[fazman]

Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6

Your SA is mistaken:

1st off, as you stated; Mobil 1 0W-40 IS BMW LL-01 Approved - & I think BMW engineers know a leetle more than your SA...

BMW Long-life rating LL-01 Approved Synthetic Oils for the US Market:

* Castrol Syntec European Formula SAE 0W-30 (now called Castrol Edge with Syntec)

* Mobil 1 SAE 0W-40

* Pennzoil Platinum European Formula Ultra SAE 5W-30

* Valvoline SynPower SAE 5W-30

** There are other oils that are LL-01.


I have never seen Castrol Syntec (or edge) Euro Formula oil in the 5W-30 (approved for BMW LL-01) variety on shelves at any of my local stores, or online, or directly from Castrol. If they are using the BMW branded 5W-30 oil (which is Castrol) - it must be that it is especially formulated for BMW.

Standard Castrol Syntec 5W-30 oil that is available to consumers (other than from BMW dealer) is not BMW approved.

http://www.castrolsyntec.com/Grades.aspx

I use the Castrol Euro 0W-30 @ 7500mi in between the dealer oil changes. Also use the very same oil in Lingenfelter 427 in my TransAm for years - waaaaayyyyy more HP/TQ than my BMW. It gets 'abused' quite often & I have never had a problem...

Yea, the response i got from my SA gave me a little pause as well, but I still feel that the Mobile 0W-40 LL01 Euro flavor @ walmart would be perfectly fine in the car... just wanted to see if anyone else uses it since the 5qt jug is like $22. I'm planning to do my own personal oil changes once I'm out of CPO.

[330iE90spt]

Originally Posted by jwalker87

In response to all the replies on my post, yes that is the 5-qt jug of 0w40 from Wal Mart for $23-ish. They are rarely in stock, so I buy several whenever they have them; I think I have 3 full bottles and a partially full one right now. I realize slightly more than 1 bottle is required, but I just fudged the math to $25 for that; mine doesn't require any oil in-between changes, so whatever I have left over is used on the next change.

I do this as well as a buddy of mine that has an E46. Actually, he just told me the other day he gets it for even cheaper at Costco. Thanks to Walmarts sale of Mobil 1 I'm good for the next 2 oil chgs.

[JustROLLIN]

$83 out the door including a tire rotation. I rotate, regardless of what BMW says. I worked in the automotive industry long enough to know what happens to tires that are not rotated. Plus, I dont have stagger, so its fine to rotate.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by JustROLLIN

$83 out the door including a tire rotation. I rotate, regardless of what BMW says. I worked in the automotive industry long enough to know what happens to tires that are not rotated. Plus, I dont have stagger, so its fine to rotate.

Not an argument here on tire rotation (I rotate mine every 5,000 miles), but BMW's position is related to the cost of having the tires rotated does not provide an economic benefit to the owner. The extension of tread life of the tires does is not more in value than the cost to rotate the tire to achieve the tread life extension.

Do tire rotations yourself, or as part of an oil change service for little added cost, and BMW's position goes out the window.

[Three_thirty_I]

If like my car, it is out of service/maintenance plan, then I would ask for a break-down of a service quote to see what the labour charge is and of course the service parts. If they are slapping a profit on the service parts I would then buy them separately and simply ask them to perform the service with the now supplied parts for the labour charge as per their quote. Thankfully in my case, this is only every second year since my annual mileage is only around 10k km, and then I still change oil myself in between these services which is so easy and and since it's just the cost of the service parts, pretty cheap! But yes, I also want to retain my FSH with a proper BMW dealership, so also not willing to pay more than is absolutely necessary! Things like brakes and so on I will do myself, so it's literally just the basic servicing etc that they would have to do...

[Casca]

I wait till Autozone has a sale on German Castrol 0w30. 5qts+ a filter for $29.99+tax. I then buy 5x that deal, going to different autozones if the one I normally use doesn't have enough.

Sometimes the free oil filter is crap (you have to get the brand that is part of the deal), sometimes it is a re-badged Mann filter (STP....last one I got anyway...look in the box, it's pretty obvious). If it's a crap filter deal, I get filters for my other car or even other peoples car and just give it to them. If needed, I order the Mann filter off Amazon for $9 prime shipping.

So @$45. And it was done correctly....not that this is difficult at all, but some kids working in those quick oil change places or even the dealership just don't care as much about your car as you do. And the exact oil I want was used, not just something that the shop gets a really good deal on and is the correct weight. Also, those quick oil change places, like Valvoline and such.....I wonder what filter they use. Probably the crap filters I wouldn't even use on a lawn mower.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Do tire rotations yourself, or as part of an oil change service for little added cost, and BMW's position goes out the window.

Interesting that rotation was included in the $83 oil change. My dealer charges $25.

Tom

[Napoli1926]

100$if I take to -bmw dealership Huntington NY....but they endorse
Castrol 5w-30 synthetic...they tell me bmw synthetic oil is Made by Castrol....my engine oil cap says use Castrol 5w-30 so when I have the extra time I do my own and always buy Castrol synthetic

[nate5ks]

The 5w 30 castrol you see all over the place is different from the bmw oil. You need the 5w 30 euro formula which can be harder to find. I use 0w 40 Mobil 1 because it is LL 01 approved and it is cheap at wal mart.

[pgaplayerless]

Originally Posted by nate5ks

The 5w 30 castrol you see all over the place is different from the bmw oil. You need the 5w 30 euro formula which can be harder to find. I use 0w 40 Mobil 1 because it is LL 01 approved and it is cheap at wal mart.

You can use Castol 5W-40 Euro. Advanced Auto carries it a lot.

[pgaplayerless]

I do my own oil changes and usually get 5qts + MANN filter for under $35 taxed.....either Mobil 1 0w-40 Euro, or Castrol 5w-40 Euro. Both are BMW LL01

[Crusader]

6.75 qt Mobil 1 0W40 approx $37
1 Mann OEM filter $10
Lift fee $4
= $51 plus 1/2 hour of my time
The assurance the job was done right?
Priceless

[geek]

Originally Posted by Crusader

Lift fee $4
= $51 plus 1/2 hour of my time

Crusader, you have a local DIY shop that only charges $4 to use their lift? Sweet!

[RevALot]

Well, the dealership website said $79.95. The Service rep said $149. He said it wasn't for the E90, but would charge me $89. I went to the website, and it did read all 3 Series including the E90, and he said the website was wrong. I guess he would know since he works there. Still, the website read $79.95 and he charged me $89.95, so I felt a bit cheated. I paid it anyway, as they have saved me money in the past. If I hadn't said anything though, I would have been charged $149 + tax.