Engine oil selection

John_01 · 10-01-2009, 08:06 AM

I am just about to do the first break-in oil change on my 325i as it is approaching 2000kms. I was trying to find a suitable engine oil. My understanding is the oil should have a SAE grade of 5W30, and also have BMW approval "Long Life 01". There aren't many suitable oils available here.

I though it would ask if anyone has comments about these points:
1) If you change your oil at less than 10,000km intervals, is it really necessary to Have BMW LL01 rating? Maybe LL98 would be adequate? Is LL04 rating a suitable substitute for LL01?

2) Is 5W30 grading always the most appropriate for Australian conditions? Sure I can understand if you need to start your car at -15 degree C. Some people use Mobile 1 0W40 which has BMW LLO1 rated, so I wonder if this is a good choice for our climate.

3) Is the oil requirement the same for NA and Turbo engines?

For me personally, I know my engine is still not properly run-in so I'd rather not use anything thicker than what is recommended by BMW. I also understand that lower quality oils are more likely to degrade their viscosity over use. It looks like I might have to buy the Castrol 5W30 oil from BMW, unless someone has a better idea.

Attached is a summary of the info I have gathered:

MFKN3 · 10-01-2009, 08:30 PM

Is this a scheduled oil change? If so I'd get the dealer to do it. I do mine every 6000-7000km.

If it's not and you are doing it, I personally would go shell helix or castrol edge 5w30. Castrol edge is on sale at Repco at the moment and I know another 325i using it.

From what I understand, LL-01 was the standards set in 2001 and LL-04 was the standard set in 2004 and is the latest. A lot of confusion pops up on here, because I think the US has limited access to LL-04.

I use Castrol Edge 0w-40 but only because my car is tuned and my mechanic recommended it - otherwise I'd stick to 5w-30. Not sure if it makes any difference on my car though to be honest. Strangely, the LL04 bottle does say not be be used on Australian and NZ bmw's but ok on all porsches, except Cayenne. Maybe someone who knows more can chime in??

MFKN3 · 10-01-2009, 08:38 PM

I did a bit of searching.

Brisbane BMW use Shell Helix Ultra AB Fully Synthetic 0W-30
Coastline BMW use Castrol TXT
Motorline BMW use Castrol Edge 0W-40

LL04 is apparantly more refined than LL01. The reason LL04 is not "recommended" is because it has not been "approved" by BMW worldwide, so they still stick to LL01. Apparantly this is a $$$ process to get "approval" and the US is largely on the LL01 system, whereas europe has progressed to LL04, so you can see the dilemma.

MFKN3 · 10-01-2009, 08:45 PM

For all the geeks..

Longlife-04 oils
These have been developed to guarantee an optimum service life for the particulate filter in diesel engines. These oils are stipulated for all diesel engines with particulate filter, but may also be used in almost all other BMW engines.
Longlife-04 oils are not required to be used in BMW spark-ignition engines in countries outside Europe (EU plus Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein).

Longlife-01 oils
The quality of these oils is comparable to that of Longlife-04 (but has a higher ash content). This is well reflected in the Lubrizol chart that gtxragtop referenced...

Longlife-01 FE oils
Because of their particularly low viscosity, these oils are able to favourably influence fuel consumption. However, they are only to be used in engines that have been specially designed to run with such low viscosity oils (spark-ignition engines with Valvetronic).

Longlife-98 oils
Satisfy specific requirements for extended oil change intervals that were introduced in 1998. Their quality is no longer adequate for the current range of spark-ignition and diesel engines.

dcg71 · 10-01-2009, 09:16 PM

I've topped up with Castrol Edge Sport 5W30. BMW assist recomended SLX Professional Longtec, but suggested Edge Sport if I couldn't find the SLX. And yes, its very cheap at Repco at the moment.
My next oil change will be a scheduled service at the dealer, but when I eventually do get around to doing an oil change I was planning on going with the SLX Professional.

John_01 · 10-02-2009, 03:06 AM

xsboost, Thanks for the detailed info. I also read the note about BMW suitability for the Castrol edge 0W40 product. I thought it was a bit strange. Do you think it is something of a marketing / commercial issue more than a technical issue? I could imagine that if some companies have paid $$$ for testing and other costs to bring LL01 product to market, changing to the production of LL04 might not be so attractive for them. Probably BMW dosen't want to close them out of the market either.

For the moment I'll use some Castrol SLX professional, but I'll consider changing to another oil after the car has done some more km.

John_01 · 10-18-2009, 03:59 AM

Wow, the SLX professional is expensive at the dealer. I bought it, but it cost $25.40 per litre including GST. The oil filter at $31.93 seems cheap by comparison. It was $210 for oil and filter. The main reason I did this myself was because I wanted to see if there was anything in the oil, such as water or foreign particals. I didn't do it to save money.

As it turned out I took out 6 litres plus some spillage. I put in 6.3 litres, now the cars electronic oil gauge reads right at full and says "OK". Next time I will put 6 litres in first and check the gauge before topping up.

10-01-2009, 08:06 AM	#1
John_01 Colonel 237 Rep 2,643 Posts Drives: E90 325i, E82 135i Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia iTrader: (0)	Engine oil selection I am just about to do the first break-in oil change on my 325i as it is approaching 2000kms. I was trying to find a suitable engine oil. My understanding is the oil should have a SAE grade of 5W30, and also have BMW approval "Long Life 01". There aren't many suitable oils available here. I though it would ask if anyone has comments about these points: 1) If you change your oil at less than 10,000km intervals, is it really necessary to Have BMW LL01 rating? Maybe LL98 would be adequate? Is LL04 rating a suitable substitute for LL01? 2) Is 5W30 grading always the most appropriate for Australian conditions? Sure I can understand if you need to start your car at -15 degree C. Some people use Mobile 1 0W40 which has BMW LLO1 rated, so I wonder if this is a good choice for our climate. 3) Is the oil requirement the same for NA and Turbo engines? For me personally, I know my engine is still not properly run-in so I'd rather not use anything thicker than what is recommended by BMW. I also understand that lower quality oils are more likely to degrade their viscosity over use. It looks like I might have to buy the Castrol 5W30 oil from BMW, unless someone has a better idea. Attached is a summary of the info I have gathered: Attached Images
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10-01-2009, 08:30 PM	#2
MFKN3 Colonel 134 Rep 2,224 Posts Drives: supercharged 4.4L stroker E92 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Australia iTrader: (2)	Is this a scheduled oil change? If so I'd get the dealer to do it. I do mine every 6000-7000km. If it's not and you are doing it, I personally would go shell helix or castrol edge 5w30. Castrol edge is on sale at Repco at the moment and I know another 325i using it. From what I understand, LL-01 was the standards set in 2001 and LL-04 was the standard set in 2004 and is the latest. A lot of confusion pops up on here, because I think the US has limited access to LL-04. I use Castrol Edge 0w-40 but only because my car is tuned and my mechanic recommended it - otherwise I'd stick to 5w-30. Not sure if it makes any difference on my car though to be honest. Strangely, the LL04 bottle does say not be be used on Australian and NZ bmw's but ok on all porsches, except Cayenne. Maybe someone who knows more can chime in??
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10-01-2009, 08:38 PM	#3
MFKN3 Colonel 134 Rep 2,224 Posts Drives: supercharged 4.4L stroker E92 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Australia iTrader: (2)	I did a bit of searching. Brisbane BMW use Shell Helix Ultra AB Fully Synthetic 0W-30 Coastline BMW use Castrol TXT Motorline BMW use Castrol Edge 0W-40 LL04 is apparantly more refined than LL01. The reason LL04 is not "recommended" is because it has not been "approved" by BMW worldwide, so they still stick to LL01. Apparantly this is a $$$ process to get "approval" and the US is largely on the LL01 system, whereas europe has progressed to LL04, so you can see the dilemma.
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10-01-2009, 08:45 PM	#4
MFKN3 Colonel 134 Rep 2,224 Posts Drives: supercharged 4.4L stroker E92 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Australia iTrader: (2)	For all the geeks.. Longlife-04 oils These have been developed to guarantee an optimum service life for the particulate filter in diesel engines. These oils are stipulated for all diesel engines with particulate filter, but may also be used in almost all other BMW engines. Longlife-04 oils are not required to be used in BMW spark-ignition engines in countries outside Europe (EU plus Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein). Longlife-01 oils The quality of these oils is comparable to that of Longlife-04 (but has a higher ash content). This is well reflected in the Lubrizol chart that gtxragtop referenced... Longlife-01 FE oils Because of their particularly low viscosity, these oils are able to favourably influence fuel consumption. However, they are only to be used in engines that have been specially designed to run with such low viscosity oils (spark-ignition engines with Valvetronic). Longlife-98 oils Satisfy specific requirements for extended oil change intervals that were introduced in 1998. Their quality is no longer adequate for the current range of spark-ignition and diesel engines.
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10-01-2009, 09:16 PM	#5
dcg71 Captain 87 Rep 951 Posts Drives: F15 X5 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia iTrader: (2)	I've topped up with Castrol Edge Sport 5W30. BMW assist recomended SLX Professional Longtec, but suggested Edge Sport if I couldn't find the SLX. And yes, its very cheap at Repco at the moment. My next oil change will be a scheduled service at the dealer, but when I eventually do get around to doing an oil change I was planning on going with the SLX Professional.
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10-02-2009, 03:06 AM	#6
John_01 Colonel 237 Rep 2,643 Posts Drives: E90 325i, E82 135i Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia iTrader: (0)	xsboost, Thanks for the detailed info. I also read the note about BMW suitability for the Castrol edge 0W40 product. I thought it was a bit strange. Do you think it is something of a marketing / commercial issue more than a technical issue? I could imagine that if some companies have paid $$$ for testing and other costs to bring LL01 product to market, changing to the production of LL04 might not be so attractive for them. Probably BMW dosen't want to close them out of the market either. For the moment I'll use some Castrol SLX professional, but I'll consider changing to another oil after the car has done some more km.
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10-18-2009, 03:59 AM	#7
John_01 Colonel 237 Rep 2,643 Posts Drives: E90 325i, E82 135i Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia iTrader: (0)	Wow, the SLX professional is expensive at the dealer. I bought it, but it cost $25.40 per litre including GST. The oil filter at $31.93 seems cheap by comparison. It was $210 for oil and filter. The main reason I did this myself was because I wanted to see if there was anything in the oil, such as water or foreign particals. I didn't do it to save money. As it turned out I took out 6 litres plus some spillage. I put in 6.3 litres, now the cars electronic oil gauge reads right at full and says "OK". Next time I will put 6 litres in first and check the gauge before topping up.
	Appreciate 0 Quote