What's the deal with LL-01 Oil?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
Messages
101
Location
San Diego, CA
I have a 2012 Mini Cooper Countryman S and I want to do my own oil changes for it. I'm finding LL-01 oil rather difficult to find. I also don't believe in really long drain intervals on these Direct Injection engines either, I prefer no more than 7500 miles. Anyway, I'm wondering what the BMW LL-01 is and can you get away with other oils that do not have it at shorter OCI?
 
Dated spec … and truth be known, despite all the chatter on this oil site BMW is still a low percentage of US sales

Castrol still seems to chase this … OCI you propose should be easy with that
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by gryffinwings
I have a 2012 Mini Cooper Countryman S and I want to do my own oil changes for it. I'm finding LL-01 oil rather difficult to find. I also don't believe in really long drain intervals on these Direct Injection engines either, I prefer no more than 7500 miles. Anyway, I'm wondering what the BMW LL-01 is and can you get away with other oils that do not have it at shorter OCI?

Hard to find?
Castrol Edge 5W40 (Wal Mart)
Valvoline European Vehicle 5W40 and 5W30 (AZ, AAP, NAPA)
Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W40 (online)
BMW TPT 5W30 (online)
Various Liqu Moly, Pentosin, Ravenol, Motul... (online)
If you use Casrol 0W40 or Mobil1 0W40 FS nothing will happen. Better oils than Castrol 5W40.
 
I'm not sure about this (new to BMWs and haven't been on here much in years), but I think I saw on a BMW forum that Castrol Edge is no longer LL-01 certified. I suppose it could still be more or less the same formula and Castrol's certification expired or they didn't renew a deal with BMW or something, but I'd bet it's still just fine to use either way.

I just bought a sweet higher mileage 2001 325i dirt cheap and won't be changing the oil until next Spring, at which time I'll probably use an appropriate Mobil1 or Castrol Edge, whichever is cheaper at Walmart or has a rebate. Of course I'm no expert and my car is basically a toy, so don't let me influence you. If a warranty is in play you definitely want a spec oil, whether it makes a real world difference or not.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by emepher
I'm not sure about this (new to BMWs and haven't been on here much in years), but I think I saw on a BMW forum that Castrol Edge is no longer LL-01 certified. I suppose it could still be more or less the same formula and Castrol's certification expired or they didn't renew a deal with BMW or something, but I'd bet it's still just fine to use either way.

I just bought a sweet higher mileage 2001 325i dirt cheap and won't be changing the oil until next Spring, at which time I'll probably use an appropriate Mobil1 or Castrol Edge, whichever is cheaper at Walmart or has a rebate. Of course I'm no expert and my car is basically a toy, so don't let me influence you. If a warranty is in play you definitely want a spec oil, whether it makes a real world difference or not.

Certification expires when formula is changed. BMW, VW, MB do not approve oils for time period for certain specification. When oil blender changes formulation, approval needs to be renewed.
 
Originally Posted by edyvw
Certification expires when formula is changed. BMW, VW, MB do not approve oils for time period for certain specification. When oil blender changes formulation, approval needs to be renewed.


Approvals are time-limited. Yes, they expire when the formulation changes but they also expire after a time limit. If nothing has changed then you can apply for a re-approval with minimal effort. However sometimes the spec itself has changed in the interim period so at re-approval time you may have to show your unchanged oil can meet the new version of the spec, so will need some further testing. Sometimes the new test requirements mean the existing oil is no longer capable of meeting the spec it did before.
 
Originally Posted by weasley
Originally Posted by edyvw
Certification expires when formula is changed. BMW, VW, MB do not approve oils for time period for certain specification. When oil blender changes formulation, approval needs to be renewed.


Approvals are time-limited. Yes, they expire when the formulation changes but they also expire after a time limit. If nothing has changed then you can apply for a re-approval with minimal effort. However sometimes the spec itself has changed in the interim period so at re-approval time you may have to show your unchanged oil can meet the new version of the spec, so will need some further testing. Sometimes the new test requirements mean the existing oil is no longer capable of meeting the spec it did before.

Specifications are changed and they need to be re-approved, or oil is. However, when I worked on acquiring approval for VW504.00/507.00 there was no time limit.
Granted, manufacturers could just go with the fact that they will eventually update specification and with that have to re-approve oils.
 
Originally Posted by edyvw
However, when I worked on acquiring approval for VW504.00/507.00 there was no time limit.


VW are amongst the OEMs that put a time limit on their approvals. As far as I can tell they always have. I just looked a current VW approval letter and it has the expiry date printed on it. This is a common approach.
 
Originally Posted by weasley
Originally Posted by edyvw
However, when I worked on acquiring approval for VW504.00/507.00 there was no time limit.


VW are amongst the OEMs that put a time limit on their approvals. As far as I can tell they always have. I just looked a current VW approval letter and it has the expiry date printed on it. This is a common approach.

I actually posted approval letter few years back here with no time limit. Maybe something changed in the meantime.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top