[kbsilver]

I just went to my nearest BMW dealer to pick up the 5W-30 LL-04 oil for the 335D. They told me this is no longer made and sold me 0W-30 LL-12FE oil as a replacement. It only took a little research to find out this is completely WRONG, the 12FE oil is only for engines built after 2013 and have a single turbo.

I called another dealer and they indicated the LL04 oil is still made and they sell it.

Appears that Dealer #1 does not want to stock this slow mover and on top of that will get the additional service business of replacing failed turbos in the future.

Now being completely disgusted, what oil can I get from Walmart that fits the bill. The Castrol Edge Titanium in the black container seems to be approved for both BMW and VW Diesel (and was probably the LL04 oil before BMW switched to Shell as the supplier). Any thoughts/suggestions?

[dmanb2b]

I'd run Rotella T6 without hesitation, but it is not an LL-04

[335stoner]

I have looked. High and low through Walmart for a ll04 with no luck.. while at Napa on a unrelated search I found liquid Molly ll04 oil!

[lnxguy]

I'd love to figure out how BMW specs an oil based upon on how many turbos the car has, lol.

[TLO03]

Why do you have to buy it at walmart? Can you buy a filter from there? I buy motul on amazon. Ive found pentosin ll-04 at advanced auto in a jamb.

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by lnxguy

I'd love to figure out how BMW specs an oil based upon on how many turbos the car has, lol.

I'm sure that's just more dealer bull. Bmw still makes twin turbo vehicles that aren't m cars, and they still make diesels which definitely don't have the same oil as the gassers. Just another dealer with it's head fully tucked up.

[bimmerdiesel]

I have been using getbmwparts. Oil+ filter + washers for $100

[juld0zer]

LL04 is readily available here in Australia. About AU$65ish for 5L. Castrol, Shell, Penrite, Nulon, Liqui Moly, Motul, Valvoline.. heaps to choose from!

[kbsilver]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

I'm sure that's just more dealer bull. Bmw still makes twin turbo vehicles that aren't m cars, and they still make diesels which definitely don't have the same oil as the gassers. Just another dealer with it's head fully tucked up.

Definitely! As other dealers still have it. They just did not want to stock a low demand item and had no problem in selling an incompatible oil in it's place. The Castrol Edge EUROPEAN formula looks like a good replacement. No big box store will carry this, but is available on-line (something like $38 for 5 quart container - delivered).

Bottom line is other than "some" BMW dealers, you cannot just walk into a local store (in the US) and pick up oil for our cars.

[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by kbsilver

Definitely! As other dealers still have it. They just did not want to stock a low demand item and had no problem in selling an incompatible oil in it's place. The Castrol Edge EUROPEAN formula looks like a good replacement. No big box store will carry this, but is available on-line (something like $38 for 5 quart container - delivered).

Bottom line is other than "some" BMW dealers, you cannot just walk into a local store (in the US) and pick up oil for our cars.

Don't forget to check your local VW dealership either...VW 507 Should be comparable to an LL-04

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by kbsilver

Definitely! As other dealers still have it. They just did not want to stock a low demand item and had no problem in selling an incompatible oil in it's place. The Castrol Edge EUROPEAN formula looks like a good replacement. No big box store will carry this, but is available on-line (something like $38 for 5 quart container - delivered).

Bottom line is other than "some" BMW dealers, you cannot just walk into a local store (in the US) and pick up oil for our cars.

Pep boys has Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30 which is LL-04. I wouldn't buy there unless they have the Mobil 1 on sale though. Their regular price is something crazy like $12.99 per liter.

EDIT: I went back and looked and the deal was $38 for 5 liters and one filter. Most of us just get a filter for a different car and use the OEM filter. Looks like last time this sale happened was in 2015 though. So, online purchase of different brand may make the most sense. I buy Rotella T6 at Walmart as my D dropped out of school.

[kbsilver]

Originally Posted by lnxguy

I'd love to figure out how BMW specs an oil based upon on how many turbos the car has, lol.

My educated guess it has to do with the bearings in the turbo. The older set-up turbos are designed to be used with slightly heavier oil. The newer engines with a single turbo, is designed to take the thinner oils (for ever so slightly better MPG).

My take is if you use the 0-30 (12FE) oil in the older BMW diesels, you can expect turbo bearing failures in your future. I do not think the engine itself cares.

[lnxguy]

Personally I think it's all marketing BS.

[335dsleeper]

^ agreed.

[kbsilver]

Originally Posted by lnxguy

Personally I think it's all marketing BS.

And why would you say that? BMW has nothing to gain by specifying that you use a LESS expensive oil.....

[Miko226]

Originally Posted by kbsilver

And why would you say that? BMW has nothing to gain by specifying that you use a LESS expensive oil.....

The main reason they recommend the LL-04 oils is to last their 13k oil changes intervals but nobody should go that long on oil anyway unless its a lease.

[lnxguy]

Originally Posted by Miko226

The main reason they recommend the LL-04 oils is to last their 13k oil changes intervals but nobody should go that long on oil anyway unless its a lease.

If you're doing all highway and have OAs for some insurance, 13k OCIs are nothing to worry about. I dunno why some people think that changing their oil more often = better for their engines. A lot of oils actually get better after a few thousand miles. Soot handling capabilities increase, etc. Sure maybe 3-5k OCIs were great when all we had was dino oil, but todays oils are completely different.

[335dsleeper]

The 335d owners manual says:

"Approved oils belong to the following viscosity classes: SAE 0W-40, SAE 0W-30, SAE 5W-40 and SAE 5W-30."

I highly doubt the new 0w30 BMW oil is going to harm your turbos or anything for that matter.

[dagylca]

I have purchased Pennzoil Platinum Euro L 5W-30 at Walmart $26 for 5Qts meets BMW LL-04

[dmanb2b]

I run T6, so not really looking to debate, but found interesting link stating ll-12 is not suitable for 2-3 turbo engines...why not sure, but I won't be experimenting

http://www.oilspecifications.org/bmw.php

[kbsilver]

Originally Posted by 335dsleeper

The 335d owners manual says:

"Approved oils belong to the following viscosity classes: SAE 0W-40, SAE 0W-30, SAE 5W-40 and SAE 5W-30."

I highly doubt the new 0w30 BMW oil is going to harm your turbos or anything for that matter.

I called BMW NA. They said their documentation indicates it needs to be a LL-04 Oil. While the new oil "may" be perfectly fine, it's waaay too expensive if the experiment using LL-12FE oil fails. Now if BMW was willing to give this to me in writing that would be different, but we all know that will never happen.

I'm probably going with the Castrol Edge European formula, which I'm pretty sure was the oil in the BMW bottles until they switched to Shell as the manufacturer.

[robnitro]

LL04 is also low ash for the dpf. But the castrol ll04 vaporizes more according to some noack tests I saw.

Example, numbers are estimates, I don't recall exact ones for noack.
I know that castrol's LL oils tend to have high noack.
Castrol LL04 with 0.6% ash and a noack of 16% vs
Mobil1 0w40 with 1.2% ash and a noack of 8%
Would give you the same ash loading, because the castrol while having half the ash, has double the vaporization rate.

I use Mobil 1 0w40 or castrol edge 0w40 oils without worry.

For the turbos, 30 is fine, it's the heat capability that makes castrol 5w30 ll04 suck for turbos. Their phony synthetic base stock has a low flash point compared to the real synthetics