
Btw, on the other hand - PSA (Peugeot/Citroen/DS) charged 70,000 euros for their Approval(s):
One of the documents of INDEPENDENT UNION OF THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANT INDUSTRY
http://ueil.org/en/upload/docs/automotive/UEILTechnicalBulletin_July10.pdf
In 2009, PSA Peugeot Citroen issued 4 new Technical Specifications, detailing all the tests
and parameters required to meet B71 2290, B71 2294, B71 2295 and B71 2296. However,
these specifications included an internal PSA tests, for which no information was given.
Instead, the Lubricant supplier had to assign every formulation a unique product code,
before submitting the sample and relevant paperwork to PSA for testing.
This process was
expected to take 6 months before an approval was given and would cost 70,000 Euro per year per sample
***
Suppose it is simmillar with other french manufacturer (Renault) that is conected with french Total/Elf? (approvals RN0700,RN0710,RN0720)
Maybe. On other hand, while some oils carry their approval, many do not.
Maybe price is the key as to why some companies skip approval by PSA which is nothing special in the first place.