What oil meets BMW Spec's? What oil should I run?

[quattro PETE]

I am so confused. This chart seems to say that I should be running sae 10w60 in my 99 540i (m62), but I always see everyone saying to run mobil1 0w40 or casrol euro 5w30.

What chart? The chart in the first post only suggests 10w-60 for the M cars (S54, S62 engines). You have an M62 engine, so this does not apply to you. You can run any LL-98 or LL-01 certified oil.

[BlackBMWs]

How about Castrol Syntec 5W-40 for a M62?

It's rated API Service SL, SJ, CF, BMW longlife 98

[quattro PETE]

Should be fine.

[BlackBMWs]

Thanks Pete! Reading through the thread and a similar chart I pulled from a 2007 version of TIS, I really could not pick what was optimal for a daily driver in 100+ degree weather for a M62. I figured the Syntec would be OK.

I typically have been running Mobil 1 15w-50 for my 533i, but had been reading this was too heavy for the M62 and still get average mileage.

[quattro PETE]

Thanks Pete! Reading through the thread and a similar chart I pulled from a 2007 version of TIS,

Can you post this chart? If not, can you email it to me? I can PM you my address.

Thanks,
Pete

[BlackBMWs]

Can you post this chart? If not, can you email it to me? I can PM you my address.

Thanks,
Pete

Absolutely! I'll get it posted/emailed this evening...

Update: I did find the Castrol Syntec 5w-40 listed in the TIS LL-98 table. Just had to figure out which table to look into.

So Pete, are you wanting th LL-01, LL-04 (Europe), and LL-98 charts?

[boomshakalaka]

ok great, just changed my oil and filter using mobil1 0w40. Thats what I used last time, but I misread S62 as M62 in the chart and thats where I got confused.

[jnyost]

I am so confused. This chart seems to say that I should be running sae 10w60 in my 99 540i (m62), but I always see everyone saying to run mobil1 0w40 or casrol euro 5w30.

Pete was right. The TWS is just some of the M engines.

Fyi, the Mobil1 0w-40 causes excessive noise in a lot of engines.

How about Castrol Syntec 5W-40 for a M62?

It's rated API Service SL, SJ, CF, BMW longlife 98

Just remember that German Castrol 0w-30 is the only true synthetic. The 5w-40 is just a Group III. If that matters to you...

[BlackBMWs]

Just remember that German Castrol 0w-30 is the only true synthetic. The 5w-40 is just a Group III. If that matters to you...

Hey Jared! Luckely, I'm not smart enough yet to know what that really means.

So, even though Castrol Syntec 5w-40 claims to be a full synthetic, are you saying it's not? Is it enough that it is listed in the approved oils for LL-98?

Sorting out what's ideal vs. whats approved vs. whats readially available is the confusion for me. (Not jumped too deep into this...)

[jnyost]

Hey Jared! Luckely, I'm not smart enough yet to know what that really means.

So, even though Castrol Syntec 5w-40 claims to be a full synthetic, are you saying it's not? Is it enough that it is listed in the approved oils for LL-98?

Sorting out what's ideal vs. whats approved vs. whats readially available is the confusion for me. (Not jumped too deep into this...)

It was Castrol who filed the lawsuit to be allowed to call a hydrocracked Dino a synthetic. Overseas it is not allowed to be called a synthetic (because it is not).

I'm not saying it is bad, just throwing it out there. I'll email you.

[BlackBMWs]

It was Castrol who filed the lawsuit to be allowed to call a hydrocracked Dino a synthetic. Overseas it is not allowed to be called a synthetic (because it is not).

I'm not saying it is bad, just throwing it out there. I'll email you.

Misrepresentation of product? That sucks... Is that a charchteristic of being LL-98 rated?

Guess I better sell the 55 gal drum I just bought...

[quattro PETE]

So, we have an updated matrix of oil specs by engine type, thanks to BlackBMWs.

Interesting that BMW specifically advises against the use of LL-04 oils in gasoline engines outside of Europe due to different fuel quality standards worldwide...

[BlackBMWs]

So, we have an updated matrix of oil specs by engine type, thanks to BlackBMWs.

Interesting that BMW specifically advises against the use of LL-04 oils in gasoline engines outside of Europe due to different fuel quality standards worldwide...

Glad you were able to open the files...

Wow! That's hard to read... Let me see if I can export the files to PDF format...

[quattro PETE]

hmm... I can read it just fine.

[NNY528I]

Sweet M52 can use any of the LLs 97s rule!

[jnyost]

Glad you were able to open the files...

Wow! That's hard to read... Let me see if I can export the files to PDF format...

Make sure your browser isn't resizing it to fit the screen.

[BlackBMWs]

Make sure your browser isn't resizing it to fit the screen.

The screen got much clearer when I put my glasses on. Scary... Actually, the image was pixelated the first time I opened up. Very clear now...

Never mind...

[ViolinARC]

where can you find Mobil 1 0w-40. None of the autozones/walmarts have them in my area. Any good place online for a decent price?

Are you sure you wanna use Mobil1??? I'd rethink that decision based on the testing from this chart...

[jamesdc4]

Are you sure you wanna use Mobil1??? I'd rethink that decision based on the testing from this chart...

Good find, Anthony!
The chart says the testing is done by an independent lab. Do you know the source?

[BKphoto]

i use mobil 1 0-40 no complaints...good part is the Merc uses the same oil...

[ViolinARC]

Good find, Anthony!
The chart says the testing is done by an independent lab. Do you know the source?

No but I picked up the info from here...there's a lot of good info on this site and it appears to be unbiased.

[BKphoto]

appears is a good word....

[quattro PETE]

Good find, Anthony!
The chart says the testing is done by an independent lab. Do you know the source?

Even though it was tested by an independent lab, the test was basically requested by Amsoil. Amsoil is the only company (plus RP, I think) that still uses the results of this test in their marketing materials. Many scientists claim that the 4-ball wear test does not properly reflect the conditions in an actual car engine.

Not saying that it's wrong, but basically every oil company has their own battery of tests on which their products excel and those are the tests that they push in front of the customer. Recently Castrol was pushing a message (during superbowl ads) that their Edge results in 8x less wear compared to Mobil1 using IVA testing sequence.

Nevertheless, Amsoil does really well on a lot of those tests. Here's a more recent and more complete document of theirs:
https://www.amsoil.com/lit/g1971.pdf

[jamesdc4]

What chart? The chart in the first post only suggests 10w-60 for the M cars (S54, S62 engines). You have an M62 engine, so this does not apply to you. You can run any LL-98 or LL-01 certified oil.

According to the chart in post #62, the M62 (listed as "other" because it is not specified on the chart) can run LL-04, LL-01, LL-98 or special oil.

It was Castrol who filed the lawsuit to be allowed to call a hydrocracked Dino a synthetic. Overseas it is not allowed to be called a synthetic (because it is not).

I'm not saying it is bad, just throwing it out there. I'll email you.

Are all LL-98 oils hydrocracked Dinos? I'm running Total 5w-40 (LL-98).

[quattro PETE]

According to the chart in post #62, the M62 (listed as "other" because it is not specified on the chart) can run LL-04, LL-01, LL-98 or special oil.

Yeah, but notice the small print below the table where they advise against using LL-04 oils in gasoline engines outside of Europe.

Are all LL-98 oils hydrocracked Dinos?

Hard to say. Back when the LL-98 specification first came out, I'm sure there were quite a few full synthetic oils out there that met it.

But nowadays, this LL-98 spec is not all that stringent (by comparison to some other newer specs) so it doesn't require the latest and greatest oil chemistry. Oil manufacturers will use the lowest-cost ingredients to meet the spec. If they can meet the spec by using Group III base stocks, they will.

I would guess that most of the LL-98 oils nowadays are Group III, unless they also meet some other specs (in addition to LL-98). But again, Group III does not equal bad. As long as the oil does the job, who cares what it's made of. There are some new bio-oils (basically vegetable oil) out there that perform as good or better than full synthetics in certain engine applications.