One Size Fits All

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I maintain my Wifes car and my Parents 3 cars. I personally have a company car so that looks after itself.

In the 'fleet' I have...
2012 BMW 320d Sport (ZF 8HP45 Auto)
2013 Suzuki Jimmny
1997 LR Defender 300TDi
2016 Dacia Duster 1.5DCi

At the moment I have an array of oils, different oils for different cars.
If you could condense that down to one oil, would you?

There's quite a few oils out there that meet BMW LL04 which is a requirement for the 320d, LL04 is a specification built on ACEA C3 which is the requirement of the Dacia. All ACEA C3 oils seem to meet API SM/SN, API SN being the specification required for the Suzuki.

The only odd ball is the Defender which I'm currently running on a HDEO, the factory recommendation is an obsolete ACEA B2 (High HTHS PCMO) in 10w30, 15w40 or 20w50. I suspect the modern BMW LL04 oils will far in exceed what will be required for basic protection of the 300TDi.

Just for context, I'm looking at Fuchs GT1 XTL 5w40 which carriers BMW LL04 manufacturers approval along with Porsche A40 and a few others. It comes in around £6/litre which is a very reasonable price for a synthetic in the UK.

So if you could, would you?
 
I would think it would work. I would gather you almost certainly have ULSD there, so the concerns over a C3 should be minimised. One could certainly argue that an A3/B4 or E7, E9 would be better suited for the Defender, but I can't see a C3 LL04 being much of a concern.
 
Your 1.5DCi is probably fitted with a DPF, so you must fill with C3.

No problem to run C3 oil in the Defender, but I would have gone A3/B4 in all non-DPF vehicles above.
 
Not worried about TBN.

The BMW is specified for 18k/24 month OCI.

Jimmny does 7k a year on average, 12 month OCI's shouldn't cause any issues.

Duster is specified for 12k/12 month intervals, again I can't see it getting anywhere near 12k in 12 months.

The Defender does no more than 5k per year, if I stick to 12 month OCI I don't think there would be any issues, especially with a 7 litre sump.

As for M1 0w40 ESP, yes I would like to use it but it's £10/litre when on offer on the UK, some places it's more. Fuchs 5w40 GT1 XTL has more manafctuer approvals and can be picked up in some places for half the price on M1 ESP!
 
I so want to have a knowledgable opinion and recommendation but it's Sunday morning and the oil spec juggling section is something my skull isn't accessing at the moment.

Sounds like there's one oil for all but the Defender. Am I right?

If so, get that one oil and whatever old fashioned truck oil the Defender takes.

And remember, while you run around tending to the fleet....buy a little something for yourself.

if you pass a wagering hall (dismal places) a fiver on the Eagles to win the Super Bowl (our football's championship game) will be rewarded.
 
Thanks guys. I've had a look at some other oils from other manafactuers, I think Fuchs 5w40 Titan GT1 XTL is a good compromise between quality and cost. Carries lots of approvals too which is always a good thing.

The Defender originally specifies ACEA B2 in 10w30, 15w40, 20w50. ACEA B2 is now an obsolete specification but it was a PCMO with high HTHS. I can't imagine a quality synthetic C3 oil being any worse than what was available back in 1996.
 
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