Originally Posted by wemay
Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by wemay
It's pretty common place to see the "LL" on some long drain oils. But Mobil1 AP and Castrol Edge EP are for extended use yet don't have that designation.
When LL (not BMW) oils were introduced in Europe, it was long before that was common practice here in the US. The designation long life stayed, and other markets also introduced oils capable of long drain intervals.
So it's just an equivalent to the M1AP EdgeEP stuff then?
Not really.
First of all, European manufacturers have approval process. They guarantee that oil that is approved can do long drain.
Second, long drain is specific to market. VW (for example) is recommending intervals based on specifics of that market. In the US it is shorter than in Europe due to fuel quality etc.
What you have in the US when it come to oils like Castrol EP etc. is pure marketing. Some oils might be long drain in certain application, while in other applications are not. But, we do not know that. Can Castrol guarantee that EP will do 20,000 miles in Honda 1.5T? No way! That is why they say: fallow manufacturers recommended OCI.
With VW, BMW etc they guarantee that oil that carries their approval will do certain mileage in that market.